The Open 2024: 22/1, 55/1 & 150/1 tips among 5 selections!

The Open Championship starts on Thursday at Royal Troon and we’ve called on RFO golf expert Joe Champion for his thoughts ahead of the final major of the year.

All of the following prices come from bet365 and we recommend backing these as each-way bets, which covers the top eight places. New customers can take advantage of bet365’s sign-up offer using the button below.

The Open Championship 2024 Preview

Golf’s four-month Major season reaches its finale this week with the oldest and perhaps the most revered of them all – the Open Championship, which returns to Royal Troon for the first time since 2016.

Most Open venues have almost-mythical status in the game and Ayrshire venue Troon, while not quite on a par with St Andrews’ Old Course, is no exception having held this grand old championship on nine previous occasions.

Turnberry’s 1977 duel in the sun – a lengthy battle between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus which Watson went on to win – remains one of the most famous Opens but the conclusion of the 2016 tournament is often considered to be on a par with that great contest.

Eight years ago, Henrik Stenson triumphed in a momentous tussle with Phil Mickelson, the Swede holding off Lefty to win his only Major with a 20-under-par total – three ahead of Mickelson and a massive 14 shots better than JB Holmes in third.

A par 71 measuring a total of 7,385 yards, Troon is a typical links test which puts emphasis on creativity, scrambling and also accuracy off the tee because errant shots can be severely penalised.

The opening holes present scoring opportunities but Troon gets tougher as it goes on.

The iconic eighth hole – the Postage Stamp – is just a flick of a wedge but it’s possible to rack up a huge number if straying off line. A combination of blind tee shots, extensive bunkering and fescue contribute to punishing mistakes on the back nine.

Course management is essential, as is touch around the greens, but length off the tee is not necessarily an advantage. Stenson deployed his trusty 3-wood to great effect in the 2016 Open while Mickelson routinely clubbed down, hitting irons off many tees.

The Open 2024 Tips

Tyrrell Hatton each-way at 22/1

As is always the case these days, world number one Scottie Scheffler tops the betting but the Open and links golf in general narrows the gap between the best in the sport and the chasing pack.

Scheffler’s Open record – eighth in 2021, 21st in 2022 and 23rd last season – is respectable and he probably will win an Open one day, but he’s just 5-1 to do so despite the presence of a number of in-form rivals who will all have designs on lifting the Claret Jug.

Rory McIlroy has something to prove after his devastating US Open collapse but he remains one of, if not the best exponent of links golf in the world and he was a fast-finishing fifth at Troon in 2016.

Mental hurdles must be negotiated but McIlroy played well in Scotland last week and he’d be the pick of those at the very front of the market.

England’s footballers fell short in their bid to put a long trophy drought to an end in Berlin on Sunday evening but two men look to have an outstanding chance of becoming the first Englishman to lift the Claret Jug since Nick Faldo in 1992.

Tyrrell Hatton raised eyebrows with his switch to LIV but the Buckinghamshire man is enjoying life on the breakaway circuit, winning the Nashville title before finishing third at Valderrama in last week’s Andalucia Masters.

A trip to tight Valderrama might not appear ideal preparation for a windswept Scottish links but both venues require precision off the tee and Hatton, more so than perhaps any other LIV golfer, knows how to handle links conditions.

The 32-year-old took to Troon in 2016, finishing fifth a week after a runner-up finish in the Scottish Open, and he has Open form figures of 6-MC-11-20 from 2019 onwards.

A two-time winner of the Dunhill Links, Hatton has a poor Majors record for someone of his talent but he was ninth at the Masters in April.

Tommy Fleetwood each-way at 20/1

Tommy Fleetwood is no stranger to contending for the Claret Jug and while he missed the cut at Troon in 2016, he’s since finished 27th, 12th, second, 33rd, fourth and tenth at the Open and he once again has obvious claims.

The Southport swinger returned from a fortnight off with a 34th-placed finish at the Scottish, striking the ball well, and any improvement with the putter should see him mount a bold bid.

Fleetwood finished third at the Masters and has been typically steady since, and a return to a proper links set-up should benefit him while he also has caddie Ian Finnis back on the bag after heart surgery.

The Open 2024 Outsider Tips

Tom Kim each-way at 40/1

Tom Kim marked himself out as a PGA Tour winner in waiting when he finished third at the 2022 Scottish Open then he finished in a share of second behind Brian Harman at Hoylake last season.

The Korean has been in fine form, finishing fourth in Canada and second at the Travelers, and he signed off in the Scottish Open with a final-round 64. His lack of power is not a problem at Troon.

Joaquin Niemann each-way at 55/1

Of Hatton’s fellow LIV golfers, Joaquin Niemann is overpriced.

The Chilean has a remarkable 12 top-ten finishes from his last 16 starts, winning three titles and finishing sixth in Andalucia last week. He has a poor Open record to overcome but his low ball-flight is ideal for links golf.

Tom McKibbin each-way at 150/1

At three-figure odds, take a chance on Tom McKibbin, who makes his Open debut this week but is certainly more experienced in these conditions than many who find themselves in the same boat.

McKibbin missed the cut at the Scottish but he’s been a constant presence on DP World Tour leaderboards and he has the class to cope with the step up.