The final major of 2025 has arrived, as the best players in the world will head to Northern Ireland for the 2025 Open Championship.
Rory McIlroy has already picked up one major this year and will be looking for his second of the season at Royal Portrush. McIlroy recently completed the career Grand Slam at the Masters, but will be looking to add his sixth major title.
DraftKings Sportsbook has plenty of betting options for the world #2 this week, and below is my favorite bet for McIlroy at The Open Championship.
Top UK & Ireland (+200)
This bet can be found under the “Nationality Props” tab. To win, McIlroy needs to be the highest finisher on the leaderboard for any golfer from the UK and Ireland.
He will face stiff competition from the likes of Tommy Fleetwood (+600), Tyrell Hatton (+700) and Shane Lowry (+750). However, McIlroy has shown over this year and his career that he is a level above the rest of the golfers from this part of the world.
Rory has had some difficult starts since his win at the Masters, but he looks like he’s finally gotten back to himself in his last two starts after coming off one of the biggest moments of his life. At the Travelers Championship, he finished T6, then at the Scottish Open last week, he recorded a T2 finish. The recent play at the Scottish Open is especially encouraging coming into this week, as it’s a similar style of links golf.
He failed to make the cut at Royal Portrush in 2019, missing out by just one stroke at +2. It was his opening round of 79 that cost him, as he bounced back with a 65 in the second round. Rory has shown he can produce a great score at this course, and that’s enough for me.
He has been far and away the second-best golfer in the world this year, winning three times and recording seven top 10 finishes. He ranks second on the FedEx Cup points list, and his recent form is more than encouraging.
McIlroy will be back in his home country for this one, another factor that can’t be dismissed. The crowd will be with him, which should only help. Now that the monkey of the Grand Slam is off his back and he’s back to playing great golf, I expect him to be near the top of the leaderboard this week and the highest finisher from the United Kingdom and Ireland.
