Golf may be one of the hardest sports to predict. Scottie Scheffler has been the most dominant player fans have ever seen. But despite his stellar play, he has only won one of golf’s three majors this year. It would be an insult to call Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau underdogs when they won the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, respectively, but their victories were far from assured. Few would probably bet on them to win either tournament.
When it comes to betting on golf, the most fun bets are either on the favorites to win or on the big names who have little chance of winning. Of course, you might not win the latter group, but if you do, that means generational wealth is coming your way. Why bet at +1200 odds that you probably won’t win when you can bet at +25000 odds that you probably won’t win, right?
That doesn’t mean betting on a long shot is guaranteed to fail. Not really. Major tournaments have produced plenty of underdog stories in the past, so why can’t the 2024 British Open add one more name to that illustrious list? Here are some of the internet’s favorite sleeper picks for the 2024 British Open. All odds are via BetMGM.
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2024 British Open: Sleeper picks roundup
Patrick McDonald, CBS Sports: Louis Oosthuizen (+10000)
MacDonald wrote: “Oosthuizen will be playing in his first major of the season after turning down an invitation to the PGA Championship and failing to qualify for the U.S. Open. The South African has had a great run of form at LIV Golf, including several top-five finishes, but he enters this week as the forgotten man. The 2010 champion has four top-30 finishes in his past five Opens, including a podium finish in 2021.”
Greg Waddell, Action Network: Sepp Straka (+10000)
Waddell wrote, “Sepp Straka has been phenomenal for much of the 2024 PGA Tour season. Until missing the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, Straka had missed the cut in nine of his past 10 events, including three top-five finishes during that time. Straka is not a links-course ace, but he tied for second at the British Open last year in just his second major appearance. Straka’s greatest strengths are his driving accuracy and approach play, and he should be able to take advantage of that even more this week. On the PGA Tour this season, he is second in driving accuracy with a fairway hit rate of just over 72 percent and 32nd in strokes gained on approaches to the green. Last week’s miss has Straka bettors at 125-1 buoyed, and he was previously odds of 90-1 to win the British Open. This is great value for a great golfer with a chance to bounce back.”
James Colgan, Golf.com: Sahito Teegala (+5000)
Colgan wrote: “It’s odd to see a player who has been a favourite to win several majors over the past 12 months so low on the betting cards. Admittedly his play has been a bit choppy, which is generally not in keeping with the British Open, but he played one of his best rounds of the year on Friday at Hoylake Golf Club last year and he’s played really well at the Scottish Golf Club too. I like him a lot.”
Ian McMillan, Sports Illustrated: Viktor Hovland (+2500)
“He hasn’t been playing his best golf lately, but I still pick Viktor Hovlan. When he hits the ball, he’s one of the best golfers in the world and has already proven he can compete at the British Open. He finished tied for fourth in 2022 and tied for 13th in each of his three starts. He’s not in great form, but if he can find something this week, he’s one to watch,” McMillan wrote.
British Open news:Tiger Woods criticizes Colin Montgomerie over retirement
2024 British Open odds:
- Scottie Scheffler (+500)
- Rory McIlroy (+750)
- Ludwig Aberg (+1200)
- Bryson DeChambeau (+1400)
- Xander Schauffele (+1400)
- Collin Morikawa (+1800)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+2200)
- Jon Rahm (+2500)
- Tyrell Hatton (+2500)
- Viktor Hovland (+2500)
- Robert McIntyre (+2800)
- Brooks Koepka (+3300)
- Shane Lowry (+3300)
- Cameron Smith (+4000)
