Open Championship: PGA Tour Golf Picks, Predictions and Tee Times
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler enjoy their familiar perches atop the Open Championship odds. But with several major tournament winners among the field of 155 golfers at this year’s event, and plenty of inclement weather in the weekend forecast, it is wise for golf bettors to expect the unexpected.
Accordingly, here’s a look at some bets further down the board to to consider ahead of Thursday’s opening tee off at the 2023 Open Championship.
Can Wyndham Clark Bring US Open Magic to Liverpool
Wyndham Clark stunned the golf world by winning his thrilling duel with Rory McIlroy during the final round of the US Open. Clark seemingly came out of nowhere to claim his first major title, but with the spotlight fixed on him following his victory quickly fading, the 29-year-old arrives in Liverpool as an intriguing dark horse on the Open Championship.
Clark finished outside the top 20 in his two outings since the US Open. However, he still managed to produce six sub-70 rounds over that stretch, and gained valuable experience in his British debut last weekend in Scotland, where he finished 25th. It is always tough to ignore the guy who just won a major, especially when he sports long +4000 odds like Clark does this weekend. And considering the high level of consistency with which Clark has played during an 11-tourney run that has featured two wins, five top ten finishes, sports bettors should be on him as a +479 bet to return to the top ten this weekend.
Rickie Fowler Continues Pursuit of First Major Win
The last time the Open Championship was played at Royal Liverpool in 2014, Rickie Fowler claimed a personal best second-place finish. Fowler has be unable to duplicate that success at this event in the decade since, but after recently claiming the win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, he has sparked plenty of interest at the sportsbooks, lifting his to a +2100 bet to claim his first major title.
The big challenge facing Fowler is whether he can avoid the types of final-round meltdowns that took him out of contention at both the US Open and the Scottish Open. Indeed, Fowler has mange to produce sub-par final rounds in just two of his past five outings. Accordingly, the best bets on Fowler are likely best made in the first round, when the best weather is forecast. Fowler is outpace Shane Lowry and Robert MacIntyre in first round three ball, and should not be overlooked to pay out on +3000 odds to get his best golf out of the way on Thursday, and end the day as the round one leader.
Hideki Matsuyama
It has been a tough campaign for Hideki Matsuyama. The 2021 Masters winner has failed to claim a PGA Tour victory this season and produced just two top ten finishes in 20 outings to date. In the wake of his disastrous performance at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Matsuyama has been idle, and elected to skip last week’s Scottish Open to get some much-needed rest.
Among the struggles that Matsuyama has endured this season are brutal final-round performances at both the Masters Tournament and the US Open, shooting 75s at each. Those meltdowns spoiled what were otherwise competitive performances at those majors, with a rash of injuries playing a factor.
It remains to be seen whether Matsuyama has gotten past the neck and back injuries that have hampered him. But his natural ability and tendency towards fast starts cannot be ignored. In addition to being a solid +475 bet to emerge as this weekend’s top Asian, Matsuyama is an intriguing +252 wager to top Patrick Cantlay and Brooks Koepka in first round three ball.
Picks: Wyndham Clark top ten (+479); Rickie Fowler round one leader (+3000); Hideki Matsuyama top Asian (+475)
2023 British Open Championship Tee Times
| 2023 Open Championship Round 1 tee times (All times ET) | |
|---|---|
| 1:35 a.m. – Matthew Jordan (329), Richie Ramsay (142), Branden Grace (405) | |
