British Open Prop Bets & Tips: Best Open Championship Props 2023

The final major of the season is here, and the best of the best take on Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Thursday. Sportsbook Review betting analyst Neil Parker surveys the Open Championship props markets across our best sports betting apps and offers his top picks and predictions.

Royal Liverpool Golf Club will host the Open Championship for the first time since 2014, and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has joined Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy as the co-betting favorites in the British Open odds.

Of course, McIlroy was the wire-to-wire winner in 2014, and he is also looking for his first major championship since taking down the PGA Championship to conclude the 2014 major season. McIlroy will remain one of this week's most popular British Open picks.

The tournament doesn’t begin until Thursday, July 20, but our best sportsbooks will soon be flush with Open Championship props markets leading into the final major championship of the season.

British Open prop bets

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Tony Finau to finish top 20 (+210 via FanDuel) ⭐⭐⭐

We’re landing a long number for Finau in betting markets this week because he’s fallen off the map with just a single top-25 finish across six events since winning the Mexico Open in April.

Still, he’s been a machine on links-style courses with an average of 2.07 strokes gained: total since 2014. Add his tidy Open Championship history to his minibreak since missing the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and I’m banking on a bounce-back birdie fest for the six-time PGA Tour winner.

Finau has never missed the cut at the Open, and he’s carded four top-20 finishes in six trips to the event.

There’s a sneaky gap in the available odds across our best sportsbooks. The +210 number presents a positive expected value of 11% over the +180 through BetMGM. However, it’s definitely worth noting that BetMGM pays out ties, while the other three highlighted shops do not.

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Louis Oosthuizen to finish top 40 (+145 via FanDuel) ⭐⭐

There’s a significant advantage to backing Oosthuizen for a top-40 result through FanDuel instead of betting the +100 odds via DraftKings. The +145 number equates to a positive expected value of 23%, which is a rare find in most golf markets.

Oosthuizen won his lone major in the 2010 Open, and he’s carded a top-40 finish in five of nine editions since.

I’m particularly encouraged after his solo-fourth showing at the LIV London event earlier this month, and he’s a proven player on links tracks.

Top Scandinavian: Viktor Hovland (+150 via Caesars) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

We cashed this prop during the U.S. Open with Hovland standing as the lone Scandinavian to play the weekend, and he’s carded a top-20 finish in each of the past four major championships.

Add in Hovland’s elite ball-striking and improving play around the greens, and he should be sporting shorter odds in this prop market. He ranks eighth in true strokes gained: tee-to-green in this field across his past 57 measured rounds, and Hovland hasn’t gifted away strokes with his short game over the past 20.

If Dane Nicolai Hojgaard hadn’t surged to a T-6 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open last week, Hovland wouldn’t be priced this long. It was a bit of an out-of-the-blue showing for Hojgaard, too. He’d missed the cut in three of his previous four starts.

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Hole-in-one prop bets

The hole-in-one prop for the Open Championship will be a simple two-way market with a Yes and No side. DraftKings has it priced at Yes -220, and No +165.

There are also odds for there to be a hole in one in each round, and DraftKings and BetMGM both have odds for there to be an ace in each individual round priced at +300. DraftKings also has this as a two-way market for Rounds 1 and 2, with the No trading at -450. 

Wire-to-wire winner props

Winning a golf tournament wire-to-wire means the same golfer led the tournament following each of the four rounds of play. There have been seven wire-to-wire winners in Open Championship history, and another five players have shared the lead at the conclusion of a round and gone on to win.

The betting favorite for the 2023 Open Championship, Rory McIlroy, was a wire-to-wire winner the last time Royal Liverpool hosted the Open Championship.

DraftKings and BetMGM have +1000 odds there will be a wire-to-wire winner, and DraftKings has prices for individual players.

Cut line props

Our best sportsbooks will have multiple markets involving the cut line ahead of the 2023 Open Championship. 

To make the cut odds

To miss the cut odds

Will there be a playoff props

The Open Championship has a unique four-hole playoff setup where the winner is decided by the low aggregate score. If two or more players remain tied following the four-hole playoff, it becomes a sudden-death playoff.

A playoff has been required 21 times, and the last Open Championship to be decided by a playoff was in 2015 when Zach Johnson topped Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen.

The playoff props for the 2023 Open Championship will be another two-way market with Yes and No sides.

DraftKings has playoff markets available with props for whether there would be a three-man playoff (+1100) or a four-or-more-man playoff (+6500).

Nationality props

The Open Championship field is always loaded with international talents, and nationality prop markets offer opportunities for bettors to wager on collections of players from different countries, continents, and regions of the world. 

FanDuel and PointsBet are each offering unique nationality betting markets for who will win the Open Championship.

Top Great Britain and Ireland

Top American

DraftKings also has two-ways markets for a European and American winner, and a one-way market priced at +400 that the winner won't be from Europe or America.

British Open prop bets explained

Our best sports betting sites will have a number of Open Championship props markets available. They offer the opportunity to bet on if a specific golfer will make the cut, notable events throughout the tournament, what nationality the winner of the event will be, and whether or not there will be a playoff, among other options.

It’s also important to note there are a wide range of options and available odds across our best live betting sites, so as always, shopping around is paramount.

British Open props betting tips

Links golf and battling the elements are two predominant themes of the Open Championship year in, year out, but Royal Liverpool might not be the toughest test for the world’s best in 2023. 

Royal Liverpool played as a par-72 track that stretched to just 7,312 yards in 2014, and Rory McIlroy’s winning score was a tidy 271 (-17). Another 10 players also fired double-digits under par.

There have been changes to the Royal Liverpool layout ahead of the 2023 Open Championship, including it now scoring as a Par 71 and expected to play 7,383 yards following significant modifications to the back nine. However, I’m expecting weather remaining the biggest defense for the track.

So, if it’s dry and calm, scores will be low again this year.

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