Six years ago, Shane Lowry made his major championship breakthrough as he won the Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland.
Will Lowry contend for the win this week as the world’s oldest golf tournament returns to Royal Portrush? Read on for 2025 Open Championship predictions and picks, and be sure to keep up with the latest odds from the best online sportsbooks to find the best value for your British Open bets.
Bet on the Open Championship at Top Online Sportsbooks
Open Championship Odds
Odds are courtesy of BetOnline.
- Scottie Scheffler +575
- Rory McIlroy +825
- Jon Rahm +1250
- Xander Schauffele +2200
- Tommy Fleetwood +2200
- Bryson DeChambeau +2500
- Ludvig Aberg +2500
- Tyrrell Hatton +3000
- Viktor Hovland +3000
- Shane Lowry +3500
- Robert MacIntyre +3500
- Collin Morikawa +4000
- Matt Fitzpatrick +4000
- Justin Rose +4000
- Sepp Straka +4500
- Justin Thomas +5500
See more Open Championship odds.
Open Championship Predictions and Picks
Tournament Winner Pick: Sepp Straka
In each of the previous three editions of the Open Championship, the winner finished inside the top 20 in the Genesis Scottish Open.
If you look at the top 20 from last week’s Scottish Open, that trend throws up some interesting options. From tournament favorites, that list includes Scheffler, McIlroy, Schauffele, Aberg, Hovland, Fitzpatrick, and Straka.
Going further, of the last nine Open Championship winners, the only one who went in with multiple major wins was Jordan Spieth, who had two major wins when he won at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
So, if we take these two trends into consideration, that strikes McIlroy, Schauffele, and Scheffler from the list.
From the remaining options, Straka, who finished seventh at the Scottish Open, stands out for me.
Yes, he missed the cut at the Masters, PGA Championship, and U.S. Open. Yes, he has all of three top-20 finishes in 17 career major appearances.
But he has been a top performer on the PGA Tour this season, with two wins, six top-10 finishes, and 12 top-20 finishes, including a win (the Truist Championship) and four top 10s in signature events. So, he has the steel for big events.
And his game suits a course in which accuracy and efficiency are key to avoiding trouble. He is 17th in driving accuracy percentage, fourth in greens in regulation percentage, seventh in putting average, and third behind only Scheffler and McIlroy in total strokes gained.
The key for Straka is the first round. While his average for the second (68.89, fifth), third (68.43, second), and fourth (69.00, 12th) are all among the PGA Tour’s best, he’s only 117th (70.61) in first round scoring average. If he starts with a solid Thursday, he should be a prime target for Open Championship live bets.
Xander Schauffele to finish in the top 20 (-110 at BetOnline)
Last week, Schauffele repaid my faith in him with an eighth-place finish, which was just his second top-10 finish of the season.
That is a positive sign heading into his attempt to become the first back-to-back Open Championship winner since Padraig Harrington in 2007 and 2008.
The odds are against him accomplishing that, but he should be on your shortlist to make the top 20. He has three consecutive top-20 finishes in the Open Championship, and he has landed in the top 20 in 13 of his last 14 majors. The only miss in that stretch is this year’s PGA Championship, where double bogey-bogey on 16 and 17 on Sunday saw him finish tied for 28th, a solitary stroke outside of the top 20.
With this level of consistency, these odds are a steal. They were +125 just yesterday, so if you were able to lock them at that price, you really made out like a bandit.
Patrick Cantlay to finish in the top 20 (+225 at BetOnline)
Cantlay missed the cut at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, has only one top-20 finish in his last eight majors, and he has finished in the top 20 at the Open Championship only once in seven tries.
But he has eight top-20 finishes in 15 tournaments this season, and a few weeks off after last playing at the Rocket Classic last month should hopefully serve him well.
Nicolai Hojgaard to finish in the top 30 (+170 at Bovada)
Hojgaard tied for fourth at the Scottish Open, so if he were to up and win this thing, he would fit that trend mentioned above.
Could he do it? Don’t be surprised if he does end up contending. He is one of the biggest hitters on the PGA Tour, ranking sixth in driving distance, and that distance does not always translate into accuracy, as he is just 168th in driving accuracy percentage.
But there is a ton of promise and potential in his game, and if he can put together four solid rounds like he did last week, he could be up there on Sunday. Even if he falls short of contending, a top-30 finish is well within his reach, and this is a very low-risk play at these odds and that target. If you don’t want to take that leap, he’s +105 (also at Bovada) for a top-40 finish, which still offers value but provides a little more room to navigate.
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