The final major championship of the year is here as Royal Troon Golf Club is set to host The 152nd Open Championship in Troon, Scotland.
Our golf analysts have their 2024 British Open Picks ready for this week's major as Champion Golfer of the Year Brian Harman looks to defend his title.
Our golf betting experts have already peppered the 2024 British Open odds and outright betting board on Monday, and they have outright bets for four different golfers to win the tournament this week, including Scottie Scheffler.
Find our favorite 2024 British Open Picks and Outright PGA Picks for this week's major championship at Royal Troon below.
2024 British Open Picks
Tony Sartori: Scottie Scheffler +550 (BetMGM)
Of course, this is the “lamest” bet on the odds board, but I was shocked to see a 5-1 return on the clear-cut best player in the world, and I’m not going to pass that up at the year's final major. It’s repetitive to keep listing Scottie Scheffler’s recent accomplishments, but six wins over his past 10 tournaments on the PGA Tour elevate him into extremely elite company since he shifted to a mallet putter.
Even when he hasn’t won, Scheffler was right there as the four other tournaments culminated in two ties for second, a tie for eighth (after being arrested during the PGA Championship and playing the third round without his usual caddie) and a tie for 41st.
Outside of the U.S. Open, Scheffler has gained strokes putting in nine of those 10 tournaments, and he has noted that he struggled on the greens at Pinehurst No. 2 because he didn't read the greens well. His putting stroke is much improved, and those green-reading issues from the U.S. Open shouldn't be a factor this week.
With the flatstick figured out, it’s hard to imagine he won’t at least be in the mix come Sunday. Given Scheffler's massive ceiling and floor, he is a must-play in every tournament when receiving a +550 return.
Spencer Aguiar: Tyrrell Hatton 28-1 (bet365)
For the first major championship this year, I have an outright card that I really like from top to bottom. There are enticing prices available for several golfers because of the slight decrease for each favorite with their odds relative to past majors and signature events.
While Scottie Scheffler can still wreck the board this week at the British Open by himself, the fact that I was as low on him as I have been all season did heighten my optimism for golfers priced from about 18-1 to 50-1.
You can find my full betting card on this week's Links + Locks Open Championship Betting Preview when it drops early on Wednesday morning, but I will highlight the option who is most likely to shift in odds before that show airs in Tyrrell Hatton at 28-1.
Hatton has that ideal profile that I try to find every week of a golfer with a ceiling outcome that outweighs his baseline, which is one of the ways I always locate win equity inside of my sheet.
I may not always come up with the right decision when it is staring me in the face — like leaving Robert MacIntyre off of my pretournament betting card in Scotland even though my model loved his upside — but Hatton's upside is tantalizing when we look at his top-10 grades for Comp Course Production, Expected Strokes Gained: Total and Weighted Scrambling.
I understand that this 28-1 price feels shallow. We could say the same thing about another golfer I like in Tommy Fleetwood at 25-1. However, it is important to note how these links-style venues accentuate the equity for each option to win this contest, something highlighted by the books attempting to skew exposure away from each golfer.
Greg Waddell: Tony Finau 50-1 (BetRivers)
Tony Finau didn't play last week at the Scottish Open, but he has been a silent killer on the links over the last decade. Out of every player in the field, he has the second-highest Strokes Gained average on links golf courses since 2014. In four non-Open Championship starts on links courses since 2017, his average position finish is 9.3. Overall, Finau has eight top-20 finishes or better in 11 starts on links courses since 2016.
His skill sets map perfectly with what Royal Troon demands. His approach shots are elite – ranking third in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green this season. He is good off the tee, ranking 48th in Total Driving on Tour this season, and also elite with his short game at 15th in SG: Around the Green. If he finds the fairways this week, expect plenty of birdie opportunities for Finau this weekend.
Finau has also been playing the best golf of his career as of late. He has finished in the top 18 or better in each of his last five starts, including at two major championships. His last three results are a tie for eighth at the Memorial Tournament, a tie for third at the U.S. Open and a tie for fifth at the Travelers Championship.
He is in incredibly good form, and 50-1 is incredible value given his current form combined with his success on links golf courses in the past.
Matt Gannon: Viktor Hovland 30-1 (DraftKings)
Viktor Hovland enters this year's Open Championship with some fairly rough form. 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 at Royal Liverpool and fourth at St Andrews, respectively, in those British Opens.
He also tied for 12th in the 2021 British Open at Royal St. George's, where Collin Morikawa won, so Hovland has finished in the top 15 in each of his three bids for a Claret Jug.
It is not a matter of if, but when Hovland will win a major championship because he is too skilled and talented not to win one at some point.
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, which will help accentuate Hovland's strength with his irons.
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.
With Royal Troon placing an emphasis on elite ball-striking, which is exactly what Viktor Hovland does best, I love his chances to win that first major this week at 28-1 odds.
