The 2025 Open Championship brings the best players in the world to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the final major of the season. That means it’s a final chance to pick up one of the sport’s crown-jewel trophies. For some players, that means trying to add to their major collection and move closer to golfing royalty, while others are trying to break through for the first time.
The Open was last hosted at Royal Portrush in 2019 when one of those breakthroughs occurred: Shane Lowry capturing the Claret Jug as one of the most popular Open champions in recent memory. This year, there are a number of players seeking that same kind of moment.
The depth at the top of the golf world has never been better, but it’s also made life incredibly difficult for players who have what seem to be major championship-caliber games to actually win one. The likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm have set the bar incredibly high for what is required of a major winner; knocking off that group requires something truly special.
Let’s take a closer look at nine players worth rooting for this week at The Open. This list included a couple players from that group of favorites that can climb higher in the all-time rankings, a number of others seeking that first major win and a couple looking to get back into that class. Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
1. Rory McIlroy (7-1): This is likely the last great chance for McIlroy to win The Open in Northern Ireland. Royal Portrush is back in the rotation for the foreseeable future, but even if it gets another Open in six years, McIlroy would be 42 years old for its playing. While he still could be competitive, he’s not likely to be one of the top favorites at that point. McIlroy has called The Open at Portrush his next mountain to climb after completing the career grand slam, and he looks to be in spectacular form after a runner-up finish this past weekend at the Scottish Open.
2. Jon Rahm (12-1): Rahm has been knocking on the door at The Open recently with three top 10s in his last four starts, including a T11 in 2019 at Royal Portrush. After some major struggles in 2024, The Open was where we finally started to see the Rahm of old, and he’s carried that momentum into 2025 with a much better major campaign. The Claret Jug is one of the few trophies that has evaded him, and if he can add his third major, he reassert his position among golf’s elite.
3. Tommy Fleetwood (28-1): Fleetwood was the runner-up to Lowry in 2019, and it would be a fitting follow-up to Lowry’s ultra-popular victory if Fleetwood finally got that breakthrough win this week. He’s got three Open top 10s in his career and is near the top of the “best players to never win a major” list — almost certainly at the top of the “best players to never win on the PGA Tour” list. Fleetwood’s career has been full of close calls, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who wouldn’t enjoy seeing him finally reach the mountaintop.
4. Xander Schauffele (25-1): A year ago, Schauffele entered the conversation with Scheffler, McIlroy and DeChambeau as one of the four best players in the world thanks to two major wins, including an Open. An injury early in the year got him off track and he’s yet to find that form again, but he showed signs of life in the Scottish Open this past weekend. The game of golf is better when there are more major threats at the top, and seeing Schauffele get back in the mix in his defense of the Claret Jug would be a welcome sight.
5. Jordan Spieth (55-1): Golf fans have been hoping to see Spieth contend at another major for a few years now, and while he was once the prince of Augusta National, it now feels like his most consistently good major championship golf gets played across the pond. Spieth hasn’t finished outside the top 25 at The Open since 2016 (T28), and he has four top 10s, including his 2017 win, in that time frame. Links golf tends to reward creativity, and that’s something Spieth’s always had in abundance. It would be a lot of fun to get to ride the Spieth rollercoaster late on a Sunday at a major again.
6. Robert MacIntyre (35-1): MacIntyre finished T6 at Royal Portrush in his major championship debut as just a wee lad in 2019, and he’s started to pop up on major championship leaderboards again in the last couple years. He’s fresh off a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open, and aside from McIlroy and Fleetwood, it’s hard to imagine a more popular winner with the fans this week than MacIntyre would be.
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7. Ludvig Åberg (28-1): It feels like a matter of when, not if, Åberg wins a major championship, but he has been boom or bust so far in his major career. The young Swede has made three major cuts and not finished worse than T12 when he makes it to the weekend, but his other four starts have seen him flying home on Friday night — including both of his Open appearances. He’s yet to master the patience required to be a major champion — not unlike a young Rahm, who struggled with blow-up holes early in his major career — but his talent makes him a tantalizing choice each week.
8. Viktor Hovland (30-1): Hovland missed the cut last year at the height of his struggles with his swing, but in his three other Open starts, he’s never finished worse than T13. The Norwegian, along with Åberg and Fleetwood, is on the short list of best players without a major win, and he’s been trending in the right direction. Similar to Spieth, the requirement of playing creatively and hitting golf shots, rather than focusing on the mechanics of the swing, helps Hovland when he gets on links courses, and The Open feels like the likely place for a breakthrough major.
9. Tyrrell Hatton (30-1): Few players are more entertaining to watch than Hatton. He was in contention all the way to the 71st hole at the U.S. Open last month before we finally got the mini-meltdown that has, unfortunately for him, become his trademark. Even so, he’s been a much steadier major competitor of late and seems to be getting better at harnessing and channeling his fiery nature on the course. It’s always fun to see Hatton on the first page of the leaderboard on the weekend because you could see something spectacular on either end of the spectrum.
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