- Collin Morikawa has +3300 odds to win The Open Championship in his first appearance.
- He is listed at +200 to finish within the Top 10 and at +150 to finish within the Top 20.
- Morikawa is also the betting favorite in a couple of 3-ball groupings throughout the tournament.
SANDWICH, England – Royal St. Georges Golf Club will be the host of the 149th Open Championship. The course is a par 70 and is measured at just 7,204 yards which makes the course the shortest of any major event of the season.
Collin Morikawa has never competed in a British Open before, but it’s tough to find a course that better fits his playstyle and strengths. Since the course is relatively short, iron play should be key as accuracy should be a premium.
Morikawa ranks as the top golfer on the PGA Tour in SG: Approach The Green as well as No. 2 in Ball Striking, only behind Jon Rahm. Further, he ranks second in GIR% and fourth in Fairway Proximity.
In short, if Morikawa can consistently find the fairway, he’ll be in a great spot to be at or near the top of the leaderboards. And just by chance, Morikawa ranks 11th in driving accuracy, hitting 69.76% of fairways.
Best Odds To Use
Morikawa has +3300 odds to win the event, good for ninth shortest. Betting on any golfer to win in a field of 150+ golfers in a tough ask, but he could very well do it. However, the safer plays offered by online gambling sites come elsewhere.
Placing Top 10/Top 20
Whether or not Morikawa wins doesn’t necessarily matter if bettors decide to go with placement prop bets. In all of the previous Open Championships held at Royal St. Georges, only once has the winning score been better than -5. This shows that often the best way to be near the leaders is by avoiding bogeys. All of the previously mentioned stats show Morikawa should be set up to do just that.
Morikawa Placement Odds
- Top 10 +200
- Top 20 +150
Given that he has been listed with -450 odds to make the cut, he will be in a solid position to place, at the very minimum, inside the Top 20. The odds don’t differ too much from top 10 to 20, potentially showing that sports betting sites believe there is nearly the same chance that if he’s in the top 20, he’s closer to the leader than not.
Whether the extra value in the odds is worth the risk of 10 placements is up to the individual, but either way, getting the No. 4 ranked player in the world at +150 odds to place Top 20 on a course that seemingly fits him is well worth the risk.
First-Round/Tournament 3-Ball Bets
Often the best way to find value when betting on golf is using 3-ball groupings. For the first round, Morikawa is grouped with Corey Conners and Sebastian Munoz. Morikawa is the favorite, but arguably not by as much as he deserves to be.
First Round 3-Ball Odds
- Collin Morikawa EVEN
- Corey Conners +200
- Sebastian Munoz +275
Munoz doesn’t rank inside the top 50 in SG: approach The Green, Ball Striking, SG: Putting, or SG: Around The Green, effectively eliminating him from contention in this spot. Conners is the only real competition for Morikawa as he ranks 12th in driving accuracy, eighth in SG: Approach The Green, and fifth in Ball Striking.
However, he is 148th in SG: Around The Green and 105th in SG: Putting.
Conners is a valiant competitor and could have value in his own right, but Morikawa should have a decent edge over him.
Tournament 3-Ball Odds
- Collin Morikawa +175
- Louis Oosthuizen +175
- Matthew Fitzpatrick +175
These odds are interesting as it is predicting who will place higher over the course of the tournament. Despite Morikawa still seemingly having the edge over his opposition, the odds may not necessarily be worth betting on.
Oosthuizen has shorter odds than Morikawa in overall winner, placing top 5, top 10 and top 20, but is listed with the same odds in this 3-ball. The same can be said for Fitzpatrick, but on the opposite side of things, Fitzpatrick is projected to do worse.
It’s interesting more than anything, but given the value should logistically be more generous, all of the previously mentioned bets are probably the safer picks.