PGA

Picks and advice for all four PGA Tour major tournaments:

2025 British Open (All Odds Via FanDuel)

First Tee: (1:35am EST Thursday 7/17) (6:35am Local Time)

Venue: Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland

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Overview:

After a 68 year long wait before Royal Portrush hosted the 2019 Open, the famed Irish course will now host its second in seven years, and welcomes a familiar set of faces.

This 2025 Open field will do battle with a course which underwent a massive redesign before the 2019 Open. Ten new bunkers, eight new tee boxes, and two completely new holes were added to the course from 2016-2019. Said changes have resulted in the some of the most challenging holes on tour being made even more difficult. The par four fifth hole boasts a mesmerizing view of the Atlantic Ocean from it’s tee box, but also sits just close enough to it where any shot with a little too much power on it could be sent swimming. The 16th hole has no bunkers, but then again, none are needed, as the green drops away to the right of the fairway, allowing only the most accurate, and most daring golfers to try and take a shot at it. Experience certainly helps on a course like Royal Portrush, and as previously mentioned, many golfers in this field have just that.

Rory McIlroy grew up just about 60 miles away from Royal Portrush in Belfast, and still holds a course record 61 which he shot in a qualifying round for the 2005 North of Ireland Amateur Championship as a 16 year old. Back in 2019, a far less appealing 79 opening round score decimated his chances of making a cut. Even so, he followed the round up with a far more impressive 65, only falling one stroke behind the cut line. Now, with less pressure on him, and a Masters’ win in his pocket ending a ten year long search for another major championship, we shall soon see how McIlroy handles his second chance at winning a major in front of a home crowd.

McIlroy’s now close friend Shane Lowry had far better luck during his 2019 run at The Open. Lowry won the tournament, taking home his first major, and ending a four year long missed-cut streak at The Open. Since then, in his four Open appearances, Lowry has made three of four cuts with a top ten finish last year, and his worst finish of the three made cuts being a T21st in 2022. If the Irishman finishes the first round toward the top of the leaderboard, he is certainly one who will stick around for a Sunday morning run at a win. Lowry has finished in the top 20 in nine of 16 tournaments in 2025, and will look to build on positive memories from this course in 2025.

Plenty of other names have been commonly strewn about on expert pick sheets, such as Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, and Matt Fitzpatrick. All three have shown great promise on links style courses such as Royal Portrush, and Fleetwood finished runner up to Shane Lowry in the 2019 Open. With Rahm finishing 11th, Fitzpatrick 20th, and other notable names such as Rob MacIntyre placing in the top ten back in 2019, there will be a lot of storylines to follow come the wee hours of Thursday morning.

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Finishing Positions (Incl. Ties):

Rory McIlroy Top 10 Finish: (-140)

Tommy Fleetwood Top 20 Finish: (-115)

Shane Lowry Top 20 Finish: (+125)

Rob MacIntyre Top 20 Finish: (+135)

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Additional Props to Watch:

Top Continental European- Jon Rahm: (+230)

Top Canadian- Corey Conners: (+150)

Top Japanese- Hideki Matsuyama: (+110)

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