Rory McIlroy Remains British Open Betting Favorite After Spectacular Round 1

Rory McIlroy did it again.

The 2014 Open Championship winner put together a nearly-flawless opening round at his third straight major to put himself in good position to finally end his major-less streak.

The only question is, can he put together three more rounds of greatness? Or will he stumble similar to the U.S. Open and PGA Championship?

Oddsmakers are betting the former.

McIlroy, after shooting a 6-under 66, featuring seven birdies against one bogey, remains the betting favorite to win the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews. He's currently +250 at WynnBET Sportsbook to win, comfortably ahead of Cameron Smith (+600) and Cameron Young (+700), who leads the tournament at 8-under.

McIlroy was the betting favorite coming into the event at +900. No surprise he's still at the top of the odds leaderboard after his impressive round. But there's reason for bettors to be concerned.

After taking the outright lead at the PGA Championship with a 65 in the first round, he shot 71-74 and wound up placing 8th. At the U.S. Open, he opened 67-69 before shooting 73 on Saturday and being unable to complete a comeback on Sunday, finishing in 5th place. As someone who has bet Rory in every major this year, including The Open, I'm certainly nervous about how he'll follow up his opening round.

McIlroy hasn't won a major since since the 2014 Open. He's openly admitted he's put extra pressure on himself to win another since, which has backfired with those mental blips. But I'm backing Rory to claim the title here as I did before the tournament started. Can't jump off that bandwagon now.