Preview and picks for the 153rd Open Championship

The final major of the 2025 PGA season is the Open Championship at Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush - a course I played in 1999 with a traveling party of friends in four foursomes. Now we handicap the field, evaluate the odds and betting menu at leading online sportsbooks, and provide some insight, picks and information you can bet on for the final major golf championship. 

This year's championship at Royal Portrush plays to 7,381 yards and par 71. The canvas is "visually stunning, but extremely demanding. It is the essence of links golf in the Emerald Isle." 

A hole-by-hole course guide is available to review and assist as you watch and wager on the major event, along with a video highlighting the confounding contours and uneven lay of the land exposed on the Northern Atlantic coastline with gorse bushes, tall, shaggy sandhills and strategically placed bunkers, and smaller, undulating raised greens and blind approach shots just part of the challenge and strategy for the top players navigating the winds and shooting for the Claret Jug.  

Odds To Win 2025 Open Championship

Golf odds from BetOnline and leading online sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. Odds adjust during and following rounds. The 156-player field includes qualifying golfers from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf with 49 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings playing at Royal Portrush. 

+550: Scheffler
+650: McIlroy
+1200: Rahm
+2500: DeChambeau, Fleetwood
+2800: Schauffele, Aberg
+3000: Lowry, Hatton, Hovland
+3500: MacIntyre
+4000: Morikawa, Fitzpatrick
+5000: Straka
+6000: Rose
+6500: J. Thomas, Niemann, Spieth, Henley
+7000: Cantlay
+7500: Koepka, A. Scott
+8000: Fox
+9000: Matsuyama, Reed
+10000 - +120000: Conners, Burns, Young, Hall, Gotterup, Griffin, Harman, C. Smith, J. Day, MW Lee

72-Hole Winning Score: O/U 272.5 (Par 71) 

Open Championship 2025 winner receives $3.1 million from a $17 million prize pool plus the Claret Jug. 

I'll be adding picks and tournament matchup selections by Wednesday, which have done well again this year in the majors posted at OSGA. Rory McIlroy winning The Masters outright and 'Dog matchup over Scottie Scheffler - the two top-ranked players in the world with last year's Open Championship winner Xander Schauffele No. 3. A 4-0-1 tournament matchup result in the 2025 U.S. Open with top finishers Rahm and Hatton added more green to our scorecard as we shoot for more winners at The Open.

Follow any round-by-round picks on X (@FairwayJay).

The 2022 Open Championship and 150th British Open coverage at St. Andrews was another strong result here at Off Shore Gaming Association. We found the sweet spot with not only the outright winner on Cameron Smith, but 4-0 on tournament match-ups posted at OSGA. Then in 2023, Fairway's Forecast went 1-2 with a winner on McIlroy over Scheffler and a 1-stroke loser. 

Recall we hit some big scores in the 2024 U.S. Open with three big underdogs McIlroy, Schauffele and Morikawa all beating Scheffler, and also Fleetwood over Koepka. Our Masters matchups were 2-1 and PGA Championship 2-3 with a 1-stroke loser on McIlroy over Scheffler after Rory hit two balls in the water on the back 9 Sunday. 

Let's take a swing again and see if we can cut through heather and lay of the land and hit the green with some winners on the links with the wind and rain expected to be less than daunting according to early weather forecasts, but always subject to change on short notice.  

Open Championship Stats and Notes

A total of 11 of the last 13 Open Championship winners had at least one top-10 finish in the British Open before winning. That includes Shane Lowery, who won at Royal Portrush at near triple-digit odds in 2019 with a 6-shot victory over runner-up Tommy Fleetwood. Tony Finau, Lee Westwood, Brooks Koepka, Robert MacIntyre and Tyrrell Hatton all finished top-6 in the 2019 Open at Portrush. Last year, Xander Schauffele (-9) won by 2-strokes over Justin Rose with a final round 6-under-par 65. In 2023, Brian Harman won by 6-strokes at long odds of nearly 200/1, and he had a T6 finish in 2022. Cameron Smith won in 2022 with only a best T20 in four previous British Open's until hoisting the Claret Jug, and Collin Morikawa won on debut in 2021.

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Open Championship Power Rankings And Player Profiles

NBC Sports power rankings, along with SportingLife player profiles and notes to guide you are available, and more stats and players strentghs in accuracy, driving, ball striking and approach play are researched and provided. Any added stats and information you can bet on to follow by Wednesday. 

Open Championship 2025 Matchups And Picks

Check out the dozens of head-to-head tournament match-ups offered at BetOnline and BookMaker, which also offer match-up odds laying -1.5 strokes and live betting options. Posted as sportsbooks provide. Notable Open Championship 2025 tournament matchups from BetOnline with odds as of Monday. Check back for more including added picks on Wednesday. 

- Scheffler (-163) vs. Rahm (+135)
- Scheffler (-172) vs. McIlroy (+142) - Bet McIlroy
- McIlroy (-115) vs. Rahm (-105)
- DeChambeau (-122) vs. Schauffele (+102)
- Fleetwood (-115) vs. DeChambeau (-105) Bet Fleetwood
- Fleetwood (-127) vs. Schauffele (+106)
- Aberg (-110) vs. Hatton (-1110)
- Aberg (-129) vs. Lowry (+108)
- Hovland (-129) vs. MacIntyre (+108)
- Hovland (-110) vs. Morikawa (-110)
- Fitzpatrick (-127) vs. Straka (+106)
- Straka (-120) vs. Henley (+100)
- Niemann (-115) vs. Thomas (-105)
- Cantlay (-125) vs. Reed (+105)
- Spieth (-150) vs. Koepka (+125)
- Burns (-134) vs. Matsuyama (+112)
- Rose (-125) vs. Young (+105)
- Griffin (-115) vs. Gotterup (-105)
- Conners (-138) vs. Day (+115)
- Si Woo Kim (-134) vs. Min Woo Lee (+112)
- Bradley (-134) vs. Clark (+110)
- C. Smith (-115) vs. Harman (-105)
- McNealy (-115) vs. JJ Spaun (-105)
- Berger (-115) vs. N. Hojgaard (-105)
- McKibbin (-127) vs. Fowler (+106)

Keep in mind that shot-making and stats on standard PGA Tour courses do not necessarily translate as well for players on The Open. But every British Open winner since 2012 has ranked in the Top 40 of the OWGR. That includes a player we cashed in on at the 2025 U.S. Open who was tied for the lead in the closing holes, and he's more Taylor-Made for the links challenge ahead at Portrush. Tyrrell Hatton plays on LIV Golf tour, but is still No. 23 in the world rankings despite only qualifying for points in the Majors. He's on our early card to win and evaluating more in matchups. 

Early favorites picks: McIlroy, Fleetwood, Hatton. Rahm like Rory is most capable but odds/price are prohibitive in outright market with first round leader or adjusted round-by-round odds and evaluation a potential better bet. Longshots include Ryan Fox, Adam Scott, Jason Day. More to follow along with any additional matchups, props. 

You can bet on it.

FairwayJay is a proven sports handicapper and has a history of winning at golf betting including in the more predictable PGA tournament match-ups. FairwayJay chips in additional sports betting coverage and reporting on industry news and events. Read more great insights from FairwayJay and follow him on X: @FairwayJay