2021 British Open – Page 5 – Syndication Server

British Open: Why Louis Oosthuizen may be poised to break bridesmaid string and drink from the Claret Jug again

Louis Oosthuizen on finishing runner-up at majors six times since winning the 2010 British Open: “It’s good and horrible. I think it would be a lot worse if I didn’t have a major.”

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When Louis Oosthuizen won the 2010 British Open at The Old Course at St. Andrews, he treated the Claret Jug as if it were a holy vessel and one of the 10 Commandments had been thou shall not drink from the silver trophy.

“It was such a special thing, I didn’t want to,” he explained. “I didn’t think it was the right thing.”

His friends back home in South Africa had other ideas.

“In December (of 2010), I had some mates over at my house and I didn’t really have a choice. They said, ‘We’re drinking out of it whether you drink out of it or not,” Oosthuizen recalled on The Open Podcast.

They took turns drinking brandy and Coke, a South African favorite, Champagne and red wine. But since that runaway performance at St. Andrews, Oosthuizen has suffered his share of major misery. His runner-up finish to Spain’s Jon Rahm at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in June marked his sixth time as a bridesmaid, and second straight major being close but no cigar. (He finished two strokes behind Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship in May.)

“It’s good and horrible,” Oosthuizen said on the Open podcast, which was recorded in 2020 before his latest close calls. “I think it would be a lot worse if I didn’t have a major.”

On the eve of the 149th British Open, Oosthuizen said, “You do feel a little disappointed afterwards, but I was outplayed by – with both of those majors this year, and just fell short. I can just do what I do and try and just go one better when I get to the next major.”

British Open: Tee times, TV | Odds and picks | Major payouts

One of the runner-up finishes that still stings happened at the 2015 Open at St. Andrews, where Zach Johnson pipped him in a three-man playoff.

“I still can’t believe it. I felt like no one could beat me around that golf course. I thought I was going to get it done,” Oosthuizen said.

To have a chance to win on the back nine on Sunday is all a player can hope for and then let the cards fall where they may. Oosthuizen watched the clutch putts that Rahm holed on the final two greens at Torrey and recognized that it was Rahm’s day. He still believes his time will come and he’s confident in his routine and plans to stick with what has been working pretty darn well, if not well enough.

“If it was a case where I completely collapsed the last four or five holes or something like that, it would be something I would look into a lot more. Like speak to someone. I might not be mentally strong enough or somewhere in my game and the pressure collapsed, but in those two cases,” he said, referring to the PGA and U.S. Open this year, “I don’t think that was the case. I played really well. Yeah, I hit an errant shot on 17 (at Torrey Pines), I took it on off the tee, but I was in it the whole time.

“If I can put myself in that position again and just try and aim better, I would be that insane person and try and do the same thing.”

NBC commentator Gary Koch agrees with Oosthuizen’s approach.

“If I was his sports psychologist, I’d be telling him to keep doing what he’s doing,” Koch said. “He keeps putting himself in position.”

“The one thing I would tell him is almost try and elongate the week,” said 1997 British Open champion Justin Leonard. “He seems to play beautiful golf at the first part of the week to get himself in position. Sunday hasn’t been his best day, so almost think of this week as maybe going a month long and make it into a four-week tournament where yes, he’s got a few days off in between or maybe a week off, but try and look further down the road so that come Sunday morning or Sunday afternoon when he’s teeing off, he doesn’t feel like he’s looking at the finish line but it’s more of the longer term process.”

The reason why Oosthuizen may contend yet again this week for the Claret Jug is his putting prowess. Always blessed with a beautiful swing, his putter held him back from being one of the elite players but not anymore.

“I always felt like I had too many days with my putting where it was hot and cold, and you can’t get a consistency,” he admitted. “I went back to a few things that I did as an amateur really and looked at a few things I did playing in 2010, the way I was putting, especially the week of The Open.”

