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Open Championship picks: Expert picks, best bets for St. Andrews

By Cody Williams

ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND - JULY 4: The famous Swilcan Bridge on the Old Course, as preparations for the 150th Open Championship golf tournament near completion, on July 4, 2022, in St Andrews, Scotland. The 150th Open Championship will be played over the Old Course July 14-17, 2022. (Photo by Ken Jack/Getty Images)
ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND - JULY 4: The famous Swilcan Bridge on the Old Course, as preparations for the 150th Open Championship golf tournament near completion, on July 4, 2022, in St Andrews, Scotland. The 150th Open Championship will be played over the Old Course July 14-17, 2022. (Photo by Ken Jack/Getty Images) /
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Open Championship picks, British Open
Tiger Woods (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images) /

Open Championship picks: Best bets for St. Andrews

Robert MacIntyre to finish Top 20 (+350)

We’re taking a swing with the Scotsman to come through this week in his home country despite his recent form. He’s simply not been playing well by his standards, including missing the cut at the Scottish Open. With that said, MacIntyre has played extremely well at The Open Championship with a Top 10 in each of the past two tournaments. At this value for a Top 20, I’m willing to roll the dice a bit.

Rory McIlroy to finish Top 10 (+140)

This is about as square of a bet as you’ll find but the plus value on this play is too juicy for me to pass up. Rory McIlroy has been finishing inside the Top 10 in his sleep as of late. He’s done so in every major this year and has done so in four of his last six overall starts — the other two finishes were T19 and T18. No one is consistently better than McIlroy right now and all the trends show that he should be getting back into form at The Open after disappointments in 2021 and 2019.

Will Zalatoris to finish Top 20 (+140)

Big Willy Z actually missed the cut at The Open Championship last year, which is really the only major that he hasn’t performed well at. Now taking on a far more open course that will further reward his length and his quiet creativity and savvy, I love for him to have his best Open showing yet. He’s been on an absolute tear in majors this year, contending time and again. So to get this number for just a Top 20 sounds like booking a trip to the pay window right out of the gate.

Louis Oosthuizen to finish Top 10 (+450)

Prior to the LIV Golf event in Portland, the form from the 2010 Open Champion at St. Andrews wasn’t great. But he finished Top 5 there, which gives me some hope that he can come to a place where he has a win and a playoff runner-up finish in the last two trips to this course and succeed. The lack of form overall this year certainly plays into the odds but that’s to our benefit if he can show up and simply do what he has whenever he’s made the trip to the Old Course.

Wild Card Bet for The Open Championship: Tiger Woods to finish Top 10 (+650)

I can’t have an Open Championship card at St. Andrews without including Tiger Woods. The 2005 champion at this event, Woods might be playing the Old Course for the final time at The Open, at least in an era in which he can feasibly keep up with the competition. All reports say that he’s been crushing it in the UK over the past week in preparation and, while the JP McManus Pro-Am wasn’t inspiring, a course that requires smarts and strategy should favor the veteran. At these wild odds for a Top 10, I’m sprinkling and crossing my fingers.

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