The last major tournament of the PGA season is about to kick off this week at the Royal Portrush Golf Course in Northern Ireland. Rory McIlroy, who’s from there, is going to be a home favorite, but he’ll definitely have some tough competition with the likes of Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, and Tiger Woods all vying for the right to take home the Claret Jug. Here are the players the experts are expecting to make a splash at the 2019 British Open.
Myers is finally convinced that it’s not a good idea to go against the flow when most people think that Brooks Koepka is going to take home the title in a given tournament. Admitting that he’s made a mistake by ignoring Koepka as a top pick in a few previous past majors, Myers showed that he’s already learned his lesson by saying that Koepka is Golf Digest’s favorite to win the 2019 The Open. Koepka groped for form in the recently concluded 3M Open at the TPC Twin Cities where he finished just 65th overall, which came prior to a disappointing 57th-place finish at the Travelers Championship. Still, those failures don’t outweigh the success he’s had in big-time tournaments. Koepka has odds of +750 to win at Portrush this coming weekend.
CBS Sports
Expert
Golfer to Watch
Mike McClure
Patrick Cantlay
McLure of SportsLine (via CBS Sports) is seeing big things coming Cantlay’s way. He’s made the impression that he’s going to be the last one to be surprised if Cantlay ended up looking down in everyone on the field at Portrush. Cantlay has performed very well on the Tour this season. He’s even scored just recently his first win of the campaign by topping the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Course last May. He finished third at the 2019 PGA Championship and 21st at the US Open. CBS Sports also pointed out that links-style golf courses don’t seem to bother Cantlay. Last year Cantlay made his The Open debut and finished with a T12.Cantlay is +2800 to win the 2019 British Open.
The Telegraph
Expert
Golfers to Watch
The Telegraph
Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson
The Telegraph didn’t make an exact pick on who’ll raise the Claret Jug this year, but the publication made it clear that Koepka is the “most likely to prevail.” Apart from Koepka, The Telegraph also mentioned Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson as the favorites to win at the 2019 British Open. Despite a lack of success so far this year in terms of majors titles, McIlroy is having a very fine year. He has two PGA Tour wins on the season and 11 top 10s in 14 starts. He won the RBC Canadian Open last June and followed that up with a ninth-place finish at the US Open. He’s missed the cut just once thus far and placed outside the top 10 only once in tournaments he’s made the cut when he went 21st at the 2019 Masters. McIlroy is from Northern Ireland, so he’ll be comfortable playing at Portrush. As for Johnson, he’s ranked No. 2 in the world, so it only makes sense for people to expect him to compete to the end in this tournament over at the other side of the Atlantic. McIlroy and Johnson are priced +900 and +1200 to win the 2019 British Open, respectively.
TopBet Writer – Ryan Simpson
Expert
Pick
Ryan Simpson
Brooks Koepka
Lastly, we have our resident expert (Ryan Simpson) pick, which is no other than Koepka. With the way he’s playing in major tournaments, it’s really hard to argue about his great chances of winning the 2019 British Open. Whether he’s ahead entering the back-nine or trailing, he’ll be a player to watch, as his talents and skill are just too good to be overlooked. Sure, Koepka has a relatively thin experience playing in link courses, but at least his caddie is from Portrush. What a convenience!