This season, Oosthuizen ranks first in Strokes Gained: Putting. It’s why no one would be surprised to see him sipping out of the Claret Jug once more.

“It feels like a lifetime ago,” he said.

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Nike’s limited-edition British Open footwear is inspired by dartboards

The limited-edition Air Max 90 G, Air Zoom Infinity Tour and Air Zoom Victory Tour take their cues from the popular “19th hole” activity.

For the past few seasons, Nike staff players have received special, limited-edition versions of the company’s footwear to use during major championships. These shoes are given themes, often that match the venues where the tournaments are being played. So, while this year’s Masters theme was using recycled materials, during the recent PGA Championship at Kiawah in May, some players’ shoes had a seersucker pattern of light blue and white.

This week, with the British Open taking place at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England, Nike has created three more limited-edition versions of its Air Max 90 G, Air Zoom Infinity Tour and Air Zoom Victory Tour 2 shoes. The theme is games played in pubs, taprooms and the “19th hole” in England. That means darts, pool and snooker. The shoes are below, and as you can see, they are trimmed in cork to commemorate the dartboards and green to represent the felt of a pool table.

British Open: Dustin Johnson sets a wedding date, returns to No. 1 and site of one of his epic major meltdowns

Dustin Johnson has some ominous history at Royal St. George’s, but the place is still among his favorite British Open venues.

Golf’s longest engagement appears to be headed to the altar. Dustin Johnson confirmed during his pre-championship press conference that a wedding date with Paulina, mother of his two children, has been set.

“Yeah, it’s next year,” said Johnson.

Whether or not he will hold the title of World No. 1 when he says, “I do,” still is to be determined. Johnson regained the pole position this week from Jon Rahm, but it is a tenuous hold in part because of Rahm’s hot run, which includes winning the U.S. Open last month, as well as Johnson’s sudden cold spell. Since the Genesis Invitational in February, he has recorded just one top-10 finish – a rather disappointing T-10 at that at the Palmetto Championship – and has been a non-factor at the three majors since slipping into his Green Jacket in November (missed cuts at the Masters in April, PGA in May and T-19 at the U.S. Open in June).

British Open: Tee times, TV | Odds and picks | Major payouts

“I need to step up my game a little bit,” he said.

Johnson, 37, is returning to one of his favorite courses on the Open rota, and one where he has enjoyed past success. He called St. Andrews his hands-down favorite British Open site – it will host next year’s 150th Open – but Royal St. George’s apparently isn’t too far behind.

“Put it down as No. 2,” he said.

What in particular does Johnson like about this year’s classic links test in Sandwich, England?

“You’ve got to hit golf shots, and you’ve got to hit them where you’re looking or you’re going to have a tough time,” he said. “For me, I feel like most of it’s going to be driving. If I can drive it well, then I feel like I’m going to have a really good week.”

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Royal St. George’s is the site of one of Johnson’s runner-up finishes at majors back before he’d nabbed the U.S. Open in 2016 and added the Masters less than a year ago. That was back when his ability to close at a major was a big question mark. He shot 72 in the final round, tying with Phil Mickelson two strokes behind champion Darren Clarke. Trailing by two at the par-5 14th on Sunday, Johnson had 261 yards into the wind and flared a 2-iron out of bounds. His chances of hoisting the Claret Jug, the silver trophy awarded custody for one year to the championship’s winner, all but ended there.

“That is absolutely shocking,” NBC’s Paul Azinger said at the time. “What was he thinking there? He had half of Kent to his left.”

“That was a long time ago, but obviously I have good memories here, and I did play well,” Johnson said. “Take that shot back, yeah, I’ve got a really good chance to win.”

And if he were to add the Claret Jug to his trophy cabinet, Johnson was asked both where winning it would rank – “It would definitely be right up at the top” – and what he’d drink from it – “Probably beer, I would say, would be the first thing.”

How sweet that would be.

