There are a fair number of players who hold a strong chance of winning The Open. It is fair to say that with a classy field, it should be an exceptional four days of golf this week. Let’s look at some of those with the strongest chance of claiming the win in the season’s final major.
Rory McIlroy +700
Can prove a touch inconsistent but there is no doubting his class. Since winning this in 2014, he has finished 2nd, 3rd, tied 4th and tied 5th in the six times that he has played in this tournament. He won the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this year and the Scottish Open last week, making it five wins in just over 13 months.
Having spent some time in the wilderness, winning a single tournament in 2017 and 2018 combined, he has rediscovered his stroke in more recent times. Growing up in Northern Ireland, he was raised on links courses so it is no shock that he is the favourite to lift the Claret Jug.
Scottie Scheffler +700
The world number 1 has made the top 10 in nine of the last 11 majors to be played. One of the two that the 2022 Masters champion missed out on was in this tournament last year. Tied 8th in 2021, they are the only two times that he has been seen at The Open.
He tied for 3rd at the Scottish Open last week, a level par final round seeing him finish five shots off the winner. Seven bogeys and one double bogey were on his card, four of them coming in that final round on Sunday. Others have slightly stronger links form but it would be no shock if he makes it third time lucky.
Jon Rahm +1200
Tied for third in 2021 but has failed to break into the top 10 in his other five appearances. Despite not having the best record on a links course, he is still the world number 2 and has been in excellent form in 2023.
2023 is the first time that he has won four times on the PGA tour in a single year. 2019 saw Rahm pick up four wins but three of those were on the European Tour. It is fair to say that the 28yo is in the form of his life this year, so he needs plenty of respect.
Cameron Smith +1800
The defending champion, he had only made the top 20 in one of his prior four starts in The Open before coming from four shots back at the start of the final round last year. A 64 was the second lowest final round score by a champion at The Open with his back nine score of 30 the lowest ever by an Open champion.
That does make it a little bit of a question mark for 2023, however, as to whether he is capable of producing that level of play once more. If he is, then naturally he is one of the main contenders as one of the top players in the world but if he isn’t…
Tommy Fleetwood +2200
Runner-up in 2019 and tied for 4th last year, Tommy Fleetwood is yet to break his duck in a major but the Englishman has been knocking on the door for a while now. 2023 has been a solid year for him so far. A heartbreaking runner-up in the Canadian Open, he was tied for 5th in the US Open last month.
At the Scottish Open last week he used ‘moving day’ on the Saturday to put himself into contention. Unfortunately for Fleetwood, he followed up that stunning -7 round with a +2 on the Sunday and could only end up in a tie for 6th. More consistency is needed at Hoylake but he is very much the type to put up a strong challenge.