Only one major championship remains now that the drama of the U.S. Open is behind us. The 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool will be the final gathering spot for the world’s best as they aim to tackle the challenge of links golf. Returning to Hoylake for the first time since 2014, The Open sees a familiar face, Rory McIlroy, on many shortlists entering the championship.
McIlroy will arrive having finished inside the top 10 at the PGA Championship and securing a runner-up result at the U.S. Open. Since McIlroy’s last major championship, he has garnered 19 top-10 finishes in 33 starts including one at The 150th Open at St. Andrews a year ago.
Having entered the final round with a share of the 54-hole lead, McIlroy was usurped on the Old Course by Cameron Smith. The Champion Golfer of the Year has found his footing after a slow start to his 2023 and is playing in the same light as this time last year. Smith, like McIlroy, has notched back-to-back top-10 efforts in the second and third major championships of the season and looks to add to his tally at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Let’s take a look at the 2023 Open odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
The favorites
- Jon Rahm: 15/2
- Scottie Scheffler: 9-1
- Rory McIlroy: 9-1
- Brooks Koepka: 14-1
- Viktor Hovland: 18-1
- Jordan Spieth: 18-1
Scheffler is the most inexperienced of the three at the top, but he does have nice history with finishes of T21 and T8 in two tries at The Open. However, the attention must be drawn to Rahm or Koepka. If either raises the Claret Jug, they would head into 2024 with an opportunity to complete the career grand slam. Before his missed cut at St. Andrews, Koepka notched four top-10 finishes in his previous five Opens. Rahm finished a distant third at Royal St. George’s in 2021.
Contenders
- Cameron Smith: 20-1
- Collin Morikawa: 25-1
- Xander Schauffele: 25-1
- Patrick Cantlay: 25-1
- Cameron Young: 28-1
- Matt Fitzpatrick: 28-1
- Tyrrell Hatton: 28-1
- Justin Thomas: 28-1
- Tommy Fleetwood: 30-1
- Dustin Johnson: 30-1
Smith should give his Open title a legitimate defense effort, but it is another member of LIV Golf who may present the most value. Two-time major champion Johnson is beginning to play some really solid golf. If not for the second hole at Los Angeles Country Club, Johnson would have been in the mix late into the championship and even more so if the putter showed any signs of life. In 13 Open appearances, the former world No. 1 has seven top-15 finishes including back-to-back top-10 efforts.
- Tony Finau: 35-1
- Max Homa: 35-1
- Shane Lowry: 40-1
- Bryson DeChambeau: 40-1
- Tom Kim: 40-1
- Justin Rose: 40-1
- Sam Burns: 40-1
- Rickie Fowler: 45-1
Fowler has notably enjoyed the Open challenge, and the results back it up. The 34-year-old has three top-six finishes in his career including a runner-up result at Hoylake in 2014. With his T5 finish at the U.S. Open, Fowler now has 13 top-20 finishes in 18 starts this season.
Sleepers
- Sungjae Im: 50-1
- Hideki Matsuyama: 50-1
- Sahith Theegala: 60-1
- Corey Conners: 70-1
- Joaquin Niemann: 70-1
- Paul Casey: 75-1
- Billy Horschel: 80-1
- Marc Leishman: 80-1
- Ryan Fox: 80-1
- Robert MacIntyre: 80-1
- Russell Henley: 80-1
- Patrick Reed: 85-1
- Abraham Ancer: 85-1
- Aaron Wise: 90-1
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout: 100-1
- Sergio Garcia: 100-1
The Open has a way of catering to old timers, and that should fare well for Garcia as he plays in his 19th Open. The Spaniard has notched two runners-up in his career with the latest coming at Hoylake in 2014. After successfully navigating qualifying for the U.S. Open, Garcia is eyeing one last major championship run at age 43.
- Thomas Pieters: 100-1
- Seamus Power: 100-1
- Keegan Bradley: 100-1
- Louis Oosthuizen: 100-1
- Tom Hoge: 100-1
- Phil Mickelson: 100-1