The world of golf takes another turn this week as The Open Championship 2023 begins in Liverpool, England for the British Open, with 156 of the best players in the world going toe-to-toe to be crowned champion.
The Open is seen as one of the most prestigious tournaments in the calendar and is the final major tournament of the year, giving players a chance to enter the history books by claiming victory on an iconic course.
We'll take a look at the favorites to win the competition and provide you with our best free golf betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you watch the action.
| The Open Championship 2023 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rory McIlroy | +650 | +650 | +650 |
| John Rahm | '+900 | +1175 | +1400 |
| Scottie Scheffler | +800 | +860 | +1000 |
| Justin Thomas | +4500 | 5600 | +6000 |
| Cameron Smith | +1400 | +1450 | +1600 |
Learn more about how to bet on golf here.
The Open Championship 2023 information
- Thursday July 20th 2023 - Sunday July 23rd 2023
- Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England
- 156 players
- $3,000,000 for the winner
- 72 holes
The Open Championship 2023 favorites
Below you'll find a list of favorites to win The Open Championship golf tournament.
Rory McIlroy - +650
The Northern Irishman now has six consecutive top-nine finishes and ranks second on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green this season. In his last seven starts at The Open Championship, McIlroy has five top-five finishes, including a solo third-place result at St. Andrews last year where he finished -2 for the course.
Rory's second win of the PGA Tour season goes with two runner-up finishes (including the U.S. Open) and five other top-10 placings in 2023.
McIlroy led the field with 3.20 strokes gained: tee-to-green en route to his Scottish Open win last week. While still in the midst of a nine-year major championship drought, McIlroy has found himself near the top of the board after some great golf to begin the summer.
His 2014 Open Championship victory came right here at Royal Liverpool, and while he remains winless at the majors since 2014, he's given himself a number of great chances — look no further than last year's final round. He's rightly the favorite here, although winning back-to-back tournaments isn't something that's done very often.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
Scottie Scheffler - +1000
The Texas Longhorn leads the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach, SG: Off the Tee, SG: Tee to Green and SG: Total this season and now has seven consecutive top-five finishes after finishing in a tie for third at the Scottish Open. The 2022 Masters winner and the world No. 1 has finished inside the top eight in 2021 and top 21 in 2022 in his two Open Championship appearances and looks to win his second major championship this week.
He's gone from zero to six PGA Tour wins in less than 18 months, won his first major championship title at last year's Masters, and is now routinely in contention at every major.
Scheffler's in the running any time he decides to play, regardless of the tournament's stature. It should be noted that he's finished no worse than 12th in any of his last 18 tournaments (a run that includes two wins).
He's in fantastic form to come out on top in a major tournament once again, and with McIlroy's major curse still very much intact there is great value at backing Scheffler to get the job done.
John Rahm - +1400
After winning the Green Jacket earlier this year, he had a pretty bang average PGA, but then just two starts ago, had a top-10 at the U.S. Open. For the season, he’s put together an impressive list of ‘strokes gained’ stats, as he ranks second in total strokes gained and third tee-to-green.
Just two years ago, Rahm was a part of the conversation at the Open, where he wound up in a tie for third. Given his success at this championship, and the fact he has racked up four titles in 2023, his odds are still very good and provide excellent value for the Spaniard.
The Spaniard has played in just one tournament since his 10th-place finish at the U.S. Open, a missed cut at the Travelers Championship — his only missed cut in 17 starts this season. The 11-time PGA Tour winner and reigning Masters champion is looking for his third major championship this week. The Arizona State Sun Devil has finished in the top 11 in two of his last three Open Championship appearances and enjoys the course.
He finished at T3 at Royal St. George's in 2021 and just T34 at St. Andrews a year ago but if he can reclaim some of his early-2023 form, he'll surely be on the Sunday afternoon leaderboard. At +1400. he's our pick to get it done again.
Check out our review for Bovada sports betting here.
Cameron Smith - +1600
The reigning Champion Golfer of the Year, Cameron Smith, has the fourth-shortest odds to retain the Claret Jug at +1600.
The Aussie has been gaining momentum recently as he has finished in the top 12 in eight straight events, including a win at LIV London in his last start. Smith also is coming off of consecutive top-10 finishes at the PGA Championship (T9) and the U.S. Open (fourth).
If you haven’t seen much of Smith recently and needed a reminder of how he plays when he’s at his best, that reminder came at the PGA Championship, where he finished “just” T9 but was second in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting at +1.90 per round.
He has been criticised in the past for a lack of driving accuracy, but that shouldn't be too big of an issue this week. Smith is in the conversation for best putter in the world right now, and there might not be a conversation for best in the clutch. If the magic wand is working to its usual capabilities this week.
He'salso the reigning champion here and knows how to win, so don't be surprised if he does it again.
