Golf Betting: The 151st Open Championship Best Picks and Preview

It’s the final major on the golfing calendar as we all look forward to The 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, Merseyside, England.

The 156 field will all be playing for a share of the $16.5M prize purse with the winner collecting The Claret Jug & a winner cheque for a cool $3M.

Cameron Smith returns to defend the title he won last year on The Old Course at St Andrew’s. His winning scorecard read 268, -20.

Royal Liverpool will be playing 7,383 yards long this week, it’s a stunning par 71 Links layout where again the elements will have a say in proceedings.

The weather forecasts scattered showers with sunny intervals on Thursday & Friday with more rain forecast over the weekend. Breezes will peak at around 15mph.

The 151st Open Championship will be screened on Sky Sports Golf & Sky Sports Main Event with live coverage starting at 6.30 am on Thursday morning.

Rickie Fowler 22/1 EW Betfred 1-8 places

For my first and main selection to win the Claret Jug, I’m going to point you all in the direction of Rickie Fowler 22/1 EW Betfred 1-8 places. The 34-year-old from California is playing some of the best golf he’s ever played at the moment. I tipped Rickie at 20/1 on my new Telegram channel to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic just a fortnight ago and the talented American duly obliged on that occasion. I had been saying for quite some time that Rickie Fowler was going to win again anytime soon, that was his first W since 2019 & I can only see that long-awaited victory bringing more confidence to his game.

Last week at The Scottish Open at Renaissance Club he went around fairly well finishing 42nd despite the conditions. Rickie Fowler is yet to win a major but has finished runner-up on no less than three occasions which include T2nd at the 143rd Open when he was second best to none other than the one & only Rory McIlroy.

Now here’s the clue, that amazing effort was here at Hoylake so Fowler should have a good idea of what’s needed to go one better this time around. I’m all over Rickie Fowler again this week as I think he will definitely be up there challenging on Sunday afternoon possibly on his way to winning The 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.

Rory McIlroy 15/2 Boylesports/Various 1-8 places

For my next best tip to win The Open after much consideration I simply cannot leave out Rory McIlroy 15/2 Boylesports/Various 1-8 places. I try my best to stay clear from favourites, especially at the big events but my job is to pick winners and there isn’t a box on my list that Rory doesn’t tick.

You all know that the 34-year-old Irishman isn’t just the bookie's favourite but he’s also my favourite and after that phenomenal effort at The Renaissance Club last weekend when he miraculously birdied those final two holes to win The Scottish Open. That was his first victory on Scottish soil, so it’s impossible to ignore Rory’s chances this week at Royal Liverpool. That victory came at a cost to my Telegram members as I had tipped Bob MacIntyre in my 100/1 + Winner special bet but Rory just pipped Bob Mac at the post, honestly I’m still scratching my head as to how that all panned out in North Berwick last week.

I still can’t complain as we still made good Each Way profit even though it could have been much much better. I had been thinking can Rory bounce back after all those recent near misses but Rory answered my own question with his first victory in Scotland. Check this out everyone, Rory’s last half dozen events have ended like this 1st Scottish Open, T7th Travelers Championship, the 2nd US Open, T9th Canadian Open, T7th Memorial Tournament & finally T7th US PGA Championship.
Two of the above are majors with all of the above being Top 10 finishes.

Rory is the elite of the elite in the world of golf but hasn’t won a major since winning The Open at this venue in 2014. The Irishman can cement his place in the history books with another world-famous victory when he’s crowned The Open Champ again this coming Sunday at Hoylake, that should be enough to silence the critics & Rory haters.

Brooks Koepka 22/1 EW Unibet 1-7 places

For my final outright pick to win the final major on the golfing calendar, I’m going to single out Brooks Koepka 22/1 EW Unibet 1-7 places. Yip this one may come as a shock but again my job is to pick winners. You all know my thoughts about the LIV set up but I’m sure this is going to sort itself out sooner rather than later & all the best players in the world will be playing competitive golf against each other week after week, just how it used to be & not just at majors.

Brooks Koepka is a major machine having won no less than five of them. All those major victories happened in the States so the talented 33-year-old will be eyeing up this chance to win in British soil with glee. His best effort yet at The Open was 4th back in 2019 at Royal Portrush so Koepka clearly enjoys Links golf.

He was also 6th in 2021 at Royal St George’s at the 149th edition of The Open & finished runner-up at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship just a few years back. I’ve absolutely nothing to go on with stats & figures from the LIV Tour and I’d I’m honest I haven’t even looked but what I have got is good enough.

I’m judging Koepka on his performances at majors from just this year. Winner at the US PGA Championship, T2nd The Masters & T17th US Open.

It would be unfair for me to leave out anyone just because of their choice of where they prefer to play golf. It’s definitely not for me but that doesn’t change my view that Brooks Koepka will again be up they’re challenging with the best players on the planet this weekend. If Brooks is on the leaderboard on the final back nine then he could be going home at the end of play with half a dozen majors in the bag.