Quirky Royal St. George’s tees up exacting test for players in the 2021 British Open

There is one word that rolls off the tongues among those who try to describe Royal St. George’s: quirky.

Two-time British Open winner Ernie Els once likened his trips around the links at Royal St. George’s to playing on another planet.

“At times it feels like you’re playing on the moon here,” the Big Easy said in 2003. “There’s nothing flat on this golf course.”

Mark Calcavecchia, the Champion Golfer of the Year in 1989, once said the course in Sandwich, England, has a bunch of fairways you can’t hit. Tiger Woods, who has three Claret Jugs among his 15 majors, couldn’t find his first tee shot in the 2003 Open at Royal St. George’s and made a triple bogey; he finished two behind winner Ben Curtis.

And there is one word – hint, it starts with a “Q” – that rolls off the tongues among those who describe the layout by the sea some 100 miles southeast of London and is home to the 149th playing of the British Open.

“I believe St. George’s to be the most quirky of all the layouts,” 2009 Open winner Stewart Cink said. The two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season finished in a tie for 34th in 2003 and in a tie for 30th in 2011 at Royal St. George’s. In those two contests, only five players combined finished the tournament under par.

“And they’re all great courses, all fabulous,” Cink continued. “But St. George’s has the most unexpected bounces, the potential for the weirdest bounces. Especially on the back nine, some holes where the ridges run not quite at a 45-degree angle, but they’re just angled off to one side or the other. You can hit great shots off the tee that end up getting kicked one way or the other.

“You just got to be ready for some of that.”

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Royal St. George’s – which will play to a par of 70 and can be stretched out to 7,189 yards this year – made its debut as an Open venue in 1894 and is hosting the oldest championship in golf for the 15th time; it was the first course outside of Scotland to host the British Open. With full exposure to the sea, Royal St. George’s, as is the case with all true links, is at the mercy of the winds blowing in from the nearby waters, and, let’s not forget, the elements that can fall from above.

From the day it opened 134 years ago, the links on the rugged landscape has been known for its blind shots; severely sloped greens; an assortment of pot bunkers that can ruin any round; and huge sand hills, including a two-story tall bunker to the right of the fairway on the fourth hole called the “Himalayas.”

There’s also a canal – named “Suez” – that crosses the par-5 14th fairway. The hole also has out of bounds running down the entire right side. This is where current world No. 1 Dustin Johnson’s hopes for a Claret Jug vanished in 2011 when he hit his second shot out of bounds in the final round of the Open when he was two shots behind eventual winner Darren Clarke.

The 149th Open - Previews — Dustin Johnson plays his shot from the eighth tee during a practice round ahead of The 149th Open at Royal St George’s Golf Club on July 14, 2021 in Sandwich, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

But it’s the fairways that stand out, the ones full of humps and bumps and crowns that send otherwise brilliant tee shots in multiple directions toward rough, fescue and pot bunkers. However, a wet summer has softened the links and given way to thick, heightened grassland that borders the holes. Bryson DeChambeau referred to some of the areas as hay.

“The course was quite lush, quite green. We maybe weren’t getting the bounces that we’re accustomed to getting here at St. George’s with the bumpy fairways,” 2014 Open champion Rory McIlroy said earlier this week. “Honestly, I think the course plays a little better that way. I think the biggest thing this week is if you do hit it offline, you’ve got some really thick, juicy rough on either side of the fairway, which you just have to avoid.”

The soft conditions make for an interesting predicament. As it stands now, there is little to no chance of precipitation in the forecast the rest of the week. Thus, if the skies are bright and the winds kick up, the course will firm up – and the chances of bizarre bounces in the fairway will increase.

Which means tournament officials might put water on the fairways to keep them on the soft side to try and limit the intensity of the bounces from the fairway.

