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The fourth and final major of the year tees off across the pond on Thursday. A strong field will compete at this week’s 2021 Open Championship in England, and William Hill has futures posted for 141 golfers to finish in first.
“This field is just so deep, so many contenders,” said Nick Bogdanovich, Director of Trading for William Hill US. “Of all the tournaments, this one has the most luck involved. Just because of weather, bounces and a different type of course than most of these golfers usually see, it evens things up a little. There’s more of an ‘anything can happen’ type of feel in The Open compared to the other three majors.”
Jon Rahm is atop the board at +900 at William Hill Nevada, with the next-closest golfer being Brooks Koepka at 14/1. Rahm won the U.S. Open in June for his first career major championship. He’s also had top-10 finishes in this year’s Masters (tied for fifth) and Players Championship (tied for eighth).
Rahm opened as the 11/1 favorite when William Hill Nevada first released these futures on June 20, which was just ahead of Dustin Johnson (12/1) and Rory McIlroy (12/1). The Spaniard reached as low as +800 before settling in at his current price.
“Rahm won the last major and he did really well this last week in Scotland,” Bogdanovich said. “He definitely deserves to have the lowest price. I think he’ll end up getting to 10/1 at some point, it’s hard for me to see anyone less than 10/1 these days with how strong these fields are at majors. Rahm does have the most money as of now, though.”
Rory McIlroy follows with current odds of 15/1, with 2017 Open Championship winner Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas each close behind at 18/1. Three golfers are at 20/1 apiece: Louis Oosthuizen, Xander Schauffele and Dustin Johnson, while Viktor Hovland (22/1) and Bryson DeChambeau (25/1) are also in that range.
“The two guys that I’m most concerned about right now are Hovland and Oosthuizen,” Bogdanoivch said. “Both are playing really well, and we’ve got good liability on them. So those are the two we have to worry about. We opened Oozy at 40/1 and he’s down to 20/1. He’s number one in tickets, and by a distance too. He’s had a bunch of great finishes at majors the past few years, and he’s in great form.”
Shane Lowry, the defending Open Championship winner in 2019 (the tournament was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19), is tied for the 19th-lowest odds at 50/1 along with Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Marc Leishman. Two longshots that have caught the attention of William Hill bettors so far are Ian Poulter (65/1) and Rickie Fowler (65/1).
Check out William Hill Nevada’s latest odds for the 2021 Open Championship below.
