Open Championship 2026 Golf Odds, Picks And Preview

The Open Championship 2026 major has arrived, and Royal Birkdale in Southport, England hosts The Open for the 11th time. The course in Southport is on the northwest coast of England, about 20 miles from Liverpool and 200 miles from London. Tournament picks, props and player profiles provided, and I have many other bets for the 2026 Open Championship and will update any other day-to-day matchups and props on X @FairwayJay.

Since going 1-1 in tournament matchups on two underdogs at The U.S. Open, our weekly PGA Tournament picks went 1-0 at both the Travelers Championship and John Deere Classic and are 23-12 YTD, and we passed on the Scottish Open on our weekly picks at Vegas Sports Zone. Overall posted picks including props and finishing position went 4-1 in both those tournaments. I post picks at Off Shore Gaming Association for all Signature Events and Majors this season, and those tournament matchups are 11-9.

Every player in the top 50 of the world rankings are playing the Open Championship 2026 event, and a total of 160 golfers will shoot for the Claret Jug as major champion. I’ve provided player profiles and odds on many top players and those golfers generating the most betting interest at the leading online sportsbooks. Tournament matchups will follow Wednesday, along with any other props and finishing positition plays.

Course preview at Royal Birkdale includes video and audio description of the 7,223 yard par 70.

Open Championship Picks

Fairway’s Favorites: McIlroy, Fleetwood, Rahm, Hovland, Morikawa
Fairway’s Longshots: Hatton, Schauffele, Burns, A. Fitzpatrick, Tom Kim
Fairway’s Flyers: A. Scott, Fox, Wallace, Li, J. Parry

Tournament matchups: Hatton (+220) over Scheffler
Top 20 and 30: Hatton, Fleetwood

Top Players, Odds, Stats And Pairings

Leading favorites and contenders golf odds from BetOnline and top online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. 

Here are the top players, odds and most bet golfers at the 154^th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. A total of 160 golfers will shoot for the prized possession of the Claret Jug. First tee announcer David Lancaster will call out the names from 52 threesomes with notable groups also highlighted (when announced, below) for the opening two rounds Thursday and Friday, July 16-17.

Scottie Scheffler (+850): Driver – TaylorMade Qi10, (8 degrees). Spider Tour X Putter. Taylor Made P7TW Irons. Srixon Z U85 utility driving iron. Titleist Vokey Wedges. Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1. The No. 1 player in the world enters as the favorite in every major since 2022. Scheffler is a 20-time PGA Tour winner and just turned 30 years old on Sunday of the U.S. Open, where he finished T4 behind winner Wyndham Clark. Scheffler has now gone 14 straight events without winning since the opening 2026 American Express, but does have three runner-up finishes this year including at The Masters behind winner Rory McIlroy. Scheffler won the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush (-17) by four strokes ahead of Harris English to secure his fourth major title and first Claret Jug. Scheffler has finished top 25 in all five of his Open Championship starts with a victory in 2025, T7 in 2024 and T8 on debut in 2021.

Rory McIlroy (+950): Driver – TaylorMade Qi4D (9). TaylorMade Spider Tour X3 Putter. TaylorMade Rors Proto Irons and MG5 Wedges. Golf Ball: TaylorMade TP5. McIlroy won his 6th career major championship at the 2026 Masters, and his career Grand Slam includes a British Open victory hoisting the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool in the 2014 Open Championship. McIlroy finished T7 at the 2025 Open at 10-under par, and missed the cut in 2024. But the 37-year-olds links results and Open record are strong with the 2014 win followed by T5, T4, T2 in 2016-2018, and 3rd in 2022 and T6 in 2023. He also enters off a solid performance at the Scottish Open where he led the field in SG: Off the Tee and top 3 in SG: Tee to Green.

Tommy Fleetwood (+1600): Driver – TaylorMade Qi4D LS ( 9-10) plus TM r7 Quad Mini Driver. TaylorMade Spider Tour Black Putter. TaylorMade P7TW Irons and TaylorMade Hi-Toe 3 Wedge (52°-09°) and TaylorMade Milled Grind 5 Wedge. Golf Ball: TaylorMade TP5x Pix. Shop around for better odds on Fleetwood, as I’ve bet him at 20/1 and added to some props and other top finishes and outright parlay and props. The 35-year-old shoots for his first major title again after coming close here at The Open finishing 2nd in 2019, and T4 in 2022 to go along with other top 12 finishes in 2018 and 2023 before T16 last year after a poor opening round 73.