“I spoke to (R&A chief executive) Martin Slumbers on Monday evening, and he said they’re probably going to water some of the fairways to stop that happening,” Lee Westwood said. “You can’t have really bouncy fairways carrying (the ball) off into rough that’s this high that you’re hacking out of. This course was laid down with the fairways like that and undulating, designed to go into the rough where you’d have a shot, but it would be a flying lie and you’d have to judge that.

“It wasn’t designed to land in the fairways and go into rough where you’re hacking out with lob wedge.”

Soft or firm, Johnson said Royal St. George’s will provide an exacting test.

“I do like this golf course. I feel like it’s a tough golf course,” he said. “It’s going to play difficult, especially with the wind direction that it’s supposed to blow for the week. It’s a typical links course; you’ve got to hit golf shots, and you’ve got to hit them where you’re looking or you’re going to have a tough time.”

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British Open prop bet odds, picks and predictions

We look for the best value prop bets in the 2021 British Open odds, with placings, groups and first-round leader picks and predictions.

Royal St. George’s Golf Club in England hosts the 149th British Open. The Open is the final major of six on the PGA Tour’s 2020-21 schedule and returns after being canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Below, we’ll look for the best value prop bets in the 2021 British Open odds, with placings, groups and first-round leader PGA Tour picks and predictions.

This will be the first time the British Open is held at Royal St. George’s since Darren Clarke’s victory in 2011. The 7,211-yard, par-70 venue is hosting The Open for the 15th time.

Jon Rahm, entering the week at No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, is looking to be the first golfer since Tom Watson in 1982 to go back-to-back as US Open and British Open champ.

2021 British Open picks: Placings

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 8:25 a.m. ET.

Top 5: Webb Simpson (+1100)

The 2012 US Open champ, Simpson has never finished in the top five at the British Open; however, he made the cut in each of his last five appearances and tied for 16th at the 2011 British Open at Royal St. George’s.

He also enters in good form for the course, despite back-to-back missed cuts at the US Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic. He’s first on Tour this season in par 4 efficiency: 400-450 yards, scrambling and sand save percentage. He’ll be well suited to the traditional poor weather of the British Open.

Top 20: Min Woo Lee (+500)

Lee enters the week 368th in the Golfweek rankings but 61st in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) after winning the abrdn Scottish Open last week. He’s worth a long-shot ticket at +15000 to win outright this week, but he’s still a solid play at 5-1 with 19 places of insurance in the stronger field.

2021 British Open picks: Top player

Top left-hander: Brian Harman (+260)

Harman’s an excellent value after cashing this ticket at the Masters with a T-12 finish. The 34-year-old is 13th in the Golfweek rankings and is playing some of the best golf of his career. He missed the cut in each of his last four British Open appearances, but he’s sixth on Tour in scrambling and T-21 in par 4 efficiency from the key distance of 400-450 yards.

Special British Open Betting Promotion!

Bet $1 on ANY GOLFER to win, WIN $100 (in free bets) if any golfer makes a birdie.

Offer available in CO, IA, IN, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, Washington D.C. and WV.

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Top rest of the world: Louis Oosthuizen (+650)

The 2010 Champion Golfer of the Year is a safer play to be the top South African at +200, but we can get a little greedy with a 6.5-1 return in the larger pool.

The 38-year-old finished T-2 and second at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, respectively. His lone PGA Tour win to date was at the British Open, where his putter offers the greatest advantage.

2021 British Open picks: First-round leader

Richard Bland (+10000)

Bland will be the first golfer off the first tee Thursday morning at 1:35 a.m. ET. The 48-year-old claimed his first European Tour win in mid-May and became the oldest 36-hole leader at the US Open a month ago. Look for the veteran Englishman to start strong once again in just his second appearance at the British Open.

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2021 British Open: 1 of these 10 golfers will win at Royal St. George’s

Here’s who could take home the Claret Jug.

Could Jon Rahm win a second straight major after that incredible U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines last month?

We think so (see below!).

