2024 British Open Course Preview: Royal Troon Golf Club
The final major championship of the year is here as The 152nd Open Championship will be played this week, and I have three 2024 British Open One & Done Picks ready.
The British Open is such an exciting event no matter the venue, and Royal Troon hosts for the first time since 2016. That British Open featured an epic duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson, where Stenson prevailed to win his only major. This year's Open Championship will also be an absolute gem, I can promise you that.
I have been at Royal Troon since Saturday afternoon to scout the course and get eyes on some players. After my first walk of the golf course, I realized how difficult this course is.
In terms of familiar PGA Tour courses, I'd characterize Royal Troon as a combination of TPC Sawgrass and Torrey Pines. On the front nine, golfers really have to hit their specific targets off the tee and may be asked to club down multiple times. After finding the short grass, golfers will have some shorter approaches into the diabolical greens at Royal Troon, which are smaller than those at most other British Open courses.
The back nine is more straightforward but not easier. There are more long and straight tee shots required with steep consequences lurking for bad swings.
After processing all of the information and taking a look at the odds board, here are the best 2024 British Open One & Done Picks for Royal Troon.
2024 British Open One & Done Picks (OAD)
Viktor Hovland +2800
Viktor Hovland is one of my favorite golfers near the top of the odds board at this week's British Open, especially in markets like One & Done and DFS. His form is not great, which will help keep his ownership down and make him a valuable contrarian One & Done pick.
However, this isn't new for Hovland because over the last two seasons, he entered The Open Championship in mediocre form. Nonetheless, he still found a way to tie for 13th and fourth, respectively, in those British Opens.
I like this venue even more for Hovland to have one of his better major results. Royal Troon is a golf course that will separate the elite ball strikers from the poor ones as players will need to be precise into these small greens.
Additionally, Royal Troon is far less difficult than most other courses in The Open rota around the greens, which is important because this will minimize Hovland's biggest weakness. Small misses into these greens will leave manageable straightforward chips, which I trust Hovland to get up and down.
Bigger misses on approach will leave golfers in some penal bunkers or gorse bushes, which will be a tall task for anyone to recover from.
Hovland is a golfer with winning upside who may be flying under the radar after an underwhelming T46 at the Scottish Open. Nonetheless, he offers a chance to be a contrarian play at a golf course which compares eerily similar to Olympia Fields, where he won last summer.
Akshay Bhatia 150-1
Akshay Bhatia has been camping out on leaderboards since the Memorial Tournament in early June. He was in contention at Jack's place on Saturday afternoon before falling off. From there, he was in the top 10 for a majority of the weekend at Pinehurst and followed that up with a T5 while playing in the final group on Sunday at the Travelers Championship.
Not to mention, he nearly went wire to wire at the Rocket Mortgage Classic just a few weeks ago until a costly three-putt on the 72nd hole left him a shot behind winner Cam Davis.
Bhatia is a young stud with all the shots, and no one would be surprised to see his name in the mix for the first time in a major this week — especially considering that he is fresh off of his first top 20 in a major in just his fourth start. Royal Troon is a golf course requires strong ball-striking, and that is exactly what Bhatia brings to the table.
Aaron Rai 65-1
Believe it or not, Rai was not qualified for the 2024 Open Championship as of Sunday afternoon. He needed to post a low round on Sunday of the Scottish Open to grab one of the final qualifying spots, and his clutch final-round 63 punched the Englishman's ticket to Royal Troon.
Rai has been playing some of the most consistent golf of anyone in the world as his elite ball-striking has buoyed his game over the last two months. In his last eight starts, Rai has finished in the top 20 six times and in the top 10 four times.
His elite form should have him well suited to thrive at Royal Troon. His ball-striking will will play like gold on this front nine, and although he isn't the longest driver, his extreme accuracy off the tee will leave him in position to make birdies from the fairway and avoid penal bunkers, gorse and rough off the tee.
Rai has all the made cut equity in the world, and from there we are buying his recent form to grab a high upside finish. He is a higher priced golfer who will not be selected by a majority of your British Open One & Done pool.
