The season’s final major will tee off Thursday afternoon when the 148th Open Championship gets underway Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush Golf Club. Bettors in Pennsylvania can now get in on the action with PA online sports betting with a $250 deposit match at SugarHouse. Meanwhile, NJ online sportsbooks are offering up tons of great betting action on what figures to be a compelling the tournament.

Royal Portrush is hosting its first Open Championship since 1951 and figures to be a challenging obstacle for much of the field thanks to a lack of familiarity for many.

Will Tiger Woods continue his reemergence and earn his 16th major? Will Rory McIlroy will bear the weight of great expectations in his home country to win his second Open Championship. Perhaps a dark horse will emerge from the field to hoists the Claret Jug come Sunday afternoon. Let’s take a look at what to expect this weekend in our British Open betting preview.

BREAKING: For those of you in Pennsylvania, you now can bet on iOS with SugarHouse Sportsbook. You are required to download a geolocation app when you sign up right here.

You can find our full preview, after the jump.

 

2019 British Open TV schedule

Thursday: 1:30 am-4 pm, Golf Channel
Friday: 1:30 am-4 pm, Golf Channel
Saturday: 5-7 am, Golf Channel, 7 am-3 pm, NBC
Sunday: 4-7 am, Golf Channel, 7 am-2 pm, NBC

Both NBCsports.com and NBC Sports app will each stream the event live.

2019 British Open Winner Odds

Here are the odds for some of the 2019 British Open top betting favorites at SugarHouse Sportsbook.

Of course, be sure to shop around and get the best payouts and prices when making your British Open picks.

2019 British Open Betting Action

DraftKings Sportsbook reported earlier in the week that Brooks Koepka leads the way with both 20% of the total handle and 10% of the total bets. Rory McIlroy, Tigers Woods, Rickie Fowler, and Tommy Fleetwood are among the other golfers receiving the most action.

Here’s the breakdown of bets on The Open winner by country at DraftKings:

The Open Winner by Country

% of Handle

% of Bets

USA

55%

51%

Northern Ireland

9%

9%

England

14%

14%

Spain

5%

6%

Italy

3%

3%

Australia

5%

5%

Sweden

2%

2%

Japan

1%

1%

South Africa

2%

3%

Austria

1%

1%

Ireland

1%

1%

2019 British Open Promotions

DraftKings Sportsbook is offering a $50,000 Hole-In-One Jackpot promo. Bettors will share a $50,000 jackpot if a player picked to win scores a hole-in-one. Meanwhile, FanDuel Sportsbook, which is currently live in New Jersey and expected to soon go live in Pennsylvania, is offering various odds boosts. Bettors can grab Tiger woods to win on a boost to +2500, or Jordan Spieth to secure a Top 5 finish at +1100.

 

Tiger Woods Betting Odds

Here is a list of Tiger Woods finish and prop bets, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook:

Tiger Woods – The Open Championship

Market

Odds

To Win

+2200

Top 5 Finish

+450

Top 10 Finish

+225

Leader after Round 1

+3300

To Make the Cut

Yes -455

To Miss the Cut

No +300

To get a Hole In One in the Tournament

+8000

Top American Player

+900

2019 British Open breakdown

Here is our evaluation of some of the betting favorites this week, and the reasons they will or won’t win the season’s fourth and final major championship.

Rory McIlroy +800

First round tee time: 5:09 a.m.

There will be a lot of pressure on McIlroy at Royal Portrush, but there’s plenty of reasons to like him. He notably shot a course record 61 there as a 16-year-old and has the built-in advantage of familiarity with a course that’s a relative unknown to several of the top threats this weekend. In terms of his recent game, McIlroy is third on the PGA Tour in course and field adjusted driving distance over the last six weeks at 321 yards, and he’s sixth average adjusted strokes per round at 67.3. He’s got the narrative, the game, and the comfort level all on his side.

Brooks Koepka +1100

First round tee time: 8:04 a.m.

In addition to currently being the World’s top-ranked player, Koepka enters this tournament with a secret weapon.  He’s got caddie Ricky Elliott trailing him, key because he is a Royal Portrush member and has intimately familiarity with the course which should help Koepka navigate its nuances as the weekend progresses. Plus, Koepka should be well rested:

Koepka clearly comes from the school of Allen Iverson.

