Open Championship 2024 Top 5 and Top 10 Tips: Home in on Hatton

• Tyrrell Hatton looks primed to rack up another Open Top 10

• Collin Morikawa, the 2021 Open winner, picked to record another Top 5

• Check out all our Open Championship content here

---

Golf Only Bettor - The Open Championship Preview

---

Scottie Scheffler - World No.1 still to prove Open pedigree

Scheffler has two Masters wins and second places in the other two American-based Majors. That contrasts with his Open record so far which shows a promising eighth place on debut at Royal St George's but two finishes outside the top 20 since.

His current form suggests the first top five and quite possibly a win is incoming. Scheffler has stretched his lead at the top of the world rankings with an amazing Tiger-esque sequence of six wins in his last 10 starts since early March. He's had two other second places in that run.

Skipping the Scottish Open could be seen as a negative but it meant he got to Troon early to practice and that could prove a shrewd move. He's 2.68/5 to land that first Open top five.

Last four events: 1-41-1-2
Open form: 23-21-8
Last 50 starts - Win: 16%, Top 5: 52%, Top 10: 64%

---

Rory McIlroy - Open has been best Major overall

Through the prism of the top five market, this is McIlroy's best Major. He has six top fives in Opens (compared to four in each of the other three), five of those coming in his last eight starts in the event including here at Royal Troon in 2016. He's 3.02/1 for another.

While last month's US Open heartache would break lesser players, Rory has a fine record at rebounding from adversity and he deserves plenty of credit for last week's top five in the Scottish Open, his first start since his late Pinehurst collapse.

"Game's in really good shape. Had a nice reset after Pinehurst that was needed and felt like I shook off a little bit of the rust last week and played okay," was his low-key assessment of his display at the Renaissance Club. A reminder that he came fourth in a world-class field there!

Last four events: 4-2-15-4
Open form: 6-3-46-MC-2-4-5-1-MC-60-25-3-47-42
Last 50 starts - Win: 16%, Top 5: 48%, Top 10: 62%

---

Xander Schauffele - US PGA champ is a past Open runner-up

Scottie Scheffler's incredible numbers have overshadowed everyone but take out the World No.1 and Schauffele is having a fantastic season.

Of course, winning his first Major is the big highlight but including that US PGA victory at Valhalla the Californian has had 11 top 10s. Six of those were top fives. Always a stellar player at this level, his tally of 14 top 10s in Majors (half of those top fives) includes a second place in the Open at Carnoustie. He's also a former Scottish Open winner.

"Overall, I feel like it's a pretty straightforward Open Championship venue," he said after playing a full 18 at Troon earlier this week. "I think it's a really fair test of golf. If it's really windy, it will be really fun. If the wind lays down, I think that's how you saw some low scores back then in '16 (Henrik Stenson won with -20)."

Last four events: 15-13-7-8
Open form: 20-2-41-26-15-17
Last 50 starts - Win: 8%, Top 5: 32%, Top 10: 54%

---

Collin Morikawa - 2021 Open champ is in strong form

Morikawa enjoyed an extraordinay start to his Majors career. He won the 2020 US PGA on just his third appearance and five Majors later he captured the Claret Jug at Royal St George's on his Open debut.

Now with 19 Major appearances under his belt, Morikawa has nine top 10s overall and seven were top fives. Notably, he's been one of the big players in this year's runnings, finishing tied third at the US Masters and tied fourth in the US PGA. He was 14th at the US Open.

Since the start of May he's had four top fives in six starts and that includes fourth on the links of The Renaissance Club in Scotland last week, a venue where he had previous form of MC-71. The signs look good.

Last four events: 4-13-14-2
Open form: 1-MC-MC
Last 50 starts - Win: 2%, Top 5: 26%, Top 10: 32%

---

Ludvig Aberg - Swede contending on regular basis

The Swede has jumped onto golf's table in the blink of an eye, winning on both sides of the Atlantic, making his Ryder Cup debut and finishing runner-up at the US Masters in his very first start in a Major.

Aberg suffered a rare misstep with a missed cut at the US PGA but he was the halfway leader at the US Open and fifth with a round to go before finishing 12th while he was also out in front after 54 holes at the Scottish Open but dropped to fourth.

This is Aberg's Open debut and his only past experience of Troon was watching TV and cheering on countryman Henrik Stenson's win here in 2016. That's a good omen. Less good is an admission that he's struggling with the driver.

Last four events: 4-27-12-5
Open form: Debut
Last 50 starts - Win: 9%, Top 5: 26%, Top 10: 36%

---

Bryson DeChambeau - Can Pinehurst hero tame the links?

DeChambeau, who won the US Open in 2020 by six shots, has been sensational in the last two Majors. He missed out by a shot to Xander Schauffele in the US PGA before making a brilliant up-and-down from sand at Pinehurst to break McIlroy's heart and grab a second US Open.

