British Open Golf First Round 2-ball Picks and Predictions | Pickswise

The British Open is here, starting on Thursday at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England. Rory McIlroy won this championship the last time it was held at this venue (2014) and he has put himself in great position to do so again following his triumph at the Scottish Open this past week. Of course, McIlroy will have plenty of comPetition in the form of Scottie Scheffler (the favorite at +700), Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and more.

It’s time to dive into some of the best 2-ball bets for the first round of the season’s final major, but also check out Diane Knox Balas’ British Open best outright bets in addition to her favorite prop plays.

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Tommy Fleetwood (-125) to beat Shane Lowry

Fleetwood made a playoff at the RBC Canadian Open last month and had his heart ripped out by Nick Taylor’s 72-foot putt. The Englishman had no hangover, though, as he finished in the top 6 in 2 of his next 3 starts. Fleetwood is on an absolute roll heading into the British Open and there is no reason to think he will slow down. He has been worse than 70 in the first round only twice in his last 8 events. Lowry has been worse than 70 in 5 of his last 7 and doesn’t have a top-10 finish since February. The Irishman is a former British Open winner (2019), but all of the recent trends favor Fleetwood this week both overall and on Thursday.

Robert MacIntyre (-105) to beat Talor Gooch

MacIntyre was leading the Scottish Open in front of the home crowd late on Sunday, but McIlroy birdied the last 2 holes to take the title. Still, there is no shame in finishing runner-up to McIlroy on the strength of a final-round 66 in extremely tough conditions. He was also runner-up at the Denmark Open earlier this month. Moreover, MacIntyre has finished in the top 8 in 2 of the last 3 British Opens. In other words, there is heck of a lot to like about him this week. As for Gooch, he has been dominant at times on the LIV Tour but his major history is underwhelming. The 31-year-old American has never been better than T14 in his career at the 4 biggest events in golf and has placed in the top 20 only twice. 

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Collin Morikawa (-120) to beat Dustin Johnson

Johnson’s last 2 British Open finishes are T8 and T6, but he isn’t a former champion like Morikawa (2021). It should also be noted that prior to 2021, Johnson was in a stretch of T54, cut and T51 at this tournament. It’s not like he is consistent force across the pond. The 39-year-old has been in decent enough form on the LIV Tour in recent months, but his 3 major results this season are T48, T55 and T10. Meanwhile, Morikawa is an outstanding driver in the accuracy department and he is one of the best iron player in the game. Both of those attributes should serve him well at Royal Liverpool. The Los Angeles native is coming off a T2 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where he carded an opening-round 66.

Parlay

Tommy Fleetwood (-125)

Robert MacIntyre (-105)

Collin Morikawa (-120) 

British Open parlay odds: +544

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