Matt Fitzpatrick (+1600): Driver – Ping G430 LST (9). Bettinardi BB1 ‘Fitz’ Prototype Putter. Ping i210 4-iron and S55 Irons. Titleist Vokey Design SM10 Wedges. Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x. The market is very high on leading 2026 Player of the Year Matt Fitzpatrick, who tied for 4th at last year’s Open for his first top 10 in The Open in 10 starts. I’m not quite as optimistic, and his odds reflect buying high. But Fitz does rank No. 1 in Tour in Around the Green stats, which is a key stat for sucess at Birkdale.

Jon Rahm (+2200): Driver –  Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond Driver (11.5). Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie Putter. Callaway Apex TCB Irons and Callaway Opus SP Wedges. Golf Ball: Calloway Chrome Tour. Strong play and overall game with proven play on links and worldwide. Rahm has only missed the cut once in nine Open starts with three top 10’s including T2 in 2023 and T3 in 2021.

Xander Schauffele (+3300): Driver –  Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Driver (10.5). Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas CH Xander Prototype Putter. Callaway Apex TCB Irons.  Callaway Opus SP Wedge and Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56.10S) and a Titleist Vokey Design SM10 WedgeWorks. Golf Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour Dot. The 2024 Open Champion also finished T2 in 2018, T7 in 2025 and has made the cut on all eight starts with three other top 20 finishes.

Collin Morikawa (+3300): Driver – TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8). TaylorMade Spider Tour X Putter. TaylorMade P770 (4) P7CB (4-5-6) P730 (7-PW) Irons. TaylorMade MG5 Wedges. Golf Ball: TaylorMade TP5x. The 2021 Open champion has missed the cut on three of the last four years at the Open along with a T16 in 2024. Birkdale is perhaps the closest comp course on the Rota to Royal St. George’s, where Morikawa won and his approach play, accuracy and around the green play make him a logical contender.

Chris Gotterup (+3500): Driver – Ping G440 LST (7.5). TaylorMade Spider Tour X L-Neck Putter. Bridgestone 220 MB Irons and TaylorMade Milled Grind 5 Wedges. Golf Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X Mindset. Gotterups odds to win have dropped from 40/1 the past week. He finished 3rd in his Open debut last year after winning the Scottish Open, and has since proven to be a top-ranked player on Tour winning three times in 2026.

Wyndham Clark (+3000): Driver – TaylorMade Qi4D (9). Ping Scottsdale Tec Ally Blue Onset Putter. Titleist T200 Irons and Titleist Vokey Design SM11 Wedges. Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x. A top player on Tour past month including U.S. Open win. Still not on his side at The Open, where he failed to finish top 30 in first three starts and then T4 last year.

Justin Rose (+3300): Driver – Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max (9). Titleist Scotty Cameron Circle T-5 Putter. McLaren Series 3 4-iron and McLaren Series 1 Irons. Titleist Vokey Design SM10 Wedge (52-08F, 56-10S), Cleveland RTZ Tour Rack Prototype (60) Wedge). Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x. A T4 on debut as a 19-year-old, Rose is now 45 years old and a popular player this week in his home country. He finished T2 in both the 2024 and 2018 Open championship, T6 in 2018 and T16 last year.

Viktor Hovland (+3300): Driver –  Ping G440 LST (9). Ping PLD DS 72 Putter. Ping i210 Irons and  Ping S259 Wedges. Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1. The 29-year-old Norweigan’s odds are done from 40/1. Higher on Hovland with his game in top form and three top 15 finishes at The Open his first three starts including T4 in 2022. He T63 last year when he was struggling with his game and changes.

Tyrrell Hatton (+3500): Driver –  Ping G440 LST driver (9). Ping PLD Oslo Putter. Ping i240 Irons and Ping S159 Wedges. Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x. Top Open contender who has won the Dunhill Links, finished top 6 twice at The Open the past decade, T11 in 2022, T20 in 2023 and T16 last year with his game in strong form along with accuracy, irons and trajectory and proven links play.

Ludvig Aberg (+3500): Driver – Titleist TSR2 (9). Scotty Cameron Phantom 3.2 Putter. Titleist T100 Irons. Titleist Vokey Design SM10 Wedges. Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x. Travel issues, lost golf clubs and a broken driver this month for Aberg, who missed the cut at the Scottish Open. He T23 at The Open last year after missing the cut on debut in 2024.

