The fourth major of 2021 and sixth of the 2020-21 PGA Tour ‘super season’ is at hand with the world’s best golfers at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in England for this week’s British Open. Below, we look at the 2021 British Open odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
Jon Rahm, sitting at No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, is this week’s betting favorite after winning his first career major at the US Open. Shane Lowry will attempt to defend his 2019 Open Championship title after the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lucas Glover is coming off a win at last week’s John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour, but a stronger field was at the European Tour’s abrdn Scottish Open, which was won by Min Woo Lee in a playoff over Thomas Detry and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Also see: How to bet on the British Open
2021 British Open picks – Favorite
Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 1:05 p.m. ET.
Louis Oosthuizen (+2800)
Oosthuizen, 38, is fourth in the Golfweek rankings after finishing as the runner-up at both the US Open and PGA Championship. He has two other top-10 finishes and no missed cuts through 10 international stroke-play events this year.
The winner of the 2010 Open Championship tied for 54th at Royal St. George’s in 2011 but is one of the few true contenders this year with major experience at the venue. He also tied for second at the 2015 British Open.
Oosthuizen is leading all qualified golfers with 1.04 Strokes Gained: Putting per round this season, and he’s also averaging 0.95 SG: Tee-to-Green per round.
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2021 British Open picks – Contender
Lee Westwood (+5000)
Westwood is just 82nd in the Golfweek rankings, but he enters this week 29th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) after peaking at 19th earlier in the year. He recorded back-to-back runner-up finishes against strong fields at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship.
He tied for 35th at last week’s Scottish Open but was in contention through two rounds before a lackluster weekend. He missed the cut at the British Open at Royal St. George’s in 2003 and 2011; however, he has five career top-five finishes at The Open, including a T-4 in 2019.
His 58 career rounds played in the British Open rank second in this week’s field and he has averaged 1.66 strokes gained on the field per round at British Open venues.
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2021 British Open picks – Long shot
Corey Conners (+10000)
Conners has appeared in just one British Open with a missed cut at Royal Portrush in 2019, but we’re getting an excellent number on the 29-year-old who has been playing the best golf of his career in 2021. He tied for eighth at the Masters and for 17th at the PGA Championship before a missed cut at the US Open.
He’s 32nd in the Golfweek rankings and 38th in the OWGR but is priced as a long shot with odds of 100-1. His excellent ball striking can help compensate and limit the damage of his mediocre short game and sand play.
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