McIlroy Favored Leading Up to Open Championship

The final Major of the 2022 PGA golf season is set to go down with the Open Championship beginning next week from the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Rory McIlroy will head into one of the most challenging golf tournaments as the odds-on favorite to take home the victory, where he currently owns odds of +1000. McIlroy is a four-time Major winner, including a victory at this prestigious event in 2014. Experience at these tournaments is vital and there’s a lot to like about how the Northern Ireland product is currently striking the ball. 

Behind McIlroy in odds is the world’s number one ranked golfer in Scottie Scheffler, who opened at +4000 and now boasts the second-highest odds to win the tournament at +1200. Scheffler already came out on top in the Master’s this year and he should be in consideration to win another Major this year. 

Jon Rahm owns the third-highest odds to win the tournament, where he sits at +1400, while Justin Thomas has the fourth-highest at +1600. Rounding out the top five are Collin Morikawa and Matt Fitzpatrick at +2000. Fitzpatrick is coming off his first career Major Championship victory at the U.S. Open and has created a lot of buzz around the golf world with his performance this year. Much like Fitzpatrick, Rahm also has one Major Championship on his resume, winning the 2021 U.S. Open. This is a highly competitive field of the world’s best golfers and there’s a lot of parity currently present that should see value emerge on this board as the tournament approaches. 

Four golfers own more than five percent of tickets at the moment, with Rory McIlroy leading the charge with 8.2%. Will Zalatoris holds the second-highest ticket percentage with 7.1%, followed by Scottie Scheffler with 6.3% and Tiger Woods with 6.2%. 

Tiger Woods is expected to make his return to the golf course after skipping out on the U.S. Open. As always, the legendary golfer will draw public interest when he enters a Major tournament. Woods is currently listed at +4000 to win the event and has yet to see any line movement, but he owns 6.2% of tickets and 9.7% of the handle, which is the third-highest amount of total money placed on a golfer. If all goes as planned, this will be Wood’s first appearance at the Open Championship since 2019. 

The money has followed two golfers right now, who have more than 10% of the handle. Not only does McIlroy own the highest ticket percentage, but he also owns the highest handle at 14.8%. After McIlroy is Scottie Scheffler, with 10.7% of the money headed in his direction. 

The book’s current most significant liabilities are Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Will Zalatoris. 

Below you can find the top five golfers with the best odds to win The Open Championship from the BetMGM Sportsbook.