Open Championship Special Bets: 6 Tips For Royal Portrush Including Top LIV Golfer, Top-10 Finish And Best Debutant
Six special bets to consider for the Open Championship, including a 40/1 shot for first round leader and a 16/1 chance to finish top of the rest of the world


It's the final men's Major of the year and the last chance to back a winner if you're a fan of a little golf wager now and again, and there are plenty of markets available to have a crack at.
Our Golf Monthly team have made their Open Championship outright betting picks and each-way shouts, while our betting expert Barry Plummer has written his Bazza's Best Bets For The Open column - but there's a host of other specials to bet on.
Keep our Open form guide handy with championship and Portrush records of the top contenders, which can be of use when weighing up the chances of your favorite this week.
From the fast starters to the top LIV Golf stars to individual country picks, let's take a look at some of the best Open special bets.
First round leader
Always a popular one, but nobody would've backed Daniel Brown to lead the way at Troon last year with his 65 - a great result for the bookies as he pipped the likes of Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Justin Rose.
Lowry was also just a shot off the lead after 18 holes at Portrush and as long as he can channel the excitement and adrenaline of being the defending champion in Northern Ireland than at 40/1 (+4000) he's well worth a look.
Tommy Fleetwood led the way at Hoylake in 2023 and was two shots off the pace at Portrush before finishing second to Lowry - and is 45/1 (+4500) to start hot, while Robert MacIntyre didn't have his best stuff in Scotland but shot 68 at Portrush in round one last time to make the shortlist.
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But why not plump for the 2019 champ to kick-off in style on his Portrush return.
Pick: Shane Lowry (+4000)
Top LIV Golfer
Jon Rahm is the hotpot here at 11/4 (+275) as he's one of the tournament favorites with plenty going for him, including a T11 here in 2019 and two Irish Open wins on links courses.
Bryson DeChambeau's links form means he's a weak challenger to Rahm here, while Joaquin Niemann still can't find the key in Majors so 13/2 shot Tyrrell Hatton (+650) looks the biggest challenger on the face of things.
Patrick Reed is interesting with a T10 at Portrush his best Open result but Brooks Koepka interests me greatly here at 12/1 (+1200) to essentially beat Rahm and Hatton.
He finished T4 at Portrush, his best result in the Open, with Koepka's caddie being Portrush native Ricky Elliott likely having something to do with.
And with a Pete Cowen dressing down sparking his best Major result since he won the PGA at last month's US Open, I'll roll the dice on Koepka pipping this one ahead of Rahm.
Pick: Brooks Koepka 12/1 (+1200)
To miss the cut
You have to wonder what condition Chris Gotterup is in after winning the Scottish Open and now heading across the Irish Sea to make his Open debut - so at 13/8 to miss the cut he's one of the better prices we can get in this market.
At the same price we find Joaquin Niemann, who has underwhelming Open Championship form just like his overall struggles in the Majors. Yes, he finally cracked the top 10 at the PGA but followed it up with a whimper and a missed cut at Oakmont.
He's made three cuts from five Opens but a best finish of 53rd shows he's hardly flying into the weekend - and he missed the cut here in 2019 after going 76-71.
Pick: Joaquin Niemann 13/8 (+163)
Top debutant
I've been looking for a way to get Harry Hall on side after a tremendous effort at the Scottish Open which saw him shoot 64 on Friday playing alongside Luke Donald - so you know he can handle pressure.
One bad round cost him an even better finish than 17th, but it maintained an excellent run of seven straight T24 finishes or better, including a T19 at the PGA Championship and two further top 10s.
Chris Gotterup obviously leads this market but he'll surely suffer some sort of comedown, while JJ Spaun looks like he'll need more time to figure out links golf - and so with Taylor Pendrith, Max Greyserman and Andrew Novak to beat I think Hall represents some decent value here.
Pick: Harry Hall 8/1 (+800)
Top 10 finish
Some enticing odds in this one. Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg both at 3/1 really appeal - and I'd consider backing a double for both of them to make the top 10 which would make a big 13/1 (+1300) shot.
Sepp Straka at 5/1 and Russell Henley at 6/1 will be popular here but preference goes to Cameron Young at 8/1 (+800) to back up his eighth at the US Open with yet another top 10.
As he's got six top 10 finishes in the last 15 Majors - the list of players who can top that is short - only Schauffele, DeChambeau, McIlroy and Scheffler, that's it!
He's also got the third best stroke average (69.83) in The Open over the last five years - only Scheffler and Lowry can better that.
Young almost pinched the 2022 Open from Cam Smith with a flying Sunday and was eighth at Royal Liverpool and T31 last year - his worst return from three Opens. He's got serious game and shows it best in the Majors.
Pick: Cameron Young 8/1 (+800)
Top rest of the world
So this market is for every player not from the USA or Europe, so it's a big field but we get a big price of 16/1 on our selection Ryan Fox - who had his best Open result of T16 at Portrush in 2019.
He's just 4/1 to win top Australasian and take care of the likes of Cam Smith, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee and Jason Day - and 16/1 to also see-off the likes of Niemann, Hideki Matsuyama and Corey Conners.
Fox shot 66 last Thursday in Scotland before fading away, but he's won the Dunhill Links and finished top four at both Ballyliffin and Portstewart in the Irish Open - plus his Canadian Open win has been a real shot in the arm for his confidence.
A prevous Northern Ireland Open winner in 2016, Fox could go really well this week, but this looks like the best value pick of the specials markets to back him in.
Pick: Ryan Fox 16/1 (+1600)

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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