Ian Wilkerson
Passionate golf fans will be going through the night to take in all the action at the final Major of the year when the Open Championship starts on Thursday. The eyes of the sporting world will be focused on Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland, and there are some top bets for early risers to get behind as play gets under way on the other side of the pond.
3-ball markets are available on the groups heading out onto the links and we at Pickswise have a trio of bets in the first round. How does it work? Well, you select the player of the trio who you think will shoot the best opening round score, that way you don’t need to wait until Sunday to cash a ticket. Let’s get into our expert’s best bets for the opening round on Thursday.
Find out our expert British Open predictions and best bets, including a 175-1 longshot!
British Open best bet: Ludvig Aberg to beat Jordan Spieth & Viktor Hovland (+160)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Ludvig Aberg has gained many admirers after bursting onto the scene and while it would be a huge leap of faith to back him to win the tournament, he is talented enough to make a strong start. The Swede should be backed to come out on top in his opening 3-ball matchup with 2017 champion Jordan Spieth, who has not been seen since he dropped out of the Travelers Championship a few weeks ago with a neck injury, and Viktor Hovland, whose short-game weaknesses could come into the equation on this difficult course.
Get our best British Open prop bets, featuring Top Finish and Top Nationality picks
British Open prediction: Stewart Cink to beat Matteo Manassero & Marc Leishman (+220)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
No golf fan will forget what happened in 2009 when it seemed we were about to witness a momentous day with Tom Watson set to win a sixth British Open at 59 years old, only for Stewart Cink to spoil the party with a playoff win. It came as a huge disappointment for romantic followers of the game, but Cink can make it up to us on Thursday by coming out on top of his 3-ball matchup with Matteo Manassero and Marc Leishman.
Cink has missed the cut in 3 of his last 4 Opens, but he has finished in the top six in 5 of his last 6 Champions Tour outings, winning the Insperity Invitational and then finishing runner-up to Padraig Harringotn at the US Senior Open last time out. So take a chance he can get the better of these two. Manassero missed the cut at last week’s Scottish Open by 5 shots while Leishman’s confidence should be low after he finished near the bottom of the leaderboard at LIV Andalucia.
Don’t miss our British Open first round leader predictions at +5500 and +8000 odds!
British Open pick: Brian Harman to beat Joaquin Niemann & Maverick McNealy (+210)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Joaquin Niemann has stormed to 4 LIV Tour victories in 2025, but this is a different examination here and his Open record is woeful. The Chilean has done nothing in 5 efforts to win the Claret Jug and he missed the weekend by 4 shots the last time Royal Portrush hosted in 2019.
Maverick McNealy has missed the cut in both of his Opens and while he finished strongly to be 22nd at last week’s Scottish Open, back Brian harman to shoot the lowest first round in this contest. The 2023 champion was unable to build on a strong start at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, but he can rediscover the form that helped him to 8th position at the Travelers Championship and to a win at the Texas Open.