Robert McIntyre (+3500): Driver – Titleist GTS2 (9).  Scotty Cameron 9.5R Putter. Titleist 620 CB Irons and Titleist Vokey Design SM10 and SM9 Wedges. Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x. Scottman Bobby Mac’s odds are down from 45/1. He T7 at the 2024 Open Championship and has two other top 10’s in six overall starts.

Cameron Young (+4000): Driver –  Titleist GT3 Driver (10).  Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype Putter. Titleist T200 (4i), T100 (5i) and custom 620 MB Irons. Titleist Vokey Design SM11 Wedges. Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot. The 29-year old Young finished 2^nd in his Open Championship debut in 2022, one stroke behind winner Cameron Smith (-20).

Tom Kim (+5000): Driver – Titleist GTS3 (9). Scotty Cameron TourType GSS Tour Prototype Putter. Titleist T100 Irons (4 – 9) and Titleist Vokey Design SM10 Wedges. Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x. Sharpest drop in odds from 100/1 to 60/1 last week and now 50/1. Playing his best golf of the year recently, Kim T2 at The Open in 2023 but missed the cut the last two years.

Sam Burns (+5000): Driver – Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond S (9). Odyssey Ai-One 7S Putter. Callaway Apex MB Irons (4-PW) and  Titleist Vokey SM11 (50°-12F, 56° bent to 55°-14F) and Vokey Wedgeworks (60º) Wedges. Golf Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X. Burns has yet to post a top 30 finish at The Open, and has missed the cut once in five starts.

Other golfers to watch or wager on with notes.

Russell Henley (+5000) – Odds down from 60/1. A top 10 and 5th place finish at The Open the last two years after missing the cut in five of eight starts previously.

Si Woo Kim (+5000) – Odds down from 70/1. Four missed cuts in seven Open starts with a best of T15 in 2022.

Shane Lowry (+6000) – Four top 12’s in 13 Open starts including a win in 2019 and 6th in 2024.

Min Woo Lee (+4500) – Odds keep dropping down from 110/1. Missed the cut the last two years at The Open with a best finish of T21 in 2022.

Justin Thomas (+5500) – No top 10’s in nine Open starts with a best of T11 in 2019.

Joaquin Niemann (+6500) – Missed the cut three times in six Open starts and no top 50 finishes.

Patrick Reed (+6500) – Best Open finish is 10th in 2019 with two missed cuts since and no top 30 finishes.

Jordan Spieth (+7000) – The 2017 Open champion at Birkdale has five top 10’s in 12 starts, making the cut on all 12 but no top 10’s since 2022.

Patrick Cantlay (+7000) – A T12 on debut in 2018 and T8 in 2022 but no top 20’s since.

Bryson DeChambeau (+8000) – The crash and burn continues with odds falling sharply and three straight missed cuts in 2026 majors.

Alex Fitzpatrick (+7000) – A T17 in 2022 in his only Open championship start.

Brooks Koepka (+7500) – Made the cut in 8-of-11 Open starts with four top 10’s most recently T6 in 2021 and T4 in 2019. No top 40 finishes the past four years and two missed cuts.

Aaron Rai (+7500) – PGA Championship winner in 2026 and best finish of T19 on debut at the 2021 Open championship and T34 last year.

Hideki Matsuyama (+9000) – Made the cut eight times at The Open but just one top 10 more than a decade ago and T13 in 2023.

Ben Griffin (+10000) – Missed the cut on all three Open starts.

Harris English (+11000) – Finished 2nd at the 2025 Open but no other top 30’s the past decade.

Brian Harman (+12500) – 2023 Open Championship winner was a longshot then also. He also T6 in 2022 and T10 last year.

Adam Scott (+13500) – Still a Fairway favorite who played golf at UNLV, the Austrailian turns 46 on July 16 and has made the cut 19 times at The Open with 6 top 10’s including in 2024. He held a four shot lead on Sunday at the 2012 Open championship with four holes to go before making bogey on all four closing holes to lose by one to Ernie Els.

Haotong Li (+22500) – T4 at the 2025 Open, three missed cuts and 3rd in 2019.

+11000 t0 +13500: Kurt Kitayama, Nicolai Hojgaard, Kristoffer Reitan, Cam Smith, Akshay Bhatia, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Maverick McNealy.

