TOP Picks for the British Open 2025

Returning to Royal Potrush for the first time since 2019, this year’s British Open will likely come down to the player that can show the most patience and manage the coastal links course the best. The Dunluce Links course, known for its penal rough, can produce dramatic weather swings, which rewards precision and can easily break a player’s resilience. 

Do Rankings Matter?

It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone, but the #1 and #2 ranked players in the world are also the favorites to win the Open. Scottie Scheffler +450 and Rory McIlroy +700 will start off Thursday’s opening round as the favorites, but do their rankings represent their chances? If we just take a look at McIlroy, the numbers give us a different story. While he did set the course record for the old course in 2005, Rory failed to make the cut at last year’s Open and also didn’t make it to Saturday at Royal Potrush in 2019, his win at the Masters would seem to be inflating his odds. Scheffler may be a bit of a different story as he’s having one of the best seasons of his career. However, unlike many of the others in the field, he’s never played a major at the tough course in Northern Ireland.  

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Does Experience Matter?

This is where the Open makes things interesting. This will be only the third time Royal Potrush has hosted the Open, and as it also doesn’t play host to any other big PGA annual tournaments, many players have little or no experience with the course. Two men who do know the course well aren’t seeing a lot of love from the sportsbooks, but could be serious contenders on Sunday. Shane Lowry +3000 and Tommy Fleetwood +2800 finished first and second in the 2019 Open and Lowry’s 63 remains the record on the new course. Both Lowry and Fleetwood are currently ranked in the top 20 in the world, but are seemingly being overlooked and could be smart bets given their experience. 

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Outsiders Worth Serious Consideration

Anything can happen at the Open and we haven’t seen someone win back to back since Padrig Harrington in 2007-2008. Xander Schauffele +2500 is currently ranked #3 in the world, won the Open last year and has played at Royal Potrush. At +1200 Jon Rahm (+110 to finish Top-10) is on an amazing run of Top 15 finishes at Major Tournaments dating back to last year’s Open. He finished tied for 11th at the 2019 Open and is definitely one to watch as he looks to win his third Major. Go Big or Go Home on Friday seems to be the mantra for Justin Rose +7500. After finishing second at the Masters, he failed to make the cut at the PGA Championship and the US Open. Rose is a longshot who interestingly has almost as many Top 10 finishes (23) as he does missed cuts (27) at Major Championships.