Now the big question: can he bring it to an Open Championship? Links golf seemed to baffle and frustrate him in his first four visits but eighth place at St Andrews two years ago suggested he could be a factor in one of these.

His assessment of this week's test and links golf in general where he has to adjust his naturally high ball flight? "It can be a difficult challenge. I wouldn't say it's a problem. It's a challenge. A different test to try and figure out and get an A on, I guess you could say."

Last four events: 9-3-1-18
Open form: 60-8-33-MC-51-MC
Last 50 starts - Win: 6%, Top 5: 20%, Top 10: 40%

---

Tommy Fleetwood - Home hero is a regular Open challenger

Fleetwood has become a leaderboard regular in the Open after missing his first three cuts in the event, the first at Royal Troon in 2016.

In the last five he has a 12th (Carnousite), a second (Royal Portrush), a fourth (St Andrews) and a 10th (Hoylake). He was in the top three at halfway in three of those and still in the top six after 54 holes of the same trio.

With a bunch of good form under his belt in 2024, including a win in Dubai and a third in the Masters, he looks likely to be a factor again. Also note in terms of these markets that of his eight top 10s in Majors, seven of those were actually top fives.

Last four events: 34-15-16-20
Open form: 10-4-33-2-12-27-MC-MC-MC
Last 50 starts - Win: 4%, Top 5: 24%, Top 10: 36%

---

Jon Rahm - Spaniard a big price given pedigree

Rahm's chances this week are the subject of serious debate. On the exchange he's drifted out to 34.033/1 which looks a massive price for a recent World No.1 with Major wins in both 2021 and 2023, two DP Tour victories on the links in Ireland as well as a second and a third in the last three editions of this event.

The downside is obvious too. Since moving to LIV, Rahm has been a diminished figure, finishing 45th in his Masters defence, missing the cut in the US PGA and withdrawing on the eve of the US Open with a foot injury.

It's certainly been some week for Spain with the football team beating England in the final of Euro 2024 and Carlos Alcaraz winning Wimbledon but can Rahm suddenly flick the switch and get back to his very best? The 4.03/1 for a top 10 is certainly not without appeal.

Last four events: 10-3-WD-MC
Open form: 2-34-3-11-MC-44-59
Last 50 starts - Win: 14%, Top 5: 40%, Top 10: 60%

---

Tyrrell Hatton - Englishman has Troon pedigree

Hatton doesn't usually make it onto this feature but he's deserving of his place in the top 10 of the betting this time due to both current and course form.

The former starts with a strong showing at the US Open. The Englishman was a factor for 54 holes but slipped to 26th after a poor closer. However, in two LIV starts since Pinehurst he's won the event in Nashville and finished third at Valderrama on Sunday.

Then there is the little matter of him finishing tied fifth in the 2016 Open at Royal Troon. Adding to that are finishes of sixth (2019), 10th (2022) and 20th (2023) while he's also a two-time winner of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Last four events: 3-1-26-18
Open form: 20-11-MC-6-51-MC-5-MC-MC-MC-MC
Last 50 starts - Win: 2%, Top 5: 22%, Top 10: 40%

---

Viktor Hovland - Mixed signs from Norwegian

Hovland didn't manage a top 10s in his first 11 majors although went close several times. But now he's delivering at this level with a second, a third, a fourth and a seventh in his last eight.

His Open form is particularly encouraging. The Norwegian was 12th on debut at Royal St George's in 2021, tied fourth at St Andrews in 2022 after sharing the 54-hole lead and 13th at Hoylake last year.

After winning the FedExCup at the end of 2023, he's suffered something of a blip this season and, to be honest, is a little hard to read. He's missed cuts at both the US Masters and US Open but found something near his best again when third at the US PGA. Tied 46th in the Scottish Open last week was a tad underwhelming.

Last four events: 46-20-MC-15
Open form: 13-4-12
Last 50 starts - Win: 6%, Top 5: 22%, Top 10: 28%

---

Summary

Tyrrell Hatton has had some of his finest moments when playing the famed links courses of Scotland.

His record at the Home of Golf includes two wins and two further second places in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (played at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns) and a fifth here at Royal Troon in the 2016 Open.

Add in 6th, 11th and 20th in three of the last four Opens, as well as his recent fine form on the LIV Tour (win and a third in the latest two events), and he looks more than capable of landing a top 10 finish at 4.57/2.

Collin Morikawa has been a regular in this feature this season and justifiably so after finishes of third, fourth and 14th in the three Majors so far.

Already an obvious target, he moves into even sharper focus after a fourth place in the Scottish Open, a tournament where he'd struggled previously.

Americans have a strong record at Troon and Morikawa can add to it with a top five at 5.04/1. That's the preference given that seven of his top 10s in Majors doubled as top fives. In other words, when he's on, he's on.

---

Now read Dave's Open Championship 2024 each-way preview

---