Filling Out The Open Championship 2024 Bet Slip With Rory Vs. Scheffler, Finishing Positions Bets
The Open Championship is my favorite major of the PGA TOUR. Aka the "British Open" for us Americans, The Open is played in the United Kingdom annually, and I like waking up at weird hours to sweat my golf bets.
Plus, The Open is a rescue from an otherwise terrible part of the sports calendar. There's nothing else to watch in sports Thursday and post-All-Star break MLB is the only thing to watch this weekend.
READ: The 152nd Open Championship Bets To Win, One-And-Done Pick From An Ice-Cold PGA TOUR Bettor
More importantly, I picked the "Champion Golfer of the Year" back-to-back years from 2021-22 and need to stop the bleeding from my PGA TOUR 2024 betting season. With that in mind, I'm recklessly adding bets to my card for The Open Championship 2024 at Royal Troon in Scotland.
2024 Open Championship Best Bets
The odds are the best available at the time of publication.
Rory McIlroy (+115) > Scottie Scheffler at DraftKings
Scheffler looks like a mortal at links-style courses and should be closer to -120 over Rory instead of -140. McIlroy is the 2014 Champion Golfer of the Year and finished T6 at The Open last year and third in 2022. Scottie's best finish was T8 as a debutant in 2021.
Moreover, Rory has more experience with the links. He is from North Ireland and grew up playing at links-style courses. McIlroy plays DP World Tour events, including last week's Genesis Scottish Open, which he won in 2023. Scheffler doesn't play in the Scottish Open or on the DP World Tour.
Rory McIlroy practicing for The 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland. (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
Finally, Scottie complained about the weird lies he was getting in the "native landscape" at Pinehurst No. 2 in the U.S. Open last month. He's going to face a similar situation at Royal Troon this week. Links-style courses are known for their uneven lies on the fairway and fescue rough.
Akshay Bhatia as "Top Debutant" (+800) at FanDuel
Ludvig Åberg, No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings, is the rightful favorite in this market at +185. The 24-year-old has been "knocking on the door" all year. Åberg has seven top-10s this season, including T4 at the Scottish Open, second at The Masters, and eighth at THE PLAYERS Championship.
However, Bhatia's price is too good to pass up. First of all, being a lefty might help him at Royal Troon. Phil Mickelson dominated this place en route to a second in 2016 at The Open. Mickelson was -17, three strokes behind the winner, Henrik Stenson, and 11 strokes ahead of the third-place finisher.
Second, Bhatia dominated the Valero Texas Open for three days before Denny McCarthy ran him down and forced a playoff that Bhatia won. Over his last four starts, Akshay finished T22 at the Memorial Tournament, T16 at the U.S. Open, T5 at the Travelers Championship, and T2 at the Rocket Mortage Classic.
Finally, Åberg is considered a wunderkind, but Bhatia turned pro and played in a PGA TOUR event at 17 years old, and is only 22. Like Åberg, Bhatia's ceiling is sky-high, and he has the game to win multiple majors in his career.
Aaron Rai Top-20 (+200) at BetMGM
The Englishman is on a heater and I'll ride with him. Rai has six top-20 finishes in his last eight starts, including five straight with three consecutive top-10s. One was a T19 at the U.S. Open and another was a T4 at the Scottish Open, which he won in 2020.
Also, Rai's T4 last week was despite him losing strokes with his irons, which is rare. Accuracy is easily Rai’s best skill. He leads the TOUR in driving accuracy this season and ranks seventh in Strokes Gained (SG): Approach.
Aaron Rai lines up a putt during the 2024 John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois. (Joseph Cress-USA TODAY Sports)
However, Rai has been in contention lately because he is rolling the rock. According to Bet The Number, Rai is +5.7 SG: Putting in the Scottish Open, +8.9 at the John Deere Classic, +4.8 at the Rocket Mortgage, and +2.8 at the U.S. Open over his last four starts.
Tom Kim Top-20 (+160) at DraftKings
Kim was the last man out for my 2024 Open Championship betting card. It was more of a pricing thing because Tom plays well at links-style courses. He was T15 at the Scottish Open last week, T6 last year, and third in 2022, and T2 at last year's Open Championship.
Tom Kim plays a shot from the rough in a practice round for The 152nd Open Championship. (Harry How/Getty Images)
Tom "gets up" for the majors too. Per DataGolf.com, Kim has gained strokes with his irons in 11 straight majors and has been more accurate off-the-tee in 12 of the last 13. Lastly, Tom comes in good form. The South Korean was T15 at the Scottish Open and lost in a playoff to Scheffler at the Traveler last month.
The 152nd Open Championship Final Bet Slip
Outrights
- Collin Morikawa (+1600): 1.5 units (u)
- Brooks Koepka (+4000): 0.55u
- Hideki Matsuyama (+5500): 0.45u
- Cameron Young (+6000): 0.4u
- Joaquin Niemann (+6600): 0.35u
Additional Wagers
- Rory McIlroy (+115) over Scottie Scheffler: 1u
- Akshay Bhatia "Top Debutant" (+800): 0.25u
- Aaron Rai Top-20 (+200): 0.5u
- Tom Kim Top-20 (+160): 0.75u
- Hideki Matsuyama Top-20 (+225): 0.5u
- Cameron Young Top-20 (+210): 0.5u
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Follow me on X (or Twitter, whatever) @Geoffery-Clark and check out my OutKick Bets Podcast for more betting content and random rants. I'll add bets to my PGA Tour 2024 betting record via X all season.