The first round of the Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club has concluded. Listed below are the five golfers who have seen the largest share of the handle in outright bets to win the Open Championship on DraftKings Sportsbook and their current position on the leaderboard.
- Scottie Scheffler (T6)
- Rory McIlroy (T20)
- Viktor Hovland (T72)
- Bryson DeChambeau (T144)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (T1)
With Scheffler sitting only one shot back of the leaders, the fact that he has attracted the largest handle is expected. The pre-tournament favorite and world number one is searching for his fourth win of the season and has +210 live odds to win the Open Championship, the best in the field.
But it’s far from a forgone conclusion that he wins; Scheffler has never finished higher than a tie for seventh in his four starts at the Open Championship and this major is the most volatile of the four majors, given the raging coastal winds.
At +1100 on DraftKings Sportsbook, Fitzpatrick is my preferred bet to win the Open Championship after the first round. The Englishman sits in a tie for first at -4, and his excellent opening round at Royal Portrush hardly came as a surprise. Fitzpatrick tied for 20th in the 2019 Open Championship at the venue and has been in stellar form recently after an up-and-down start to his season.
Prior to the Open Championship, he had made seven straight cuts and finished T-17, T-8 and T-4 in his last three starts. That tie for fourth came at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, a performance that included a seven-under 63 in the second round. Plus, he gained strokes across the board at the Renaissance Club.
His four-under 67 at Royal Portrush on Thursday was his 11th consecutive under-par round. Plus, when it comes to crunch time, the 30-year-old is knows how to close out major championships. Fitzpatrick led the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club after the third round and seized the opportunity by posting a two-under 68 in the final round to win his first major title. Fitzpatrick has seven major top-10 finishes to his name and is in a great position to add an Open Championship win to his resume this weekend.
