Who are the Favourites to Perform Well in the Open?
The Open Championship is one of four major golf tournaments on the professional calendar. It is the oldest golf tournament in the world and one every player wants to win. The 2022 Open Championship is the last of the four majors to be played and will take place between the 14th and 17th of July at the home of golf, on the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland.
In terms of the favourites to perform well in The Open, we begin with the defending champion, Collin Morikawa. The American won with a score of 15 under par, two shots clear of second place. It was the second major championship victory of his career and Morikawa has enjoyed a strong start to the 2022 season. He finished T5 and T2 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Genesis Invitational, respectively. Morikawa performed well at The Masters, the first major of the year, finishing in 5th place, so there is plenty to like about his play as we head towards The Open.
However, one man is standing far above the rest right now in the world of golf and his name is Scottie Scheffler. Ranked as the world’s number one golfer at the time of writing, Scheffler has four tournament victories to his name following his tremendous success at The Masters. The American has won the WM Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Dell Technologies Match Play, and The Masters. Scheffler finished T8 at the 2021 Open Championship and will be feeling hugely confident of lifting the Claret Jug.
Looking specifically at the betting, some of the best sportsbooks have Jon Rahm as the favourite to win the 2022 Open Championship. The Spaniard won his first major tournament last year lifting the US Open title and finished T3 at the Open Championship. Rahm has three top ten finishes to his name on the PGA Tour this season at the time of writing, including finishing second at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and T3 at the Farmers Insurance Open. The T55 and T27 finishes at the Players Championship and master’s shows there is still some room for improvement for Rahm in the big events this year but on his day, he has what it takes to win the 2022 Open.
Rory McIlroy will be pumped following his final round at The Masters. The Northern Irishman played some stunning shots on his way to a second-place finish and that could be the round he needed to get him back to his best this year. Despite the fact his last major victory came in 2014, it is worth remembering that McIlroy has time on his side as he will be 33 years of age at the 2022 Open Championship. McIlroy won the 2014 Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club and is yet to taste major success at St Andrews but this could be his year.
Some of the other leading contenders to perform well at The Open include Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Louis Oosthuizen, and 2021 runner-up, Jordan Spieth. It is also worth mentioning Tiger Woods, who made his major tournament golf comeback at The Masters. Woods did well to make the cut and despite finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard, it was a tremendous return to major golf action for the legend. Woods spoke after his final round at The Masters and said he did not know when he would play again but the 2022 Open Championship is definitely on his list.
