British Open score predictions (What will be the winning score at Royal Liverpool?)

The final major golf tournament of the year is set to take place this week as the Open Championship returns to Royal Liverpool for the first time since 2014.

If you want to read my betting preview and best bets for the event, you can find that here.

In this article, I'm going to attempt to do the impossible. I'm going to predict what the winning score of the tournament will be, while also predicting the final score of the top 10 golfers on the odds list.

Let's jump into it.

British Open Score Predictions

Winning Score: -15

Sportsbooks have the over/under for the winning score this week set at -15.5, so we can use that as a starting point when predicting the winning score. I'll go with it finishing half a stroke under the set total at 15-under par.

This would be right around where it finished when the event was last hosted at Royal Liverpool in 2014. Rory McIlroy won the event at 17-under par, two strokes better than Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia who finished at 15-under par.

I expect the R&A to set up the course slightly more difficult this time around, so I'll take a shot at the winning score being 15-under par.

Rory McIlroy Score Prediction: -14

If Rory McIlroy is ever going to win another major, he may not get a better chance than this week. He's coming off a win at the Scottish Open and now he returns to the site of his 2014 win at the Open, Royal Liverpool.

My only concern is his lack of closing ability at recent majors, including last year's Open Championship when he lost in a final round duel to Cameron Smith.

Scottie Scheffler Score Prediction: -13

Scottie Scheffler has finished in the top five in seven straight tournaments, but yet he hasn't won any of those. I expect the exact same result this week. He's by far the best ball striker in the world right now, but his putting is preventing him from winning. A 13-under par score seems like a lock for his eighth straight top five finish.

Jon Rahm Score Prediction: -8

We haven't seen much from Jon Rahm lately, and he hasn't blown us away in those starts. He missed the cut in his last start at the Travelers Championship, which took place almost a month ago. We have no idea what kind of form he's going to be in this week.

Cameron Smith Score Prediction: -7

Cameron Smith is coming off a win at LIV London a couple of weeks ago, and he's the defending champion of the Open. With that being said, it's always tough to gauge how well a LIV golfer is truly playing based on their 54-hole events.

I'm not as high on Cam Smith as other people are this week. His lack of driving accuracy might hurt him at Royal Liverpool.

Brooks Koepka Score Prediction: -10

Brooks Koepka is back in his form where we should assume he's going to be in the mix in every major he competes in. His three majors this season, he's gone T2, WIN, and T17. I'm sure he'll hover around another top 10 finish this week.

Viktor Hovland Score Prediction: -11

Viktor Hovland was in contention at the Open last week, finishing T4. He's now strung together three top 10 finishes in his last four majors. With that being said, he hasn't been in peak form since winning the Memorial in early June. Since then, he has gone 19th, T29, and T25.

We'll see if he can find something this week.

Rickie Fowler Score Prediction: -8

Rickie Fowler experienced a little bit of an emotional hangover after winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic, finishing T42 at the Scottish Open. He'll make the cut and be around on the weekend, but he's starting to show some level of burnout after having a busy schedule all summer.

Tommy Fleetwood Score Prediction: -6

The Open Championship has been kind to Tommy Fleetwood. He finished 2nd in 2019 and T4 in 2022. He's also coming into this event finishing T6 or better in three of his last four starts.

So, why do I think he'll finish at just 6-under par? Because it's Tommy Fleetwood. Any time we start to have some faith in him, he disappoints.

Tyrrell Hatton Score Prediction: -15

To this point you may have wondered why I haven't predicted anyone to have the same final score as what I predicted the winning score would be. That's simply because I've been waiting to write about Tyrrell Hatton, who is my pick to win the 2023 Open Championship.

He ranks third on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained and he's been playing extremely well over the past number of weeks. I think he gets over the hump in a major this week.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change