- Patrick Cantlay (+4000)
- Tom Kim (+4000)
- Tony Finau (+4000)
- Hideki Matsuyama (+4500)
- Cameron Young (+5000)
- Justin Thomas (+5000)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+5000)
- Sahito Teegala (+5000)
- Ming Woo Lee (+5500)
- Brian Harman (+6600)
- Joaquin Niemann (+6600)
- Jordan Spieth (+6600)
- Lim Sung-jae (+6600)
- Adam Scott (+8000)
- Corey Connors (+8000)
- Max Homa (+8000)
- Wyndham Clark (+8000)
- Akshay Bhatia (+9000)
- Davis Thompson (+10000)
- Jason Day (+10000)
- Justin Rose (+10000)
- Louis Oosthuizen (+10000)
- Nikolai Hoygard (+10000)
- Ryan Fox (+10000)
- Sam Burns (+10000)
- Sepp Straka (+10000)
- Will Zalatoris (+10000)
- Ahn Byung-hun (+12500)
- Dean Burmester (+12500)
- Dustin Johnson (+12500)
- Mathieu Pavone (+12500)
- Russell Henry (+12500)
- Kim Si Woo (+12500)
- Abraham Ansell (+15000)
- Rasmus Hojgaard (+15000)
- Rickie Fowler (+15000)
- Tiger Woods (+15000)
- Tom McKibbin (+15000)
- Billy Horschel (+17500)
- Christian Bezuidenhout (+17500)
- Keegan Bradley (+17500)
- Ewen Ferguson (+20000)
- Henrik Stenson (+20000)
- JT Poston (+20000)
- Kurt Kitayama (+20000)
- Matteo Manassero (+20000)
- Tom Hogue (+20000)
- Victor Perez (+20000)
- Eric Cole (+22500)
- Adrian Melonk (+25000)
- Denny McCarthy (+25000)
- Harris English (+25000)
- Jordan Smith (+25000)
- Keita Nakajima (+25000)
- Matt Wallace (+25000)
- Matthew Jordan (+25000)
- Maverick McNeely (+25000)
- Padraig Harrington (+25000)
- Sebastian Soderbergh (+25000)
- Adam Hadwin (+30000)
- Austin Eckroth (+30000)
- Chris Kirk (+30000)
- Emiliano Grillo (+30000)
- Laurie Cantor (+30000)
- Lucas Glover (+30000)
- Matthew Southgate (+30000)
- Phil Mickelson (+30000)
- Romain Langasque (+30000)
- Sam Horsfield (+30000)
- Stefan Jaeger (+30000)
- Taylor Moore (+30000)
- Torbjorn Olsen (+30000)
- Alexander Bjork (+35000)
- Ben Griffin (+35000)
- Gary Woodland (+35000)
- Guido Miliozzi (+35000)
- Nick Taylor (+35000)
- Ryo Hisatsune (+35000)
- Brendon Todd (+40000)
- CT Pan (+40000)
- David Puig (+40000)
- Dominic Clemons (+40000)
- Gordon Sargent (+40000)
- John Catlin (+40000)
- Joost Luyten (+40000)
- Mackenzie Hughes (+40000)
- Marcel Siem (+40000)
- Rikuya Hoshino (+40000)
- Sami Valimaki (+40000)
- Sean Crocker (+40000)
- Shubhankar Sharma (+40000)
- Thriston Lawrence (+40000)
- Yannick Paul (+40000)
- Adam Schenk (+50000)
- Calum Scott (+50000)
- Dan Bradbury (+50000)
- Daniel Brown (+50000)
- Francesco Molinari (+50000)
- Joe Dean (+50000)
- Jorge Campillo (+50000)
- Nacho Elvira (+50000)
- Stewart Cink (+50000)
- Song Young-han (+50000)
- Zach Johnson (+50000)
- Daniel Hillier (+60000)
- Andy Ogletree (+75000)
- Angel Hidalgo (+75000)
- Darren Fichardt (+75000)
- Elvis Smiley (+75000)
- Jacob Skov Olsen (+75000)
- Jesper Svensson (+75000)
- Wang Jung-hoon (+75000)
- Kazuma Kobori (+75000)
- Liam Nolan (+75000)
- Masahiro Kawamura (+75000)
- Mason Anderson (+75000)
- Matthew Dodd Berry (+75000)
- Kim Min-kyu (+75000)
- Ryan Van Velzen (+75000)
- Sam Hatsuby (+75000)
- Santiago de la Fuente (+75000)
- Tommy Morrison (+75000)
- Vincent Norman (+75000)
- Yuko Katsuragawa (+75000)
- Aguri Iwasaki (+100000)
- Alex Cheika (+100000)
- Altin van der Merwe (+100000)
- Charlie Lind (+100000)
- Darren Clarke (+100000)
- Denwitt Boliboonsub (+100000)
- Ernie Els (+100000)
- Gunteik Ko (+100000)
- Jack McDonald (+100000)
- Jaime Montojo (+100000)
- Justin Leonard (+100000)
- Luis Massabeu (+100000)
- Michael Hendry (+100000)
- Ryosuke Kinoshita (+100000)
- Jasper Stubbs (+200000)
- John Daly (+200000)
- Todd Hamilton (+200000)
How to watch the 2024 British Open:
Thursday, July 18
- 1:30-4:00 AM ET | Peacock
- 4am-3pm ET | USA Network
- 3:00-4:15 PM ET | Peacock
Friday, July 19
- 1:30-4:00 AM ET | Peacock
- 4am-3pm ET | USA Network
- 3:00-4:15 PM ET | Peacock
Saturday, July 20
- 5-7am ET | USA Network
- 7am-3pm ET | NBC, Peacock
Sunday, July 21
- 4-7am ET | USA Network
- 7am-2pm ET | NBC, Peacock
Stream the British Open:Watch every 2024 British Open match with a Peacock subscription
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