2016 British Open Betting Picks

The British Open is set for this coming weekend at Royal Troon, the first time this course has hosted The Open Championship since 2004, when American Todd Hamilton took the Claret Jug from Ernie Els in a playoff, one of just two wins that Hamilton picked up in his entire career. The record of the British Open is one of sleepers emerging to take the title from a star-studded field overwhelmed by the pressure of playing on a difficult course. Let’s take a look at the odds and discuss some golf betting picks for you with this major.

Closer Look at the 2016 British Open Betting Pick

3 days. A burn cuts through the 3rd fairway of ‘Gyaws’ – old Scots word for furrow or drain. https://t.co/nLmqlfcPFShttps://t.co/eekGWIMyYN

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 11, 2016

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day: 7/1 Dustin Johnson: 10/1 Adam Scott: 18/1 Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia: 22/1 Danny Willett, Branden Grace: 25/1 Henrik Stenson: 28/1 Louis Oosthuizen, Phil Mickelson, Shane Lowry: 33/1 Hideki Matsuyama, Bubba Watson, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka, Lee Westwood: 40/1 Paul Casey, Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson, Brandt Snedeker, Jim Furyk, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Charl Schwartzel: 50/1 Graeme McDowell, Justin Thomas, Matt Kuchar, Marc Leishman: 66/1 Luke Donald, Andy Sullivan, Ernie Els: 80/1 Bernd Wiesberger, Jason Dufner: 90/1 All others: 100/1 or higher OK, let’s start with some sleeper talk. Did you know that Louis Oosthuizen was the runner-up at the British and U.S. Opens in 2015? He has made the cut in seven straight majors and made the Top 20 in five of those. He did win the 2010 British Open, leaving the rest of the field seven strokes behind. How about Charl Schwartzel? Well, South Africa has had a finisher in the Top 10 in eight of the last ten British Opens. Schwartzel has also finished in the Top 25 in each of his last four tournaments. Last week, he entered a talent-rich WGC-Bridgestone and tied for seventh. In strokes gained tee to green, he is in ninth place so far this year. Then there’s Matthew Fitzpatrick. The 21-year- old Brit will be a crowd favorite, and he is relentlessly accurate off the tee, which is a premium quality to have at the British Open, which is often marked with brutal rough. He came in seventh at the Masters, and in his British Open debut, he finished as the low amateur. He already has a Tour win this season. Matt Kuchar has five Top-6 finishes in the last six tournaments. He hasn’t won since 2014, and he has never won a major, even though he has finished in the Top 10 on seven occasions. He has solid accuracy (#28 on the Tour with fairways hit, #29 in Greens in Regulation percentage, and #12 in strokes gained tee to green), making the high odds on him a good value. Tour history is a little more reliable predictor for the British Open than it is for the PGA or the U.S. Open, because even though the British Open moves from year to year, all of the courses are very similar in their links styling. Marc Leishman came in fifth in 2014, and last year he went to a playoff with Oosthuizen and Zach Johnson. Leishman has not played well the last two weeks, but his performance across the pond makes him worth considering.