British Open picks 2024: The 13 best bets to win at Royal Troon
And then there was one. The 2024 men's major schedule is down to the Open Championship—AKA the British Open to some—and if it's anything like the first three majors, we're in for a treat. In Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau, you could argue that the three best players in the world have each won a major thus far—and yet the biggest two stories from those three events were Scheffler getting arrested at the PGA and Rory McIlroy not winning the U.S. Open.
If pro golf were scripted, McIlroy would win the Open Championship at Royal Troon—the site of the epic Henrik Stenson-Phil Mickelson duel the last time it hosted in 2016—to end his decade-long drought in the game's four biggest events. But, alas, this isn't the NFL. Kidding, NFL! Anyway, all those names figure to factor into the game's oldest major. And once again, we're sharing our favorite ones to lift the claret jug come Sunday evening like Brian Harman did last year.
As always our ranking is of the best bets, not the best golfers or the most likely to win (and one of our top-six guys has won each of the first three majors of 2024). So here's our weekly list (odds via DraftKings) as we approach the final leg of golf's Grand Slam.
1. Scottie Scheffler (4.5/1)
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Icon Sportswire
Reason to pick: With the World No. 1 on such a historic run, it's impossible not to slide Scheffler into the top spot—no matter how low his odds get.
Cause for concern: We're not even going to make an arrest joke here. There's truly nothing to be concerned about with his game right now.
2. Xander Schauffele (14/1)
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James Gilbert
Reason to pick: With the major championship monkey off his back, this 2022 Scottish Open champ would be deserving of favorite status if not for Scheffler.
Cause for concern: Since a runner-up at the Open in 2018 at Carnoustie, Schauffele hasn't had anything better than a T-15 in this event.
3. Brooks Koepka (25/1)
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Alex Slitz
Reason to pick: He's a five-time major champ and he's in particularly good spirits after watching his beloved "Ps" win the Stanley Cup.
Cause for concern: None of those major victories came at an Open Championsip and he has had a disastrous year (for him) of major finishes thus far.
4. Bryson DeChambeau (12/1)
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Sean M. Haffey
Reason to pick: No one has played better in the first three majors of 2024 than DeChambeau, who added a second U.S. Open title at Pinehurst No. 2.
Cause for concern: The Open Championship has been his weakest of the four majors, with a T-8 in 2022 being his lone bright spot.
5. Collin Morikawa (16/1)
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Michael Reaves
Reason to pick: He's contended at each of the year's first three majors and he won the 2021 Open.
Cause for concern: Somehow he only has one PGA Tour win since that victory at Royal St. George's.
6. Cameron Smith (22/1)
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Mike Stobe
Reason to pick: The Champion Golfer of the Year the last time the Open was held in Scotland, Smith has a pair of LIV runners-up this year and has made the cut in all three majors.
Cause for concern: Outside of that victory at St. Andrews, the Aussie has never finished better than T-20 at an Open.
7. Jon Rahm (14/1)
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Michael Reaves
Reason to pick: He's Jon Rahm and he's finished in the top three in two of the past three Opens. And despite not winning in 2024, he's still No. 2 on the LIV Golf season standings.
Cause for concern: He hasn't looked like Jon Rahm at the majors this year and had to WD from the last one due to a foot infection. Also, drones. He's not a big fan of drones.
8. Tyrrell Hatton (30/1)
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Reason to pick: A recent winner at the LIV Golf Nashville event and recorded his best Open finish (T-5) the last time it was played at Troon.
Cause for concern: That's also his best overall major finish—and he wasn't close to winning with Stenson and Mickelson running away with it.
9. Ludvig Aberg (16/1)
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David Cannon
Reason to pick: If not for Scottie Scheffler at Augusta and a questionable pin position at Pinehurst, this guy might already have taken his name off the list of the best players without a major.
Cause for concern: He's making his Open Championship debut—not that that phased him at the Masters or U.S. Open.
10. Viktor Hovland (18/1)
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JARED C TILTON
Reason to pick: The reigning FedEx Cup champ looked like his old self with a third-place finish at the PGA Championship.
Cause for concern: Then he didn't look like his old self with a missed cut at the U.S. Open. Still getting a lot of respect from the bookies at that number.
11. Jordan Spieth (40/1)
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Aric Becker/ISI Photos
Reason to pick: Other than Augusta National, this three-time major champ seems to play his best golf at the Open Championship. Spieth has top-10s in five of his last eight starts in the event—including his last major title in 2017—and hasn't finished out of the top 30 during that span.
Cause for concern: Where do we begin? Since the Masters he has three missed cuts and nothing better than a T-29.
12. Robert MacIntyre (65/1)
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Reason to pick: Still riding high from his maiden PGA Tour title at the Canadian Open, MacIntyre returns to his home country where he came so close at the Scottish Open last year.
Cause for concern: His dad hasn't caddied for him since that amazing win in Canada. Apparently, Bob hasn't heard of the phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
13. Rory McIlroy (7/1)
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Jared C. Tilton
Reason to pick: I've got to put him on here just in case he pulls another all-time bounceback after a U.S. Open collapse that earned its own Ben Rector song . . .
Cause for concern: There's no way I'm betting him at 7-to-1 odds, though.
RANKING: The top 10 golfers without a major