The 153rd Open Golf Betting Tips: "I can't see past these TWO players at Portrush..."

Finding the winner of The Open is often one of the toughest tasks of the PGA Tour season, but I firmly believe you can narrow the search down to just two players at the 153rd Open Championship in Northern Ireland this week. 

After landing 66/1, 100/1 and 40/1 each-way plays last month, and narrowly coming up short with my selection of Rory McIlroy at last week's Genesis Scottish Open, I feel like I'm still riding a wave coming into Royal Portrush for golf's final major of the season. 

Normally I would give you three selections in my latest golf betting tips feature, but as I say I'm very confident one of two players will win The Open and so I don't want to complicate matters any more than needed. 

I'm going all out with two plays at Portrush.

Yes, runaway World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is a worthy favourite for sure at best odds of 5/1, and if he can take care of those five to 10-foot putts then he will take a world of beating in Country Antrim. 

But I'm prepared to look past him. 

Scroll below to check out my two outright picks for the 153rd Open, and head to the bottom of this page to see the full betting odds for all of the players in the field.

As always, please gamble responsibly.

Right, let's give you my two picks...

The Open Golf Betting Tips

Outright Pick: 

Rory McIlroy

Best Price Available:

7/1

Last 3 starts on Tour:

19 - 6 - 2

Past results at The Open:

3 - 6 - MC

Last result at 148th Open (Portrush):

MC

Rory McIlroy, in my eyes, is the man everyone has to beat at the 153rd Open on home turf at Royal Portrush.

The shackles are off for him now after having completed the career grand slam at The Masters in April.

The two recent weeks he's had off at the end of June and start of July to spend some much-needed time with his wife Erica and daughter Poppy - as they made their move to a new residence at Wentworth, England - appear to have done him a world of good, at least on his latest showing at the Genesis Scottish Open where McIlroy finished two shots behind Chris Gotterup in a tie for second.

On the whole, McIlroy just looked somewhere near his brilliant best again. 

I also thought he looked happier and fresher (with a radical new hair cut) than we had seen since his emotional Masters win in April. 

In the weeks after The Masters, it seemed as though McIlroy cut a frustrated figure and generally just looked a bit down in the dumps. 

He was also p***ed with the media, but he seems to have got over that now. 

McIlroy no longer has huge pressure on his shoulders having achieved golf immortality at Augusta National, and this week on home soil at Royal Portrush will very much feel like a celebratory week for him and his incredible career. 

But I feel like McIlroy is not only going to want to make up for his missed cut here at the 148th Open, but also etch his name on the Claret Jug for a second time - and do it some style too. 

It remains to be seen just how many more times McIlroy will get a chance to contend for The Open with his A-game on his home golf course, so he will want to take this opportunity with both hands. 

McIlroy, who won The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2014, knows Royal Portrush better than anyone else in the field, although maybe Shane Lowry, who won The Open when it was hosted here in 2019, would care to disagree. 

The World No.2 also just happens to own the course record 61 on the Dunlace Links at Royal Portrush, something he achieved 20 years ago at the age of 16. 

McIlroy, at best odds of 7/1, could look a huge price come Sunday night. 

I think spurred on by a boisterous home crowd, McIlroy will be reduced to tears as he lifts the Claret Jug for a second time in his career. 

Right that's Rory covered.

Let's give you my second pick...

Outright Pick:

Jon Rahm

Best Price Available:

14/1

Last 3 starts on Tour:

7 - 11 - 2

Past results at The Open:

34 - 2- 7

Last result at 148th Open (Portrush):

11

The only other golfer I'm prepared to play for The Open is Jon Rahm, who is playing some very steady golf at the moment. 

He's also something of a links specialist with three top-seven finishes in his last four Open starts, and he's also won two Irish Opens in the past on the DP World Tour. 

The big-hitting Spaniard arrives in Northern Ireland off the back of an impressive solo second on home soil at LIV Golf Andalucia, around a very stern test that is Valderrama.

Okay yes, that isn't a links test, but I still like the fact he's got his ball on a piece of string at the moment and that he closed with a bogey-free 65 for good measure. 

Rahm has also now notched 13 straight top-15 finishes on LIV Golf and the majors this season heading into The Open. 

Yes, Rahm is winless in nearly a year now, but there can be no denying he's in a rich vein of form. 

In fact, Rahm has yet to finish outside the top 10 in any LIV Golf event he's played since he joined in 2024.

For anyone out there thinking Rahm has gone down a similar path to Dustin Johnson and sailed into the sunset with all his millions in the bank, you would be mistaken because he's actually playing some of the best golf of his career right now. 

And I think he'll prove it at Royal Portrush. 

Rahm has two major wins on his CV courtesy of The Masters (2023) and US Open (2021), and he is hungry for an Open that would see him move to within one leg of the career grand slam, something I firmly believe he will achieve in his career sooner rather than later.

When I look through all the outright odds for the 153rd Open, I actually think 14/1 for Rahm is the standout price. 

McIlroy would be my No.1 pick, for sure, but I do think Rahm will give him the biggest challenge. 

Rahm is in form, loves links golf and typically enjoys his time in Ireland. 

I can't see past McIlroy or Rahm at The Open. 

Check out the full list of betting odds for the 153rd Open Championship below...