He’s one of our 10 golfers who will definitely win the 2021 British Open, which starts Thursday at Royal St. George’s. We’ve done this before (and, ahem, Rahm was on the list the last time), and this is different than our best bets — no odds here, just who’s winning the Claret Jug by the time the final round on Sunday ends.

So let’s run through this list of 10 very talented players, one of which will win the major this week:

2021 British Open odds: Matchup picks and predictions

We look at the top 18- and 72-hole matchups for the 2021 British Open, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.

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The 149th British Open begins Thursday morning at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in England. Golf fans and bettors will need to wake up early with the first tee shot being hit at 1:35 a.m. ET. Below, we look at the top 18- and 72-hole matchups for the 2021 British Open, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.

Jon Rahm, ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, will begin his quest for a second consecutive major at 4:58 a.m. ET. He’s paired with 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year Shane Lowry and 2010 champ Louis Oosthuizen for the first two rounds.

Royal St. George’s last hosted the British Open in 2011, with Darren Clarke being crowned Champion Golfer of the Year. The venue measures just over 7,200 yards and plays to a par of 70.

Also see:

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2021 British Open first-round matchups (18 holes)

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Andy Sullivan vs. Richard Bland vs. Marcus Armitage (+210)

Get a piece of the action with the first group to tee off. Sullivan is the top-ranked golfer of the three in the Golfweek rankings and Bland was in contention through 54 holes at the 2021 US Open but ARMITAGE (+210) is the most recent winner in this group.

The 33-year-old claimed his first career European Tour win at the Porsche European Open in early June. He missed the cut at the 2018 British Open but received a boost of confidence ahead of his second attempt.

Lucas Glover (+120) vs. Byeong Hun An vs. Brandt Snedeker

GLOVER (+120) ended a 10-year winless drought with victory at last week’s John Deere Classic. It was against a weak field but it came at the right time ahead of his return to Royal St. George’s. The 2009 US Open champ tied for 12th at the 2011 British Open as the third-best major finish of his career. His familiarity will help in Round 1.

Special British Open Betting Promotion!

Bet $1 on ANY GOLFER to win, WIN $100 (in free bets) if any golfer makes a birdie.

Offer available in CO, IA, IN, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, Washington D.C. and WV.

Place your legal, online sports bets at BetMGM Sportsbook! New customer offer, terms and conditions apply. Bet now!

Brooks Koepka vs. Jason Kokrak (+200) vs. Garrick Higgo

KOKRAK (+200) is the top-ranked player in this group by the Golfweek rankings and he’s also second on the PGA Tour this season in Round 1 scoring average. He and Higgo can lean on their excellent putting with few having much meaningful experience at Royal St. George’s, but Kokrak has the edge in both driver and iron play.

2021 British Open tournament matchups (72 holes)

Collin Morikawa vs. Patrick Cantlay (-110)

Morikawa and Cantlay are evenly priced in this tournament matchup, but Cantlay is +3000 to win while Morikawa is just +3300. Trust those outright odds (which typically receive much more action) and take the value with CANTLAY (-110).

Dustin Johnson (-115) vs. Bryson DeChambeau

JOHNSON (-115) tied for second at the 2011 British Open as the top result of any true contender in this year’s field. He also moved back to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking despite not playing last week. DeChambeau has two missed cuts and a T-51 finish in three appearances at the British Open.

Viktor Hovland vs. Louis Oosthuizen (+100)

Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open champion, is an even-money underdog against Hovland, who’s making his first British Open appearance. Back the experienced OOSTHUIZEN (+100), especially off of back-to-back runner-up finishes at the PGA Championship and US Open.

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Golfweek:

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British Open blog: Adhere to protocols or risk being clobbered by official baton-wielding social distancing enforcement officers

Caution is very much the watchword at this week’s Open as all and sundry try to adhere to the strict pandemic-induced protocols.

(Editor’s note: Enjoy this blog, which comes to us from our sister news organization Newsquest, part of the USA Today Network. Aidan Smith is a writer based in Glasgow, Scotland.) Here’s a link to the blog, which will be updated throughout the event.