Notable 3-Somes Thursday-Friday

Order of tee-times starting Thursday

• MacIntyre, Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick
• Griffin, Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee
• Henley, Rose, Hovland
• Thomas, Noren, Day
• Scheffler, Hatton, DeChambeau
• Spieth, Fleetwood, Rahm
• Straka, Niemann, Kitayama
• Gotterup, Burns, Adam Scott
• Morikawa, Spaun, N. Hojgaard
• Lowry, Rai, Koepka
• Young, Clark, Aberg
• McIlroy, Schauffele, Fitzpatrick

Open Championship Trends

Of the 9 Open winners at Royal Birkdale, 8 of them are multiple major winners. Ian Baker Finch won his only major in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Peter Thompson, Mark O’Meara, Jordan Spieth, Padraig Harrington.

It’s been dry and no rain in Southport, and the weather projects as mostly sunny Thursday and Friday and mostly cloudy Saturday and Sunday with temperatures in the 70’s, and changing wind conditions initially 12-15 mph. Slight chance of rain Sunday.

All par 3’s are 175-200 yards.

There are 7 par 4’s from 400-450 yards. Narrow fairway’s 28-30 yards, firm and flat with many deep fairway bunkers.

Open Winners Position After 18 And 36 Holes

Twelve different players have won the British Open since 2013 including seven American’s with Scottie Scheffler (2025), Xander Schauffele (2024) and longshot Brian Harman (2023) all becoming first time Champion Golfers of the Year. Same for Collin Morikawa (2021) and Jordan Spieth (2017), who won at Royal Birkdale. Ten of the 12 golfers were in the top-10 after Round 1 (eight in top-6) with Scheffler T6 last year on his way to winning with notables Matt Fitzpatrick and Harris English in a 5-way tie for first after Round 1. Two years ago, Schauffele rallied to overtake third round leader Billy Horschel and also pass Justin Rose, Sam Burns and Russell Henley to capture the Claret Jug. Nine of the last 12 winners were also in the top-5 through 36 holes before winning with Scheffler the Round 2 and 3 leader on his way to a 4-shot win, and Schauffle T7 through 36 holes and T2 and 1-shot behind entering the final round.

Since 2000, there have been four playoffs at the Open. The most recent occurred in 2015 at the iconic Old Course at St Andrews when Zach Johnson defeated Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman to claim his second career major title. The 2009 Open Championship had a spectacular storyline with 59-year-old Tom Watson mounting a sensational challenge for glory in pursuit of his sixth Open title 26 years after winning his fifth. Watson couldn’t save par on the 72nd hole and lost in a 4-hole aggregate playoff to winner Stewart Cink. Could top pros and major winners in their late 40’s Justin Rose or Adam Scott find a way to make history, or past Open Championship winner Ernie Els (56) pull off a surprise and challenge again for the Claret Jug? Darren Clark (2011) at age 42 and Phil Mickelson (2013) at age 43 are the oldest Open champions in the modern era with Mickelson also challenging 3-years later in one of the great major championship duels in golf history before falling to Henrik Stenson, who captured the 2016 Open at age 40 at Royal Troon. Ernie Els won the 2012 Open at Muirfield at age 42 when Adam Scott bogeyed each of the last four holes Sunday to lose by 1-shot with Tiger Woods finishing third.

Check back for more updates, player profiles, stats, picks and props with information you can bet on ahead of the 2026 Open Championship during tournament action with live/in-game betting options providing more ways to win while finding the best odds at top online sportsbooks.

You can bet on it.

Golf Betting Notes and History from FairwayJay

FairwayJay 2026 tournament matchups 23-12 through the Scottish Open in July.

My golf coverage and research includes use and references from sites at Data Golf along with Fantasy National, and others. I gain added information from handicappers, analysts, colleagues and media members while researching course stats and previews with previous weekly coverage in my PGA tournament updates in Forbes. That includes top golf insider Justin Ray Golf, who contributes to PGA Tour (dot com) and The Athletic with insightful stats. The site GolfStats has also has player performance charts and a player competitor tool plus added stats and previews.

I’ve added my own player profiles pieces for select majors and events including 2026 Masters, 2026 Players Championship,  2025 Masters, 2025 Players Championship and trends. You can review those along with others from 2024 in Forbes for The Player Championship and Masters top 9 and top 18 golfers plus 12 top golfers at the Open Championship at Royal Troon.