Rory McIlroy becomes British Open betting favorite after winning Scottish Open
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy is the favorite to win the Open this week.
The 151st match of the Open will be played on Thursday at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Rory McIlroy, currently ranked No. 2 in the world, is coming off a victory at last week's Scottish Open, birdieing the last two holes to beat Scott McIntyre by one shot.
BetMGM said today it remains committed to the 34-year-old, who won the Claret Jug when the Royal Liverpool Open was last held in 2014. BetMGM said McIlroy owned 11 percent of the Open's tickets and was responsible for more than 14 percent of the total bets on this year's fourth and final professional golf major.
McIlroy remains the betting favorite at +750 (15/2). A $100 win on this line will return $750.
The Northern Irishman and the face of the PGA Tour during its controversy with LIV Golf has not won a major since August 2014, when he won his first in Valhalla, Kentucky. Second PGA Championship Open victory.
McIlroy, Scheffler Significant Liabilities
McIlroy has always been outspoken and willing to talk to the media, but took a different approach this week at Royal Liverpool, choosing to remain relatively silent on his expectations for the week.
"My game seems to be in good shape," McIlroy said briefly after Wednesday's practice round.“I think looking at how I performed last week and being able to control my ball in pretty difficult conditions – I feel good about how I handled it this week.”
As we all know, weather plays a big role in the Open. Heavy rainfall and high winds are expected on Saturday and Sunday for the 151st edition of the race, but milder weather will be expected for Thursday and Friday's races.
McIlroy has the lowest odds this week against world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who also has odds of +750. Scheffler, the 2022 Masters champion, is BetMGM's biggest liability, with the 27-year-old Texan responsible for 11.4% of the sportsbook's Open tickets and more than 19% of wagers.
The harsh action against Scheffler and McIlroy led to BetMGM keeping odds low and extending each other's odds to spread the bankroll. Jon Rahm's odds have increased to +1200 after opening at +900. The world No. 3 has the third-smallest published odds, behind McIlroy and Scheffler.
According to BetMGM, Brooks Koepka is third in responsibility, behind the two leaders. The 33-year-old has five majors on his resume, but none abroad. Koepka's best Open finish came in 2019, when he tied for fourth at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
Koepka has odds of +2000 and is responsible for about 7% of tickets and 8% of bets.
Former Champion Odds
Australia's Cameron Smith wins the 2022 Open title at St. Andrews. The 29-year-old birdied the final hole to beat Cameron Young by one shot and McIlroy by two.
Smith competed in a PGA Tour event with LIV Golf after lifting the claret jug. He has since won two LIV events in Chicago and London, the latter earlier this month. Smith is +1600 and will once again be Champion Golfer of the Year, a title awarded to the Open Champion.
Other former Open champions competing this week include Collin Morikawa (+2800), Jordan Spieth (+3300) and Phil Mickelson (+ 20000). Three-time Open champion Tiger Woods did not compete as he is still recovering from a subtalar fusion to treat post-traumatic arthritis from a previous foot fracture.
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