Jon Rahm +1400

First round tee time: 10:21 a.m.

Rahm dazzled with a final round 62 to win the Irish Open two weeks ago, and, as a result, he’s climbed up the board of Open favorites leading up to the tournament. Rahm is noted as an outstanding links player whose proven that he can have success in a similar climate that he will see this weekend. With a 67.3 average adjusted strokes per round, Rahm has an identical number over the last six weeks to Rory McIlroy. He figures to be very much in contention to win this thing.

Dustin Johnson +1600

First round tee time: 9:59 a.m.

You never know what you’re going to get with Johnson. He is the world’s  No. 2 ranked golfer, but only comes into this tournament with one major win to his credit – the 2016 U.S. Open. He’s been close two adding to his resume in recent majors, finishing second at both at Augusta and Bethpage. At +1850 odds, he’s not a bad bet to finally break through. 

Tiger Woods +2000

First round tee time: 10:10 a.m.

Tiger hasn’t played in over a month since he played in mid-June at the U.S. Open. Apparently, he was looking to a fellow competitor for get a tune up earlier this week. He didn’t get much help:

Ouch. No respect for a legend.

In all seriousness, Woods took a break ahead of playing at Bethpage where he didn’t last through Friday. His ability to shake off the rust will be key to his success as will his ability to stay healthy. Weather is expected to be damp and chilly for most of the weekend, which isn’t an ideal climate for someone battling back issues.

As for his game, he’s shown increased driver accuracy lately at both The Memorial and US Open, hitting fairways on 73.2 percent of his drives. That’s an encouraging development. 

Justin Rose +2200

First round tee time: 9:48 a.m.

Rose is currently ranked No. 4 in the world, but there’s a recent trend that raises a white flag. HIs 54.2% greens in regulation is significantly below that of the other favorites. Still, his 26 course and field adjusted puts per round has been outstanding and eliminates some of those driver and iron inconsistencies.

Patrick Cantlay +2500

First round tee time: 10:21 a.m.

Many experts believe that Cantlay is poised for big weekend on the big stage. There’s a lot to like. He’s got a good driver and an elite average adjusted strokes per round over both recent and year-plus sample sizes. His consistency makes him a threat to factor throughout the course of the weekend. In fact, he’s a good Top 10 finisher pick.

Adam Scott +2500

First round tee time: 4:58 a.m.

Scott is having an under-the-radar fantastic season despite the lack of a major victory. He comes into Royal Portrush with the third best average adjusted strokes per round over the last six weeks at 66.8, and he should be quite comfortable when he tees off on Thursday morning. He arrived in Northern Ireland a week prior to the event and played three practice rounds with 2011 Open Winner Darren Clarke. That familiarity could loom large against much of a field that lacks experience on this course.

Henrik Stenson +2500

First round tee time: 4:14 a.m.

Here’s what we know about Henrik Stenson. He’s going to efficiently make greens. He has been elite Top 10 performer in both long term and recent samples with hitting greens in regulation.

Xander Schaufele +2800

First round tee time: 4:14 a.m.

Undoubtedly, there’s decent value here for a guy who has finished in the Top 5 of his 10 major tournaments four times. The 25-year-old has shown ability to acquit himself well on the big stage. Can he finally finish the job? He enters with an elite 27 course and field adjusted putts per round.

Bryson DeChambeau +4000

First round tee time: 4:58 a.m.

If you’re looking for a wild card that possesses the physical tools, then DeChambeau is worth a flier at that this price. He’s currently the world’s No. 6 ranked golfer, but is 15th in terms of top betting favorites at SugarHouse. He was the runner up at the 3M Open, and, man, he finished strong.

But it wasn’t to be as Matthew Wolff drilled a 21-foot eagle put win it.

DeChambeau’s long term and recent adjusted round scores are well above average. The concern with DeChambeau is that his ball can up in the air off the tee and that could be potentially problematic on the coast of Northern Ireland. If he can reign in the natural elevation off the tee, he’s got a chance.

2019 British Open Prediction

I know I’m not exactly going out on a limb here, but give me McIlroy. He just makes too much sense. Fourteen years after memorably shooting a 61 as a 16-year-old at Royal Portrush, McIlroy will return to earn his fifth major championship.