British Open Championship Picks and Predictions (Zalatoris, Thomas, Smith Worth Targeting)
By Joe Summers
We head to St. Andrews this week in Scotland for the final major of the season, the 150th Open Championship.
Collin Morikawa is the defending champion and we've got a loaded field set to compete. It seems every major this year has been filled with dramatic finishes - this week should be no different.
My tournament preview can be found here, and BetSided will have you loaded with actionable content all week. As we're filling out our bet slips at WynnBET Sportsbook though, I've got a few golfers I'm targeting to emerge victorious.
Using the odds from WynnBET, here are my favorite wagers for the British Open Championship:
British Open Championship Picks and Predictions
Will Zalatoris (+1500)
It may be chalky to go with Zalatoris, but the guy is the most consistent major tournament player in the world right now. He has five top-six finishes in his last six majors and perfectly fits what I'm looking for at St. Andrews.
Most strokes gained total per round in the majors since beginning of 2020 (min. 12 rounds played):
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) July 11, 2022
Will Zalatoris, 2.73
Scottie Scheffler, 2.42
Jon Rahm, 2.19
Collin Morikawa, 2.16
Dustin Johnson, 2.15
Zalatoris leads the Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach and Tee-to-Green while being one of the longest drivers in the field. His first major win is coming sooner than later. I'm not going to miss out on celebrating when it does.
Justin Thomas (+1500)
From a statistical perspective, Thomas is my favorite play of the week. After finishing T13 at the Masters, he won the PGA Championship with an incredible comeback in the final round and has three top-five finishes in his last six events.
There are simply no holes to Thomas' game. He's third in Strokes Gained: Total, fourth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, and sixth in Strokes Gained: Approach. As a bonus, he's stellar with the driver, excels in the wind and leads the Tour in Par 4 Performance.
Cameron Smith (+1800)
Smith is another golfer that checks all the boxes. He's one of the best iron players on Tour while simultaneously being perhaps the best around-the-green and with his putter. An excellent scrambler, Smith excels in windy conditions and is the highest ranked player in the world without a major championship.
With sustained winds of over 20 mp/h expected for the Scottish Open here are the top golfers in "Worst" weather conditions.
— NinetoFiveSports (@925_Sports) July 6, 2022
1) Viktor Hovland
2) Tommy Fleetwood
3) Jon Rahm
4) Cameron Smith
5) JT
6) Danny Willett
7) Matt Fitzpatrick
8) Sepp Straka
9) Alex Noren
10) Cantlay
Avoiding three-putts will be critical in this event, and Smith is fantastic at preventing disaster holes. He's won two tournaments already this year, so a British Open Championship would be a fitting way to cap off his ascension.
Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.