Open Championship Special Bets 2026: First-Round Leader Picks & Big England Double Chance

The 154th Open Championship will be a fast and firm affair at Royal Birkdale meaning only the most skilled golfer will be able to claim the Claret Jug on Sunday.

The Golf Monthly crew have already had their say on who will triumph, while we've got our best bets and also some dark horse sleeper picks for the week along the Southport coast.

But as always there's a plethora of other betting markets to look at in the search for some value, and we've got our pick of the bunch right here.

First-round leader

Favorite - Matt Fitzpatrick

We had a five-way tie at Royal Portrush last year with some big prices on the likes of Harris English, Christian Bezuidenhout and Jacob Skov Olesen.

There's a couple of players from that group last year though that are worth looking at again as part of a three-pronged attack we've got on the first-round leader market.

Firstly the favorite of our three and that's Matt Fitzpatrick at +3300 to lead the way again just as he did at Portrush last year, albeit in a big tie.

Fitzpatrick looks primed for another Major at some point so we're expecting a challenge, and starting in a group alongside Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele will be right up his street.

He ranks fourth on the PGA Tour in first round scoring average and has first round scores of 67-67-64-67 in his last four starts, while he's also thrown in a 65 at both the Phoenix Open and RBC Heritage. Fitz won't be scared of a fast start.

Back Matt Fitzpatrick first round leader at +3300 (33/1) with BetMGM

Each-way - Brooks Koepka

At almost twice the price we have Brooks Koepka at +6000 (60/1) to finish in the lead after 18 holes - and he's done it before at Royal Birkdale after shooting 65 in the opening round here in 2017.

He's also finished third at Portrush and Hoylake recently after round one, and even though he's struggled of late he kicked off with a 64 to lead the Canadian Open and shot 66 in Scotland before missing the cut.

So even in bad form he can still pump out those fast starts - and back on familiar ground where he's done it before he could easily do it again.

Back Brooks Koepka first round leader at +6000 (60/1) with BetMGM

Value pick - Haotong Li

And finally, at a huge price we'll try Haotong Li to repeat last year's Open success, where he played in Sunday's final group after starting the tournament sharing the first round lead.

The Chinese star can obviously play links golf, he can obviously start fast, and he obviously likes Royal Birkdale too - as he made his Open debut here back in 2017.

Oh, and on that debut at Birkdale he just so happened to shoot 63 on Sunday to finish T3 - that's serious course form to take into consideration for at least a live each-way shout.

Back Haotong Li first round leader at +12500 (125/1) with BetMGM

Top 10 finish - Cameron Young

The Players Championship winner has already proven he's got the game to win a Major - as he came so close to converting at the Masters this year.

That was his seventh top 10 in 21 Majors, which includes two at the Open Championship including that flying finish at St Andrews where he almost pinched it from Cameron Smith.

Results have just tailed off lately, but he's won twice this year and with his creativity around the greens he's well capable of finding form again and going close at Birkdale.

Back Cameron Young top 10 finish at +335 (10/3)

Top 20 finish - Jordan Spieth

Jordan Spieth is hoping a return to Birkdale can spark him into life as he looks to bring his bizarre Major drought to an end.

He may not be able to lift the Claret Jug again but he says his best form is close so you can't rule out him from at least being near the sharp end of the leaderboard.

He's never missed the cut at the Open and even when struggling over the last few years his form hasn't been so bad with two top 10s in the last five and further finishes of T23 and T25 so he should be there or thereabouts.

Back Cameron Young top 10 finish at +275 (11/4)

Double chance - Fitzpatrick & Fleetwood

If you can't quite decide on who'll win this week you can always double your chances by taking a shot at some double chance betting - and what about a rare home win for England.

Tommy Fleetwood is the hometown hero and Matt Fitzpatrick the World No.3 so both of them have huge chances heading to Birkdale.

Either would be quite the story but with hardly anything between them you can back them at +900 on the double chance so if either wins you can go collect!

Back Fleetwood/Fitzpatrick double chance at +900 (9/1)

Bryson DeChambeau to miss the cut - again!

Who'd have believed Bryson DeChambeau would be this short a price to miss the cut at a Major having been THE guy in golf's biggest tournaments the last few years?

But he's missed all three cuts this year and four out of the last five - and now the pressure will be on at Birkdale to avoid the ignomy of missing every cut in the same year.

That should spur him on, but could also work against him as his attacking style just doesn't seem to sit right with links golf - especially fast and firm links golf such as this week.

He got a top 10 last year in soft conditions at Portrush but Sir Nick Faldo says he doesn't have a clue about strategy on links golf - if that's true then he'll struggle this week.

Back DeChambeau to miss the cut at +138 (11/8)