• Ahoy there, dear readers. Maritime history abounds in this coastal parish. Back in 1217, a Plantagenet English fleet commanded by Hubert de Burgh attacked a French Armada led by Eustace the Monk in a seagoing stooshie known as the Battle of Sandwich. Funnily enough, a similarly titled exchange of hostilities took place in the media canteen yesterday when the diarist pinched the last cheese and pickle sarnie from under the nose of the Daily Telegraph’s peckish golf writer.

• Caution is very much the watchword at this week’s Open as all and sundry try to adhere to the strict pandemic-induced protocols or risk being clobbered by official baton-wielding social distancing enforcement officers. Lateral flow tests are a necessary evil although one particularly droothy scribe, fresh from a sturdy, thirst-quenching gargle in the Zetland Arms the night before, returned something of an eye-opening result when the sample appeared with a head on it.

• For those in peril off the tee. There’s a bunker lurking down the right-hand side of Royal St George’s 13th fairway that was actually created by a jettisoned bomb from a German Heinkel as it was chased back across the channel during the Second World War. The damage sustained then, of course, was nothing compared to the shattering ravages wrought on the fairways by the swipes, thrashes and gouges at the pre-Open media Stableford earlier in the year.

• Ah, the glitz and glamour of The Open. The diarist’s golf writing brethren are staying at a variety of hotels, hostels, chalets, dorms and park benches this week. One is even enjoying camping for the bargain price of £11 per night. As Shakespeare didn’t quite write, “now is the summer of our discount tent.”

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Lee Westwood on the verge of setting bittersweet record this week, but calls it a ‘nice record’

Westwood has racked up nine top-3 finishes in the majors, more than any player without a major to his credit, and 18 top-10 finishes.

O-for-87, oh my.

That is Lee Westwood’s career record at the major championships. This week marks his 88^th start at a major championship and should he fail to win at the 149^th British Open at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, he will earn a dubious distinction, breaking a tie with Jay Haas for the most major starts all-time without a victory. But the 48-year-old Englishman views his major shortcomings with a sense of pride.

“That’s nice, that record. It shows I’ve been a good player for a long, long time,” he said during his pre-championship press conference on Wednesday. “There’s not many people who have played in as many major championships as me.”

It’s not as if Westwood hasn’t had his chances. He’s racked up nine top-3 finishes in the majors, more than any player without a major to his credit, and 18 top-10 finishes. Surely, the former World No. 1 should have snagged at least one somewhere along the way, but he seems destined to finish his career like another dominant European Tour great, Colin Montgomerie, with that tag of Best Player Never to Win a Major.

“Another accolade, yeah. I love it,” he said. “Thank you.”

Despite his major shortcomings, Westwood continues to defy Father Time and enters this week ranked No. 29 in the world. He nearly picked off titles in back-to-back weeks at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship in March, and he married Helen Storey, who doubles as his caddie, ahead of the U.S. Open in June. In a show of his continuation of good form, he held the lead into the weekend at the Scottish Open before slipping back on the weekend to finish T-35 at 9 under.

“When you think 14-under, 26 holes to go, and 18-under is winning it, you should fancy your chances then,” Westwood said. “But obviously didn’t manage to finish that one off.”

This week is the 88th major championship start of Lee Westwood's career. If he doesn't win this week, he will break a tie with Jay Haas for most major starts all-time without a victory.

Most top-3s in majors without a win, men's golf history
Lee Westwood, 9
Harry Cooper, 7

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) July 13, 2021

A decade ago, here at Sandwich, Westwood watched his dear friend Darren Clarke end his own major-championship misery as a surprise winner at age 42. Could Westwood follow suit at the tournament he called his “favorite of the year?” He’d be the third-oldest major winner behind only Julius Boros and then 50-year-old sensation Phil Mickelson, who proved anything is possible at the PGA Championship in May and has since turned 51.

