The 2018 winner has five additional Top-10 finishes at Bay Hill, and Rory McIlroy’s approach game is dialed in to complement his elite distance off the tee. The Dick Wilson\Joe Lee design is a true test that also rewards course knowledge and experience, and Bay Hill also ranks among the most predictive tracks on the PGA Tour schedule. The winner has finished Top 3 in true strokes gained tee-to-green in three of the past five years, after all. Add the potential for gusty Florida winds to have a say to Bay Hill requiring far more long approaches , 49.95% from 175 yards or longer in 2025, than the typical course, and elite tee-to-green play has historically been paramount to success.

So let’s get into the nuts and bolts and see if we can figure out who will win this year and slip on the most prestigious green jacket in the history of sport. Additionally (Svensson has only played in two major championships), including missing the cut in the 2024 Open. Viktor Hovland ranks second on tour in strokes gained approach and 25th in total strokes gained this season. It’d be ideal if Dean Burmester were heading to Royal Portrush in better form, but it’s also why we’re landing a nice number in this market. He’s coming off a T2 at the Genesis and a T6 at the Travelers, and he’s gained true strokes across the board in both starts.

British Open Betting Preview: Picks, Predictions, Odds for Royal Birkdale

• A lefty hasn’t won the Masters since Bubba Watson’s second green jacket in 2014, but Bhatia will be my pick from this year’s contingent.
• The 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational is being played at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando — Florida.
• The Swede has the distance and tee-to-green game to conquer this course, and Ludvig Aberg will also be playing this event for the fourth time following three straight Top 25s here.
• Last year’s result was despite losing 0.48 strokes off the tee per round, and he’s corrected that this season with 0.60 strokes gained per round.
• There are also variations on the usual starting procedure where everyone begins from the first tee and plays all holes in order — through to the eighteenth.
• The 2018 Masters champion has finished inside the top 4 here in two of the last three years when he was not playing near the quality of golf that he has thus far in 2026.

The 2026 championship course is listed as a par 70 measuring 7,223 yards. betting and predictions The venue last staged the championship in 2017, when Jordan Spieth survived a dramatic final round to defeat Matt Kuchar. The 154th Open Championship will be played from Thursday (July 16), through Sunday, July 19, at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. His natural links-game instincts (left-handed shot shape), and ability to play in changing conditions give him a reliable placement ceiling. He grew up near Royal Birkdale (has extensive links experience), and does not need to carry the pressure of a winner-only ticket for the bet to cash. Robert MacIntyre is the preferred top-20 selection, while Tom Kim deserves placement consideration after winning the Genesis Scottish Open with a bogey-free final-round 64.

It is a par-72 of 7,565 yards that plays longer than its listed yardage. Winners of tournaments on the PGA Tour between the 2025 Masters and the 2026 Masters The greatest legends in the history of golf have graced these grounds over the years. The Masters is the only major championship played at the same venue each year. After his Grand Slam in 1930, Jones acquired the former plant nursery and co-designed Augusta National with course architect Alister MacKenzie.

Speaking of form, perhaps no one is in better form than 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm (11-1), who has played only five events overseas to start the LIV Golf season. Though he missed the cut in last week’s DP World Tour Hero Indian Open as his final tune-up for the Masters he had a run of five straight finishes of T-16 or better on the PGA Tour that included his win in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The 34-year-old is also in terrific form with consecutive top-15 finishes in his two most recent starts.

Variations include the popular Stableford scoring system, and various team formats. There are many variations in scoring and playing formats in the game of golf, some officially defined in the Rules of Golf. Factors affecting the calculation include altitude, gradient of the land from the tee to green, and forced “lay-ups” due to dog-legs (sharp bends) or obstacles (e.g. bunkers, water hazards).

This Week’s Golf Selections

Although Hall’s performance might not match that of Gotterup (Bridgeman), and Marco Penge, his style of play appears to be more aligned with the Masters compared to any other newcomer. Finding a player in this range who boasts a superior course history than Conners will prove quite challenging. I would gladly accept odds of 40/1 on a player with a victory (three top-10 finishes), and nine top-25 finishes throughout his career at Augusta. We will begin with the favorites (proceed to the long shots), and then provide some props and fades to prepare you for a truly unique tradition. Both Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are performing exceptionally well, yet they continue to compete on LIV, leaving uncertainty about the relevance of their results. Among this year’s participants, McIlroy holds the top scoring average at the Masters (71.45), provided he has played a minimum of 50 rounds.

DeChambeau has won back-to-back LIV events in Singapore and South Africa, where he defeated Rahm in the playoff. Bryson DeChambeau (11-1) got his first taste of what it was like to be in contention on Masters Sunday and briefly held the lead last year while in the final pairing with McIlroy before finishing T-5. However, he does have a victory and three runners-up in five events with an average finish of 2.4. Rory McIlroy (12-1) arrives with his own cargo in tow, his green jacket and Champions Dinner menu as McIlroy finally completed the career Grand Slam and won the Masters for the first time last year. The reigning PGA and British Open champion had a historic season in 2025, and he has been a little down from that to start the 2026 campaign.

Enter your bet amount and an unlimited number of bets in any odds format. Justin Thomas is a former winner at Quail Hollow, and he is among Ryan Pohle’s top betting picks for the Truist Championship this week. With events sometimes containing 100+ participants, it’s not uncommon for golf betting sites to offer lofty odds. Redeem any of the best sportsbook promos detailed below to activate generous sign-up bonuses and offers to use on this week’s golf betting odds.

Schauffele had an injury-riddled season in 2025 that did include a late-season win (Baycurrent Classic in Japan) and top-10s in the Masters and British Open. This year, he comes in with a victory and just might relish being back on the big stage, considering he has been playing all over the world in the middle of the night , U.S. time, with not many eyeballs watching him. Rahm leads LIV for Total Birdies and Greens In Regulation, plus ranks fourth in Scrambling and Driving Distance. Six of the par-4s measure between 450 and 500 yards and two others are at 440. Who better than defending Masters champion Rory McIlroy to take us through his final round last year (hole-by-hole at Augusta National Golf Club), in this video. The wide (54 yards average — widest on PGA Tour) fairways are Overseeded Perennial Ryegrass with Bermudagrass base.

After closing with a score of 64 — McIlroy ended up tied for seventh place at the Scottish Open. His European-style game — which is controlled, along with a strong short game and ability to thrive in challenging conditions, makes him valuable for top-20 or top-30 betting markets. After one of the championship’s most unforgettable final rounds, he secured victory at the 2017 Open held at Royal Birkdale. A bet on the top 20 allows bettors to leverage Kim’s current form without necessitating that he duplicates the best performance in the field.

Targetable Player Profiles and Essential Statistics

He maintains a full-time schedule on the DP World Tour, where he holds lifetime membership. Since last September, Lee has achieved six top-10 finishes in his past two outings. Nonetheless — he is currently playing his best golf in several years. After the conclusion of the “West Coast Swing,” his putting began to improve significantly. It appears he is reaching his peak at an opportune moment (suggesting he could secure another major victory very soon), potentially this week. In five of the last seven years, he has placed inside the top 10 at Augusta National.