Beginner’s Betting Guide for the British Open: How to Bet Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick and More)

We're less than 24 hours away from the start of the 2026 British Open. With it being the final men's golf major of the season, let's make the most of our opportunity to place some bets! Whether you're new to betting on golf, or if you're just looking some more bets to place, you're in the right spot. In this article, we're going to go through all the different types of bets and my favorite wager for each of them.

You can place any of these bets at the best betting sites across the country.

How to Bet on the British Open

Outright Bets

Outright bets are the most straightforward types of wager. It's simply a bet on who you think is going to win the tournament. Will Rory McIlroy win his first Claret Jug since 2014? Will Jon Rahm win his third career major? Will Tommy Fleetwood finally win one?

In my full betting preview, I gave out Matt Fitzpatrick as my top pick to win:

Matt Fitzpatrick is poised to win his second career major, and this week's British Open at Royal Birkdale makes plenty of sense. He has three wins this season and has posted a top-five finish in three of his last four starts, including a T3 finish at last week's Scottish Open, where he led the field in strokes gained approach, averaging +1.99 per round. An uncharacteristically bad performance around the greens kept him from winning, but if he can sharpen up in that area this week, there's no reason why he can't win.

Fitzpatrick's accuracy is going to give him a leg up on the competition this week. Avoiding the pot bunkers is crucial at this course, so anyone who is wayward either off the tee or with their irons is going to become familiar with Royal Birkdale's 123 bunkers.

Longshot Bets

If you want to get aggressive and bet on a golfer that could offer a bigger payout, or if you want a cheap option for your DFS lineups, then longshots are for you. I broke down a few of my favorite longshot bets in an article here, but my favorite is Corey Conners at 145-1:

I'm shocked we're able to bet on Corey Conners at +14500. While his history of failing to bring his best stuff on Sunday may make him better as a top 5, top 10, or top 20 bet, I can't ignore him this week. Not only has he historically been one of the better golfers during windy conditions over the past few years, but he's also coming into this event off a T23 at the U.S. Open and a T7 finish at the Travelers Championship. In both those starts, he gained significant strokes from tee to green. He also had a T10 finish at last year's British Open, proving he can thrive on links courses.

First Round Leader

If you want to stay extra locked in to Thursday's opening round, or if you don't feel like waiting all four rounds to see if your bet wins, you can bet on which golfer will be leading after Round 1. One of the golfers I'm betting on in this market is Nick Taylor:

You likely wouldn't guess it, but Nick Taylor has been one of the best golfers in the world this season, but only in the opening round. Across the past six months, he's fourth in the field in total strokes gained in opening rounds of events, behind only Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, and Matt Fitzpatrick.

He doesn't admittedly doesn't have a strong history at the British Open, but a decent T26 finish at last week's Scottish Open is a promising sign coming into this week. I can't resist taking a chance on him at 115-1.

Matchup Bets

Betting on golf is filled with markets offering long odds. While they're fun to cheer for and even better to cash in, the likelihood of winning them is low. If you want to target a market that has bets that are closer to 50%, then consider betting on head-to-head matchup bets. These bets are simply wagers on one golfer to finish further up the leaderboard than the one they're matched up against. Different sportsbooks will post different matchups, so be sure to shop around.

FanDuel is offering a matchup bet on Rory McIlroy vs. Scottie Scheffler, and I think McIlroy is a great bet as an underdog:

It's time to pick on Scottie Scheffler, which is an insane sentence to write. He missed the cut for the first time since 2022 last week when he failed to make it to the weekend at the Scottish Open. What's even more concerning is that he lost significant strokes with his irons. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy continues to play consistent golf and has spent more time than anyone else in the field teeing it up at Royal Birkdale in preparation for this week. I love that we can bet on McIlroy at plus-money.

Make the Cut/Miss the Cut bets

Every major tournament, there are a few surprises when it comes to which golfers make the cut and which golfers are sent home before the weekend. In my cut article, I wrote about why I'm betting on Jon Rahm to miss the cut:

Jon Rahm's game is lost right now. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open and then finished T36 at the Scottish Open. He lost significant strokes with his irons in both starts, while also losing strokes around the greens. That's bad news ahead of teeing it up at a major venue. He also finished just T34 at last year's British Open.

I think Rahm is a great bet to miss the cut at +280 amongst the top dogs this week.

Prop bets

Some bets don't fall under any of the aforementioned categories, including bets that aren't on a specific golfer but are on the tournament as a whole. Those types of bets that are put under the "props" category. In my props bet article, I broke down why I'm betting on a golfer from the UK or Ireland to win the Claret Jug:

It's coming home. An Englishman hasn't won the British Open since Nick Faldo in 1990, and none have won on English soil since Tony Jacklin in 1969. I think that changes this week, and for good measure, we also get all Irish and Scottish golfers included in this bet.

Three of the top four golfers on the odds list fall under this bet with Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and Matt Fitzpatrick. Some other top contenders have a very real chance to win, including Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose, and Shane Lowry.

I love this bet at +225.

Hole in one bets

Finally, there's one of the most popular golf bets you can place for a major: whether or not a hole in one will be recorded. In my hole in one article, I wrote about why I'm betting on the "No" option at plus-money:

There have been 51 holes in one at the British Open throughout the years, and four of those have taken place at Royal Birkdale, but there hasn't been one in the past three years that it's been hosted at this course. That gives me pause when it comes to betting on one taking place at this year's event.

Two of the four holes in one that have taken place here have been on the 12th hole. Despite that, it has the second-longest odds to see a hole in one this week at +375. That makes me think that if you're set on betting on a hole in one taking place, instead of betting on the overall "yes" at -154, target the 12th hole at much longer odds.

At the end of the day, -154 odds indicate a likelihood of 60.63% of a hole in one taking place. I don't see enough of a history of aces at this event or at this course to justify that bet. That's why my best bet is going to be "no" hole in one at plus-money.

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You can check out all of Iain's bets here!

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