British Open Picks: Expert Open Championship Outright Picks for Royal Portrush

With Scottie Scheffler as the +500 outright betting favorite, we're looking for value with our picks to win the 2025 British Open at Royal Portrush this week.
British Open Picks to Win: Best Open Championship Outright Bets for Royal Portrush
Pictured: Rory McIlroy - one of my top British Open picks - hits a drive during a practice round at Royal Portrush. Photo by Brian Lawless/PA Images/Alamy Images/Sipa USA.

The 2025 Open Championship begins in the morning (1:35 a.m. ET) and my British Open picks offer a range of value outside of Scottie Scheffler (+550) as the betting favorite. The tournament at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland will begin Thursday morning with U.S. broadcast coverage on NBC and Peacock.

Scheffler's +550 British Open odds represent an implied win probability of 15.38% ahead of Thursday's opening round at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. I offer three outright picks who could return bigger paydays below.

🏆 Who will win the British Open?

See all of our golf picks for the 2025 British Open and upcoming events.

🎯 Rory McIlroy (+750 via DraftKings)
🎯 Tommy Fleetwood (+2800 via DraftKings)

🎯 Viktor Hovland (+3000 via DraftKings)

You can find the best and latest odds for all of your U.S. Open picks via our player prop odds tool.

💰 Open Championship outright picks

Here are my best outright picks to win this week's British Open at Royal Portrush:

Rory McIlroy

👉 Best British Open odds: +750 via DraftKings ($10 bet pays $75 profit) | Implied win probability: 11.76% 

Bet $5, Get $150 + $1K Deposit Bonus

Terms and conditions apply.

Each product featured on our website has been meticulously researched and selected by our team of experts. If you sign up through our links, we may get a commission.

McIlroy missed the cut the last time the British Open was played in his native Northern Ireland. After winning the Masters and completing the career grand slam, he struggled in each of the past two majors but called winning at Royal Portrush "another mountain" helping to fuel motivation.

He also said he's "really happy" with where his game is at following a runner-up finish in the Scottish Open. We know he's one of golf's better drivers, but while his iron play has left plenty to be desired of late, his putting and short game have been much improved across his last 16 measured rounds.

I'm betting on McIlroy to win this week, and I'll be sure to do so at DraftKings. The +750 odds would return an extra $27.50 in profit on a winning $10 bet compared to the much worse +475 odds available at Caesars.

Tommy Fleetwood

British Open Picks to Win: Best Outright Bets for Royal Portrush
Pictured - Tommy Fleetwood walks the fairway as one of our British Open picks to win. Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images/Alamy Images/Sipa USA.

👉 Best British Open odds: +2800 via DraftKings ($10 bet pays $280 profit) | Implied win probability: 3.45% 

Fleetwood - the runner-up the last time The Open was played at Royal Portrush - has been one of my top picks to win the British Open for quite some time. Though he hasn't exactly flown under the radar, I'm still happy to bet these +2800 odds, especially with Caesars offering odds of +1600 for him to win in Northern Ireland.

Fleetwood famously remains without a PGA Tour victory following his latest heartbreaking runner-up finish in the Travelers Championship a few weeks ago. However, the Englishman has seven career European/DP World Tour victories to show more of a penchant for links golf.

The Open has also been his best of the four majors, with three career top-10 finishes, including the runner-up at Royal Portrush.

I used DraftKings 50% odds boost on Fleetwood to raise his outright odds from +2800 to +4200 for an extra $140 in profit on a winning $10 outright bet.

🔮 British Open expert picks

Viktor Hovland

British Open Picks to Win: Best Outright Bets for Royal Portrush
Pictured - Viktor Hovland walks with Rory McIlroy with both featured in our British Open picks. Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images/Alamy Images/Sipa USA.

👉 Best British Open odds: +3000 via DraftKings ($10 bet pays $300 profit) | Implied win probability: 3.23% 

Hovland - the third-place finisher in the U.S. Open - enters this week at No. 11 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) following a T-11 finish in Scotland last week.

He's been one of the more difficult top golfers to predict this season. His only win of the year followed three consecutive missed cuts ahead of the Masters. However, only Scheffler has been better than Hovland in the approach game across everyone's last 16 measured rounds, and that'll be essential for success at Royal Portrush this week.

The Norwegian star has two European Tour victories to date. Prior to last year's missed cut in The Open, he had finished in the top 15 in three straight years with a best result of T-4 three years ago. Just be sure to avoid the +2200 odds from Caesars with this pick for an extra $80 in profit from a winning $10 bet. 

🏆 ChatGPT's pick to win the 2025 Open Championship

I asked ChatGPT, a popular large language model chatbot from OpenAI for its best British Open pick. This pick is for entertainment purposes only, but AI can help to provide insights and information to help you make informed decisions with your bets.

ChatGPT predicts Jon Rahm will win the 2025 British Open at Royal Portrush with a winning 72-hole score of 13-under and a two-stroke margin of victory over Viktor Hovland (11-under).