| 1:46 a.m. – Russell Henley (31), Jazz Janewattananond (247), Graeme Robertson (A) | |
| 1:57 a.m. – Ryan Fox (42), Lucas Herbert (56), Byeong Hun An (85) | |
| 2:08 a.m. – Rikuya Hoshino (130), Charl Schwartzel (322), Alex Maguire (A) | |
| 2:19 a.m. – Adrian Meronk (49), Pablo Larrazabal (58), Hiroshi Iwata (189) | |
| 2:30 a.m. – Patrick Reed (51), Connor Syme (209), Jose Luis Ballester Barrio (A) | |
| 2:41 a.m. – Darren Clarke (3808), Victor Perez (66, Thomas Pieters (73) | |
| 2:52 a.m. – Louis Oosthuizen (394), Joost Luiten (146), Christo Lamprecht (A) | |
| 3:03 a.m. – Stewart Cink (299), JT Poston (52), Trey Mullinax (114) | |
| 3:14 a.m. – Henrik Stenson (269), Harris English (37), Andrew Putnam (61) | |
| 3:25 a.m. – Scott Stallings (82), Jordan Smith (89), Thorbjorn Olesen (92) | |
| 3:36 a.m. – Ernie Els (1286), Kurt Kitayama (25), Takumi Kanaya (121) | |
| 3:47 a.m. – Sam Burns (17), Sepp Straka (28), Chris Kirk (40) | |
| 4:03 a.m. – Jordan Spieth (11), Matt Fitzpatrick (9), Jason Day (27) | |
| 4:14 a.m. – Padraig Harrington (183), Seamus Power (50), Talor Gooch (101) | |
| 4:25 a.m. – KH Lee (53), Davis Riley (78), Taiga Semikawa (163) | |
| 4:36 a.m. – Patrick Cantlay (4), Brooks Koepka (12), Hideki Matsuyama (34) | |
| 4:47 a.m. – Scottie Scheffler (1), Tommy Fleetwood (21), Adam Scott (39) | |
| 4:58 a.m. – Cameron Smith (7), Xander Schauffele (6), Wyndham Clark (10) | |
| 5:09 a.m. – Shane Lowry (29) , Rickie Fowler (22), Robert MacIntyre (54) | |
| 5:20 a.m. – Cameron Young (18), Si Woo Kim (36), Bryson DeChambeau (105) | |
| 5:31 a.m. – Nicolai Højgaard (106), Bio Kim (202), Kazuki Yasumori (944) | |
| 5:42 a.m. – Dan Bradbury (331), Oliver Farr (690), Haydn Barron (937) | |
| 5:53 a.m. – Marcel Siem (200), Martin Rohwer (786), Tiger Christensen (A) | |
| 6:04 a.m. – Lee Hodges (108), Antoine Rozner (139), Richard Bland (187) | |
| 6:15 a.m. – Yannik Paul (100), Sami Välimäki (220), Laurie Canter (330) | |
| 6:36 a.m. – Rasmus Højgaard (84), Matthew Southgate (285), Alex Fitzpatrick (561) | |
| 6:47 a.m. – Daniel Hillier (137), Kyung Nam Kang (402), Kensei Hirata (434) | |
| 6:58 a.m. – Callum Shinkwin (119), Kazuki Higa (122), Michael Kim (134) | |
| 7:09 a.m. – Zack Fischer (408), Taichi Kho (619), Kyle Barker (736) | |
| 7:20 a.m. – Brendon Todd (63), Romain Langasque (136), Travis Smyth (310) | |
| 7:31 a.m. – Gary Woodland (72), Adrian Otaegui (95), Alexander Bjork (96) | |
| 7:42 a.m. – Min Woo Lee (47), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (93), Harrison Crowe (A) | |
| 7:53 a.m. – Corey Conners (30), Billy Horschel (45), Alex Noren (67) | |
| 8:04 a.m. – Tom Kim (24), Tom Hoge (38), Abraham Ancer (68) | |
| 8:15 a.m. – Zach Johnson (221), Matt Wallace (134), David Micheluzzi (363) | |
| 8:26 a.m. – Sahith Theegala (35), Emiliano Grillo (41), Dustin Johnson (79) | |
| 8:37 a.m. – Francesco Molinari (157), Denny McCarthy (33), Mateo Fernandez De Oliveira (A) | |
| 8:48 a.m. – Brian Harman (26), Thriston Lawrence (80), Thomas Detry (98) | |
| 9:04 a.m. – John Daly (3808), Taylor Moore (48), Danny Willett (125) | |
| 9:15 a.m. – David Lingmerth (97), Ben Griffin (109), Ockie Strydom (161) | |
| 9:26 a.m. – Adri Arnaus (113), Ewen Ferguson (118), Keita Nakajima (151) | |
| 9:37 a.m. – Keegan Bradley (15), Sungjae Im (23), Joaquin Niemann (43) | |
| 9:48 a.m. – Viktor Hovland (5), Tony Finau (16), Justin Thomas (20) | |
| 9:59 a.m. – Rory McIlroy (2), Jon Rahm (3), Justin Rose (32) | |
| 10:10 a.m. – Collin Morikawa (19), Max Homa (8), Tyrrell Hatton (13) | |
| 10:21 a.m. – Phil Mickelson (90), Nick Taylor (44), Adam Schenk (46) | |
| 10:32 a.m. – Nacho Elvira (361), Marc Warren (382), Alejandro Cañizares (579) | |
| 10:43 a.m. – Guido Migliozzi (224), Oliver Wilson (266), Connor McKinney (1140) | |
| 10:54 a.m. – Kalle Samooja (256), Shubhankar Sharma (276), Gunner Wiebe (479) | |
| 11:05 a.m. – Jorge Campillo (131), Brandon Robinson Thompson (812), Michael Stewart (868) | |
| 11:16 a.m. – Hurly Long (249), Seungsu Han (470), Marco Penge (539) |