The Open Championship Picks
The 2017 Open Championship will be teeing off early on Thursday morning. Here are the golfers we think should contend for the win.
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth are now the co-favorites to win, as each is getting 14/1 odds. Other short odds to win are Rickie Fowler (16/1), Jon Rahm (16/1) and Sergio Garcia (18/1). The Open Championship takes place Thursday-Sunday from Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.
Sergio Garcia has always managed to contend in this tournament, but couldn’t break through for the win. Now that he has his first major, the 2017 Masters Championship, the pressure should be off for him to finish the job this weekend. Garcia has finished sixth or better in this tournament the last three years and has placed in the top-10 in 10 of the last 17 British Opens. That includes three runner-up finishes. Garcia also comes into this weekend playing well, finishing second at the BMW International Open. He has two wins this year and has yet to miss a cut.
Alex Noren is a bit of a dark horse this weekend with 40/1 odds to win. Noren has climbed up to ninth in the world rankings thanks to four wins in 2016. He also has one win this year. He is coming off a missed cut in the Scottish Open, but has yet to miss back-to-back cuts this season. Noren has appeared in this tournament six times in his career. His first appearance was 2008 at Royal Birkdale, and he finished 19th in his first-ever major. He also placed ninth in 2012. I think Noren should have a good showing this week. He played well here in 2008 when he didn’t have much experience. Returning now as a top-10 golfer should do a lot for his chances.
Thomas Pieters is another dark horse this weekend. He is listed with 50/1 odds to win The Open Championship. Pieters has struggled somewhat this year, missing five cuts, but he also hasn’t missed back-to-back cuts. He missed the cut in his last tournament, the Irish Open. Pieters will be playing in just his second Open Championship this year. He finished 30th last year. He also finished fourth in the Masters this year, so he has proven he can compete on the world stage. I think he builds off last year’s showing and makes a run at the top of the leaderboard this weekend.