💰 Best value pick to win the British Open: Jon Rahm at +1200 (12/1)

  • Implied probability: 7.69%
  • Best odds (+1200 via BetMGM)
  • Form & course fit:
    • Finished T-8 at the 2025 PGA Championship while leading late, showing major-round resilience and finished T-7 at the U.S. Open
    • Strong links pedigree, including two top-10 finishes in majors this season and solid LIV Golf results
  • Value edge: Sharply priced behind Scheffler (+550) and McIlroy (+750), yet arguably a tier above them in terms of form and course suitability. Betting at +1200 offers good upside if Rahm outperforms those in front

Up To $1,500 First Bet

Bonus bets will expire in 7 days. One new customer offer only. Additional terms and conditions apply.

Each product featured on our website has been meticulously researched and selected by our team of experts. If you sign up through our links, we may get a commission.

📊 Why Rahm stands out

Factor Rating
Current odds ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (+1200)
Recent major form ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Links experience ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Course history ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Value vs. favorites ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • While Scheffler (+550) and McIlroy (+750) are strong favorites, their odds reflect limited value - implied win chances are low relative to payout.
  • Rahm’s 7.69% implied chance is realistic given his consistency and style of play, offering the best ROI among top contenders

🏌️‍♂️ Jon Rahm’s 72-hole score & margin of victory

  • Predicted winning score: -11 to -13
    • Expect the winning score around 13-under par, with variable wind and rain that could keep scoring in the low double digits under par
    • Shane Lowry won at -15 during the 2019 event at Royal Portrush, but recent weather forecasts suggest slightly tougher conditions this week, so I lean closer to -13.
  • Predicted margin of victory: 2-3 strokes
    • Based on odds distribution and recent form, a win by a couple of strokes seems most realistic
    • Prop odds list +330 for a 2-stroke win and +550 for 3 strokes, whereas +400 for a 1-stroke outcome suggests mid-field value, with oddsmakers expecting a narrow but clear win

➡️ Therefore, my base call is: Rahm at -13, winning by 2 strokes.

👀 Most popular British Open bets

Here's how the betting action is coming in on the British Open's outright winner at BetMGM:

Highest ticket % Highest handle % Biggest liabilities
Scottie Scheffler (11.2%) Scottie Scheffler (14.6%) Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy (8.8%) Rory McIlroy (12.9%) Bryson DeChambeau
Jon Rahm (5.9%) Jon Rahm (8.0%) Jon Rahm

BetMGM also reports it received a $5,00 bet on Bryson DeChambeau to win The Open Championship at +2200. A winning bet would return a $110,000 profit.

And here are the most popular bets at BetMGM (by tickets) in various prop markets:

Top 5 Top 10 Top 20 Top 40
Rory McIlroy (+140) Tommy Fleetwood (+225) Harry Hall (+300) Harry Hall (+100)
Jon Rahm (+230) Jon Rahm (+110) Xander Schauffele (+110) Patrick Reed (+110)
Scottie Scheffler (-110) Xander Schauffele (+225) Sepp Straka (+175) Ryan Fox (+100)
Viktor Hovland (+500) Viktor Hovland (+250) Tommy Fleetwood (+105) Marco Penge (+125)
Tommy Fleetwood (+450) Justin Rose (+400) Viktor Hovland (+125) Ben Griffin (+100)

📊 British Open outright odds 2025

Here are the live Open Championship odds from our best golf betting sites, which will update in real time up to and throughout the 2025 tournament at Royal Portrush.

⛳ British Open info

  • When: Thursday, July 17 - Sunday, July 20
  • Where: Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland (last hosted in 2019)
  • How to watch: NBC, Peacock
  • Defending champion: Xander Schauffele (Royal Troon), Shane Lowry (Royal Portrush)
  • Favorite: Scottie Scheffler (+550 via BetMGM)

📜 British Open betting history

Here are the recent winners of the British Open and their early futures odds to win:

Year Name Odds Course
2024 Xander Schauffele +2500 Royal Troon
2023 Brian Harman +12500 Royal Liverpool
2022 Cameron Smith +5000 St Andrews
2021 Collin Morikawa +4000 Royal St George's
2020 Canceled NA
2019 Shane Lowry +6000 Royal Portrush
2018 Francesco Molinari +6000 Carnoustie
2017 Jordan Spieth +1200 Royal Birkdale
2016 Henrik Stenson +3000 Royal Troon
2015 Zach Johnson +8000 St Andrews

⛳ Golf betting odds pages

🏌️Here are the best golf betting sites for the 2025 British Open

Looking to bet on the British Open? Here are the top-rated best golf betting sites as determined by our expert team at Sportsbook Review, along with the best sportsbook promos:

(21+. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER)
* Bonuses not applicable in Ontario.

Not intended for use in MA.
Each betting site featured on SBR has been meticulously researched and selected by our team of experts. If you sign up through our links, we may get a commission.