Americans have won each of the last three British Opens, with Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Brian Harman prevailing. Not since 2003-06 have U.S.-born golfers won this major four straight times, a drought that many will try to end at The Open 2026. In addition to the aforementioned, the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Young and Wyndham Clark are contenders to claim the 2026 Open Championship. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick are among the Brits looking to triumph at the British Open 2026.
Scheffler is the +700 co-favorite in Open Championship 2026 odds to repeat after last year's victory alongside Rory. Tommy Fleetwood (+1400) and Matt Fitzpatrick (+1400) round out the top four. Jordan Spieth, who won The Open the last time Royal Birkdale hosted in 2017, is a +5500 golf longshot to utilize in 2026 British Open bets. Before locking in any 2026 Open Championship picks, be sure to see the 2026 Open Championship predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
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SportsLine's proprietary golf betting model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulates every PGA Tour event 10,000 times. This same model has also nailed a whopping 17 majors entering the weekend, including the 2026 Masters -- its fifth Masters in a row -- as well as last year's PGA Championship and Open Championship.
Now that the 2026 British Open field is locked in, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
2026 Open Championship predictions for Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark
One pick from the model for The Open 2026: Wyndham Clark (+2700), the latest major champion after winning the U.S. Open for the second time, stumbles big time and barely cracks the top 25. While Clark has seemingly figured out the courses utilized for the U.S. Open, the same can't be said for all other majors. He has 13 combined starts at the other three majors and just one top 20 finish. He has nearly as many missed cuts (six) as made cuts (seven) across those 13.
Royal Birkdale is one of the 10 shortest courses in use during the 2026 PGA Tour schedule, so driving distance isn't much of a factor. However, the course has over 100 bunkers, so precision is paramount. Clark is just 83rd in driving accuracy percentage and only 65th in greens in regulation percentage. One shouldn't expect another run up the leaderboard for Clark at this major as he's one to fade with Open Championship bets.
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The model has also examined McIlroy's (+700) chances of becoming a two-time Open champion, after winning the event 12 years ago in 2014. He remains the last Brit to win the British Open and aims to become the 12th golfer with seven major championships. McIlroy has been all over the leaderboard at recent editions of this major, with three top 10s and three finishes 46th or worse over his last six Open starts. He does have promising course history at Royal Birkdale, placing fourth when the course hosted the 2017 Open Championship. If he can utilize momentum from that showing and make his way to the top of the leaderboard, then McIlroy's seventh major title would tie him with Harry Vardon for the most by any British golfer.
The model has also locked in its projection for Scheffler (+700) who, with a victory at Royal Birkdale, would become the first back-to-back Open champion since Tiger Woods in 2005-06. Scheffler has never had a bad performance at this major, notching top 25s in all five of his Open starts. While his top 5 and top 10 finishes are on pace with what he did the last two years, the victories have not kept up. He won his first tournament of 2026 but has come up short in his ensuing 13 events.
The difference this year could be Scheffler's opening round struggles as he led the tour in Round 1 scoring each of the last three seasons. However, he ranks 34th this year and is often digging himself into a hole that he hasn't been able to quite climb out of. Even with that, his metrics are unparalleled on the PGA Tour as Scheffler leads it in strokes gained: total, scoring average and birdie average. See the full Open Championship projections from the model here.
How to make 2026 Open Championship picks
The model is also targeting several longshots, including one who is going off around 35-1. You can only see the model's picks here.
Who will win the 2026 British Open, which longshots will stun the golfing world, and where will Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy finish? Check out the 2026 Open Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 17 golf majors, including three in 2025, and five straight Masters.
2026 Open Championship odds, favorites
Get full 2026 Open Championship picks, best bets and predictions here.
Odds via FanDuel (subject to change)
Rory McIlroy +700 Scottie Scheffler +700 Tommy Fleetwood +1400 Matt Fitzpatrick +1500 Xander Schauffele +2000 Jon Rahm +2000 Ludvig Aberg +2200 Collin Morikawa +2700 Wyndham Clark +2700 Justin Rose +2700 Tyrrell Hatton +3000 Viktor Hovland +3000 Cameron Young +3000 Chris Gotterup +3300 Robert MacIntyre +3500 Bryson DeChambeau +4000 Brooks Koepka +4000 Sam Burns +4000 Russell Henley +4500 Patrick Reed +4500 Joaquin Niemann +4500 Justin Thomas +4500 Shane Lowry +5000 Alex Fitzpatrick +5000 Patrick Cantlay +5500 Aaron Rai +5500 Jordan Spieth +5500 Tom Kim +5500 Marco Penge +6500 Si Woo Kim +7500 Akshay Bhatia +8000 Harris English +8000 Keegan Bradley +8000 Brian Harman +8000 Tony Finau +8000 Cameron Smith +8000 Jason Day +8000 Minwoo Lee +8000 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +8000 Jacob Bridgeman +8000 Jake Knapp +8000 Eugenio Chacarra +8000 Ben Griffin +8000 Rickie Fowler +10000 Denny McCarthy +10000 Will Zalatoris +10000 Sungjae Im +10000 Rasmus Hojgaard +10000 Adam Scott +10000 Nicolai Hojgaard +10000 Dustin Johnson +10000 Corey Conners +10000 David Puig +10000 Hideki Matsuyama +10000 J.J. Spaun +10000 Maverick McNealy +10000 Kristoffer Reitan +10000 Haotong Li +10000 Kurt Kitayama +10000 Harry Hall +10000 Sahith Theegala +12500 Sepp Straka +12500 Taylor Pendrith +12500 J.T. Poston +12500 Ryan Fox +12500 Gary Woodland +12500 Davis Thompson +12500 Daniel Berger +12500 Alex Noren +12500 Padraig Harrington +12500 Jayden Schaper +12500 Ryan Gerard +12500 Jackson Koivun +12500 Thomas Detry +15000 Andrew Novak +15000 Dean Burmester +15000 Byeong Hun An +15000 Stephan Jaeger +15000 Mackenzie Hughes +15000 Thorbjorn Olesen +15000 Matt Wallace +15000 Angel Ayora +15000
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