“I think he’s reached a level where he’s confident in what he’s doing, he knows what he’s doing, he knows what he’s good at, he knows his limitations, and he seems to be enjoying golf more than he ever has in his entire career,” said NBC/Golf Channel’s John Wood of Westwood. “I think that’s when he’s playing his best golf these days is when he’s trying to just enjoy it.”

Westwood missed the cut in his previous two attempts to be known as “The Champion Golfer of the Year,” at St. George’s, in 2003 and 2011.

“Kind of had it in my head a bit of a mental block that I didn’t like the golf course, but played it yesterday and really enjoyed it,” he said. “Loved the way it was set up,” adding, “just trying to look at it more positively than I’ve missed two cuts.”

It is through the same optimistic lens that Westwood chooses to look at his 0-for-87 record in the biggest championships and still show up at the starting line on Thursday believing that this time the outcome could be different.

“You just kind of load the dice to give you the best opportunities as possible,” he said. “You can’t do any more than that, and then you give them a roll and what happens happens.”

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British Open odds and picks: Best bets for each of the favorites

We searched for value in the British Open odds and offer up the best prop bet for each of the favorites this week.

The British Open is back after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England hosts the world’s top golfers for the final major of 2021. Below, we search for value in the odds and offer up the best prop bet for each of the favorites at the 2021 British Open; check out all our PGA Tour picks and predictions.

There are six golfers with odds of +2000 or lower to win the British Open. Jon Rahm, who’s No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings, leads that group at +750 as the pre-tournament betting favorite. We’ll look for some better value when betting these favorites.

Royal St. George’s plays to a par of 70 and measures a little over 7,200 yards. It last hosted the British Open in 2011 and 2003, with Darren Clarke and Ben Curtis winning, respectively.

2021 British Open best bets

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET.

Jon Rahm: Top Continental European (+140)

Outright: +750 (bet $100 to win $750)

The No. 1 golfer in the Golfweek rankings still fetches a plus-money return with much of this week’s top competition removed from the pool. Viktor Hovland is next by the odds to win outright (+3000) and in this pool (+500). It’s good value on the favorite without necessarily needing a top-five finish.

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Brooks Koepka: Top-5 finish (+375)

Outright: +1400 (bet $100 to win $1,400)

Koepka leads all golfers with an aggregate score of minus-84 in majors since 2016. The four-time major champ has three top-10 finishes in his last four appearances at the British Open.

Xander Schauffele: Lowest score Group B (+250)

Outright: +1600 (bet $100 to win $1,600)

Ranks second among all golfers in total strokes gained on the field per round for the 2020-21 season. He has eight top-10 finishes in majors since 2018, including a T-2 at the 2018 British Open. He’s the top-ranked player in this group by the Golfweek rankings at No. 2.

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Jordan Spieth: Top-20 finish (+100)

Outright: +1800 (bet $100 to win $1,800)

Spieth has been one of the top golfers in 2021 and still offers an even-money return for a top-20 finish. The 2017 British Open winner snapped his winless drought this year and has seven other top-10 finishes through 14 events.

Justin Thomas: To miss the cut (+333)

Outright: +2000 (bet $100 to win $2,000)

Tied for 11th at the 2019 British Open but missed the cut in both 2017 and 2018. He’s averaging 0.88 Strokes Gained: Approach per round but he has struggled with his putter and will need it to be a difference at the shorter Royal St. George’s.

Rory McIlroy: First-round leader (+2800)

Outright: +2000 (bet $100 to win $2,000)

McIlroy’s odds to win outright offer solid value but there’s an even greater profit to be had in backing him to be the leader after Round 1. He has struggled through the opening 18 holes this season; however, he led the Tour with a first-round scoring average of 68.27 in 2019-20. He missed the cut at last week’s abrdn Scottish Open and got in a little extra rest.

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