by Hollywood Sports
Wednesday, Jul 19, 2023The PGA Tour’s European excursion concludes this week with the final major championship of the year, the British Open. Royal Liverpool located in the Wirral Peninsula in Hoylake, England hosts the Open Championship for the 13th time in the 151 incarnations of this tournament.
This will be the third time that the Open Championship will be played at Royal Liverpool this century. Tiger Woods claimed the Claret Jug here in 2006 before Rory McIlroy won his most recent major championship title here in 2014.
There are several changes to the course for the 156 professionals this time around. Previously a Par 72 setup, the course has been lowered to a Par 71 track due to the new Par 3 at the 17th hole leaving just three Par 5 holes for the professionals to tackle. The course has been lengthened from 7312 yards in 2014 to 7383 yards this week. Even more fairway bunkers have been added. The terrain is treacherous off-the-tee given so many sand bunkers — and six holes threaten with out-of-bounds territories that are very much in play. The fairways are flat but just a narrow 32 yards wide on average. The initial rough is manageable before the iconic tall fescue that makes hitting the greens in regulation virtually impossible.
It was for these reasons that Woods historically pulled out his driver only once in his four rounds in his 2006 victory. McIlroy considered playing things safe on this links course that he used his two iron off-the-tee more often than his driver. The putting surface is slower than the other three major championships with the greens consisting of a Bentgrass, Poa Annua, and fescue blend.
Weather will once again play a significant role in an Open Championship. Wind gusts in the 10-20 miles per hour range with mild rain are expected for Thursday and Friday. Heavy showers are expected for Saturday with rain still in the forecast for Sunday with the winds likely to hit up to 20 miles per hour.
Rory McIlroy opened as the betting favorite at +650 odds at DraftKings. He won the Scottish Open last week and remains determined to win his first major championship in nine years since winning the 2014 British Open at Royal Liverpool in 2014. McIlroy's price has since dropped to +800 as of Wednesday evening.
Scottie Scheffler opened at +700 odds at DraftKings as the second favorite in the futures market for this tournament, but he has since passed to become the number one bettors' favorite versus McIlroy with his +700 price holding steady. Scheffler has not won a major championship this season but he has not finished below 12th place in 17 straight tournaments.
Jon Rahm is the third favorite at +1300 odds at DraftKings. He has four victories in 2013 but has not lifted a first-place trophy since winning the Masters in April. In his last event, he missed the cut at the Travelers Championship, which was the first time he did not make the weekend since 2021.
Defending champion Cameron Smith opened at +1800 odds to win this tournament at DraftKings. He has since dropped to +2000. After a fourth-place finish at the US Open, Smith comes into this British Open off a victory in his last tournament on the LIV Tour.
We go for our sixth first place on the PGA Tour in 2023 and third major championship this season after winning with Rahm at the Masters before Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship.
Best of luck -- Frank.
This will be the third time that the Open Championship will be played at Royal Liverpool this century. Tiger Woods claimed the Claret Jug here in 2006 before Rory McIlroy won his most recent major championship title here in 2014.
There are several changes to the course for the 156 professionals this time around. Previously a Par 72 setup, the course has been lowered to a Par 71 track due to the new Par 3 at the 17th hole leaving just three Par 5 holes for the professionals to tackle. The course has been lengthened from 7312 yards in 2014 to 7383 yards this week. Even more fairway bunkers have been added. The terrain is treacherous off-the-tee given so many sand bunkers — and six holes threaten with out-of-bounds territories that are very much in play. The fairways are flat but just a narrow 32 yards wide on average. The initial rough is manageable before the iconic tall fescue that makes hitting the greens in regulation virtually impossible.
It was for these reasons that Woods historically pulled out his driver only once in his four rounds in his 2006 victory. McIlroy considered playing things safe on this links course that he used his two iron off-the-tee more often than his driver. The putting surface is slower than the other three major championships with the greens consisting of a Bentgrass, Poa Annua, and fescue blend.
Weather will once again play a significant role in an Open Championship. Wind gusts in the 10-20 miles per hour range with mild rain are expected for Thursday and Friday. Heavy showers are expected for Saturday with rain still in the forecast for Sunday with the winds likely to hit up to 20 miles per hour.
Rory McIlroy opened as the betting favorite at +650 odds at DraftKings. He won the Scottish Open last week and remains determined to win his first major championship in nine years since winning the 2014 British Open at Royal Liverpool in 2014. McIlroy's price has since dropped to +800 as of Wednesday evening.
Scottie Scheffler opened at +700 odds at DraftKings as the second favorite in the futures market for this tournament, but he has since passed to become the number one bettors' favorite versus McIlroy with his +700 price holding steady. Scheffler has not won a major championship this season but he has not finished below 12th place in 17 straight tournaments.
Jon Rahm is the third favorite at +1300 odds at DraftKings. He has four victories in 2013 but has not lifted a first-place trophy since winning the Masters in April. In his last event, he missed the cut at the Travelers Championship, which was the first time he did not make the weekend since 2021.
Defending champion Cameron Smith opened at +1800 odds to win this tournament at DraftKings. He has since dropped to +2000. After a fourth-place finish at the US Open, Smith comes into this British Open off a victory in his last tournament on the LIV Tour.
We go for our sixth first place on the PGA Tour in 2023 and third major championship this season after winning with Rahm at the Masters before Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship.
Best of luck -- Frank.
