Table of Contents
Complete Guide to The Open Championship 2023
The 151st Open Championship, also known as the British Open, returns to Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake for the first time since 2014 as the world’s top golfers compete for one of the oldest trophies in professional sports.
Royal Liverpool is famous for its rolling fairways and strategically placed deep bunkers, forcing players to adapt their game to be less impacted by the constant wind.
It’s the final major championship of the 2023 season, featuring a talented field led by 2014 winner and current favorite Rory McIlroy.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Open Championship Tips 2023
Fans enjoy wagering on the Open Championship, as picking an underdog can give bettors a massive return on their investment. However, those instances don’t come along very often.
The most successful bettors will look for golfers who have had recent success on the Tour or have historically performed well at Royal Liverpool. It’s also better to bet on the weekend after the field has been reduced than the first two rounds.
A varied approach to Open Championship and golf betting is a great way to add excitement, meaning there’s something for all types of bettors, whether it’s an overwhelming favorite, a longshot, or a prop bet.
Open Championship Odds 2023
The Royal Liverpool course has changed somewhat since the last time the Open Championship was played here in 2014. It features a new par-3 at the 17th hole and the 18th has been expanded to a 611-yard par-5.
However, if there’s anyone that can handle these changes, it’s the current favorite in the Open Championship odds, McIlroy. He hasn’t won a major in nine years, but his form has been fantastic this season, with a win, two second-place finishes and eight top-tens in 13 PGA Tour events.
Scottie Scheffler is now a threat to win anytime he steps on the course, getting his first six PGA Tour wins in the last 18 months, including a victory at the 2022 Masters. He also tied for third at last week’s Scottish Open to give him seven straight top-five finishes.
Current Masters champion John Rahm is also near the top of the board for this year’s Open Championship after skipping the Scottish Open last week to get some rest after missing the cut at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago. He tied for third in 2021 at Royal St. George and tied for 34th at last year’s Open Championship and is looking to regain his early-season form, but should be at the top of the Open Championship leaderboard on Sunday.
Open Championship Insight, Stats and Research
The Open Championship is played at a different course in the United Kingdom each year and will be played at Royal Liverpool for the 13th time in the Open Championship 2023.
This year’s course is a par 72 after being extended to 7,349 yards on the banks of the River Dee. The field consists of 156 players that will be reduced after the second round on Friday evening. Past champions now playing for LIV Golf, such as Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen and Cameron Smith, will also participate in the 2023 Open Championship. However, several prominent players won’t participate in the Open Championship 2023, such as Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell and Sergio Garcia.
The links course at Hoylake will be a formidable challenge for this field, with its 81 bunkers seeing lots of action due to the strong winds.
Tee times can also be a major factor on this course that rewards long hitters and strategic gameplay.
Predictions: What to Expect
The 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews saw McIlroy lose his lead in the final round as Cam Smith caught fire to snatch away the championship. McIlroy will be looking for revenge and is the current favorite after his exciting win at last week’s Scottish Open.
Among the leading contenders include a slew of the world's top-ranked golfers.
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy is still looking for his first major in nine years but has played well enough in 2023 to find himself at the top of the Open Championship odds. He’s finished no lower than ninth place in his last six outings, including runner-up at the U.S. Open. While he’s winless in majors since the last time he played here in 2014, he has a great chance to break the drought this weekend as one of the top Open Championship picks.
John Rahm
Rahm has been among the favorites each week since winning his Green Jacket and will be well-rested when he tees off on Thursday. He tied for 34th last year at St. Andrews and tied for third in the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s. However, if his rest last week helps him get back into early-season form, he’s sure to be at the top of the Open Championship leaderboard to contend for his second major of the season in the final round.
Scottie Scheffler
Coming into this week, Scheffler has finished no lower than fifth in his previous seven starts and has the best true strokes gained in professional golf over the last 12 months. The last time Scheffler finished outside the top 12 was in the fall of 2022. He’s the current world’s number-one-ranked golfer and there’s no indication that his heater will cool down anytime soon. He leads as one of the Open Championship picks for 2023.
Justin Thomas
Thomas’ best finish at the Open Championship was in 2019, when he tied for 11th place. However, he still makes more birdies than most pro golfers and isn’t far below his usual production. He has a history of struggling at the Open, only finishing better than 40th once, but his creativity should help him at Hoylake, which emphasizes skillful approach shots and gives a lot of room off the tee.
Cameron Smith
Last year’s Open Championship winner made the jump to LIV last year and had an uneventful start to 2023. He finished ninth at the PGA Championship and fourth at the U.S. Open before winning a LIV event last week. While his 2022 victory was his only top-ten finish at the Open, he’s one of the best short-game players in the world and should have a strong performance in defense of his title.
Brooks Koepka
Ranking 12th in the World Golf rankings in 2023, Koepka has performed well at the Open Championship, with four top-ten finishes in his previous six starts. He also seems to perform well at majors when the course is in its worst condition. If Hoylake is playing tough for most players this weekend, expect to see him at the top of the Open Championship leaderboard when it’s all said and done.
How to Bet on the Open Championship
Odds for the Open Championship are available at the top sportsbooks, but players must make their wagers early to have a chance to win. Golfers will tee off early in the morning, around 3 am in the U.S., so bettors should have their wagers the night before each round.
Picking an Open Championship winner is always an enormous challenge for bettors, but thankfully, there are many other ways to wager on the tournament. A popular wager is on head-to-head matchups, where a list of matchups is available where bettors can pick one player to finish higher than another.
Bookmakers also offer a long list of prop bets, where bettors can wager on things like whether there’ll be a playoff or if a particular hole will have more than five eagles throughout the tournament. Being successful at most prop bets requires skill, with some that are mainly based on luck, such as if a player will make a hole-in-one at some point during play.
Where to Bet on the Open Championship
Golf is popular at online sportsbooks where bettors can wager on the PGA Tour and other top golfing events. Various top-rated sportsbooks are available for Open Championship betting online, with interest always the highest for major tournaments.
Best Betting Sites
The best PGA betting sites for the Open Championship odds offer a wide range of options, including the outright winner, position finished, head-to-head matchups and prop bets.
The top sites also offer competitive odds, fast and convenient payouts, a great welcome bonus and overall positive user and industry reviews.
