Between Bets: The Open Championship 2023 Early Outrights

“Between Bets” is an article series revealing our staff’s best wagers across the NFL, NASCAR and PGA Tour. This week’s bets features our favorite early wagers looking ahead to The Open Championship 2023 odds.

(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

The Open Championship 2023: Early Odds & Best Bets 

• Rory McIlroy (+750)
• Cameron Smith (+1800)
• Rickie Fowler (+3500)
• Joaquin Niemann (+8000)

Rory McIlroy (+750)

The last time The Open Championship was held here, it was Rory McIlroy who was crowned the Champion Golfer of the Year. He led wire-to-wire, posting a -17 under. That was in 2014. Is he the same golfer? Is it the same course? No on both accounts.

I would argue McIlroy is a significantly better, more refined player today than he was the last time he hoisted the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool. The course has seen some changes in the form of lengthening and layering of more bunkers to disrupt fairways and approaches. McIlroy has been in good form, with only an ailing putter hindering his finishes. I believe McIlroy puts it all together here on a links-style coastal course that he will feel right at home at. +750 is pretty short for a golfer who hasn’t been able to close out tournaments with any consistency. Yet, I do love where he is trending, and he knows his way around here. 

Cameron Smith (+1800)

Cameron Smith is the defending winning of The Open Championship event held at St. Andrews Old Course. St. Andrews is the most famous links course ever, and Smith was able to navigate it with relative ease and dominance, only stumbling in the third round before bouncing back dramatically on the back nine on Sunday. Smith is a player that I love in big-time events. He shows up! He is an excellent ball striker who tends to play even better on firm and fast courses, which this will be. There is something about these coastal links courses that suits his eye and his game. I believe we are getting the LIV bias on this number, as well. He should be shorter than the 18/1 number. I would grab it before it gets shorter.

Rickie Fowler (+3500)

Rickie Fowler was The Open Championship runner-up here last at Royal Liverpool. Last time around, he almost caught McIlroy with a final round -5 under to finish just two strokes back. Fowler is having arguably one of his best seasons ever if you take into account the stats he has produced this year. I like Fowler on harder courses. I like him in spots that will have adverse weather, as well, which Ryal Liverpool will.

Fowler has an arsenal of shot shapes and ball flights that will come in handy when the wind kicks up here. He also has a very stout short game and is emerging as one of the best scramblers around. People will miss these greens, and they will have tough lies from greenside run-offs. Fowler is recovering well from missing in regulation this year. I have been on Fowler all year. I’ll continue to ride the train at a course that, oddly enough, sets up very well for him.

Joaquin Niemann (+8000)

Joaquin Niemann has done nothing noteworthy since moving to the LIV Golf Tour. Still, we are getting a bit more of a bump, thanks to the LIV stigma. He is a player that anytime we thought of a hard course – high winds, coastal – we would line up to play him in the not-too-distant past.

Niemann is a golfer with every shot in the book, like every single one of em. He can hit any direction and any trajectory, and he does it very consistently. I like golfers at The Open Championship that have the ability to keep it low and fly it through the wind. Niemann is still one of the best in the business at doing that. His around-the-green game is somewhat troubling. Yet, his approach game, when it’s on point, will reduce that inadequacy quite well. His putting can get lightning hot, and he tends to putt better on fast and dried-out surfaces. This seems like a misprice on a player who can absolutely find the win here.

Other The Open Championship 2023 Bets to Consider:

• Brooks Koepka (+1400)
• Viktor Hovland (+2000)
• Tommy Fleetwood (+2500)
• Shane Lowry (+2500)
• Min Woo Lee (+5500)
• Ryan Fox (+8000)
• Russell Henley (+13000)

Thanks for reading my early best bets for The Open Championship odds. Be sure to give “The 19th Hole” a watch for more in-depth analysis  – every Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. EST on our YouTube channel.