The 2026 Open Championship tees off on Thursday, July 16, at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Rory McIlroy (Masters), Aaron Rai (PGA Championship) and Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open) were the year's first three major winners, and they're all in the 2026 Open Championship field. Scottie Scheffler is the defending Open Championship champion, while Jordan Spieth won this event the last time it was at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
Scheffler is the +550 favorite (risk $100 to win $550) in the latest 2026 Open Championship odds, followed by McIlroy at +850. Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood (+1400) and Matt Fitzpatrick (+2000) are among the favorites, with Jon Rahm (+1900) and Xander Schauffele (+2000) also near the top of the odds board. Before locking in any 2026 Open Championship picks, be sure to see the 2026 British Open predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
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SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulated every PGA Tour event 10,000 times and reveals golf betting picks that have a history of being extremely profitable.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 17 majors entering the weekend, including the 2026 Masters -- its fifth Masters in a row -- as well as last year's PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites.
Now that the 2026 Open Championship field is finalizing, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
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2026 Open Championship predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the Open Championship 2026: Fleetwood, the third favorite and the lowest English golfer on the board at +1400, stumbles and barely finishes inside top 5. He's a golfer to fade in Open Championship best bets. Fleetwood has a pair of top-5 finishes at the Open Championship, but also missed the cut in 2024 and finished outside the top 10 last year. He finished 27th the last time this event was at the Royal Birkdale. With no finishes better than T11 in any major this year, the model has found better values on the board. See who else to fade here.
Another surprise: Ludvig Aberg is a top-3 contender on the projected leaderboard despite never having won a major and having slightly longer odds at +2200. This will be just his third British Open appearance, but he finished in the top 25 in this event last year. He's also been steady at the majors this year, which was highlighted by a T4 finish at the PGA Championship. He's one of the best drivers in both distance and accuracy on tour right now, and that quality alone makes him a top contender at Royal Birkdale. See who else to pick here.
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How to make 2026 Open Championship picks
The model is also targeting several longshots, including one shocking pick who is going off around 35-1. You can only see the model's picks here.
Who will win the 2026 Open Championship, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2026 Open Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 17 golf majors, including three in 2025.
2026 Open Championship odds, favorites
Get full 2026 Open Championship picks, best bets and predictions here.
(odds via FanDuel and subject to change)
Scottie Scheffler +550
Rory McIlroy +850
Tommy Fleetwood +1400
Jon Rahm +1900
Xander Schauffele +2000
Matt Fitzpatrick +2000
Ludvig Aberg +2200
Tyrrell Hatton +2700
Collin Morikawa +2700
Cameron Young +2700
Justin Rose +2700
Viktor Hovland +3000
Wyndham Clark +3300
Chris Gotterup +3300
Robert MacIntyre +3500
Sam Burns +3500
Shane Lowry +4000
Bryson DeChambeau +4000
Joaquin Niemann +4000
Hideki Matsuyama +4500
Russell Henley +5000
Brooks Koepka +5000
Alex Fitzpatrick +5000
Patrick Reed +5500
Aaron Rai +5500
Jordan Spieth +5500
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +5500
Justin Thomas +5500
Si Woo Kim +6500
Marco Penge +6500
Patrick Cantlay +7000
Sepp Straka +7000
Akshay Bhatia +8000
Keegan Bradley +8000
Brian Harman +8000
Tony Finau +8000
Cameron Smith +8000
Corey Conners +8000
Jason Day +8000
Tom Kim +8000
Minwoo Lee +8000
Maverick McNealy +8000
Jacob Bridgeman +8000
Jake Knapp +8000
Eugenio Chacarra +8000
Harris English +10000
Sahith Theegala +10000
Rickie Fowler +10000
Denny McCarthy +10000
Will Zalatoris +10000
Sungjae Im +10000
Rasmus Hojgaard +10000
Adam Scott +10000
Nicolai Hojgaard +10000
Dustin Johnson +10000
David Puig +10000
J.J. Spaun +10000
Kristoffer Reitan +10000
Haotong Li +10000
Jayden Schaper +10000
Kurt Kitayama +10000
Harry Hall +10000
Taylor Pendrith +12500
J.T. Poston +12500
Ryan Fox +12500
Davis Thompson +12500
Daniel Berger +12500
Alex Noren +12500
Ryan Gerard +12500
Jackson Koivun +12500
Thomas Detry +15000
Andrew Novak +15000
Dean Burmester +15000
Byeong Hun An +15000
Stephan Jaeger +15000
Mackenzie Hughes +15000
Thorbjorn Olesen +15000
Gary Woodland +15000
Matt Wallace +15000
Angel Ayora +15000
John Parry +30000
Padraig Harrington +40000
