You can find great betting value on anyone outside of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy ahead of the British Open at Royal Troon.
Scheffler is the unsurprising clear favorite heading into the final major of 2024, while McIlroy is No. 2 after his top-five finish at the Scottish Open. Scheffler is +550 to win his second major of the season while McIlroy is +800 to snap a major drought that dates back to the 2014 British Open at Royal Liverpool.
The British Open is just the second start since the U.S. Open for Scheffler. He was uncharacteristically poor with his irons at Pinehurst on his way to a tie for 41st at 8-over. He bounced back the next week with a win at the Travelers Championship in a playoff over Tom Kim.
McIlroy is second in the Official World Golf Rankings to Scheffler and has also played just once since the U.S. Open. By now, you know that McIlroy missed a playoff with winner Bryson DeChambeau in brutal fashion at Pinehurst when he missed a short putt on his 72nd hole. After taking a few weeks off from golf to reflect on the loss, McIlroy shot 68 or better in all four of his rounds at the Scottish Open on the way to a tie for fourth.
The board is crowded after Scheffler and McIlroy. PGA winner Xander Schauffele is at +1200 ahead of Ludvig Aberg at +1400 and DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa at +1600. Aberg had the lead heading into the final round at the Scottish Open before he faded on Sunday.
Morikawa could be sneaky value, especially if you bet him to finish in the top 10 at +150. He hasn’t finished outside the top 16 in any tournament since the Valero Texas Open in early April. That’s a run of nine tournaments and he’s finished in the top 15 in all three majors in 2024.
Outside of DeChambeau, the top LIV Golf player on the board is neither Jon Rahm (+2500) or Brooks Koepka (+4000). The honor goes to Tyrrell Hatton at +2200. He’s got better odds than both Tommy Fleetwood (+2500) and Scottish Open winner Robert MacIntyre (+3300) as they all try to win their home tournament.
Tiger Woods is way down the board at +20000 as he hopes to finish his fourth tournament of the season. The British Open is the fifth event Woods has entered in 2024 but he had to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational early in the year because of illness. Woods finished 60th at the Masters in April and has missed the cut in both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
