Open Championship 2025 Cheat Sheet: Betfair golf experts' best bets for Royal Portrush

• Steve Rawlings goes in-depth and recommends best bet

• Steve also picks his players to back at long odds this week

• Dave Tindall recommends each-way tips and first round leader bets

• Course info, form stats, player profiles, 10-year trends and more

• Bet £5 in our Birdie Bonus market and every first round birdie your selection scores=free bet

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Watch Golf...Only Bettor 2025 Open Championship preview

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Open Championship 2025 Tips and Predictions

Open Championship 2025:  World number one a very fair price

Steve Rawlings: "When Morikawa won at Royal St Georges he ranked first for Scrambling and ninth for Putting Average, a week after finishing 71^st in the Scottish Open, ranking 59^th for Scrambling and 63^rd for PA and that warm up at the Renaissance was crucial.

"Scheffler didn't play in the Scottish last year. In fact, he didn't play anywhere after he'd won the Travelers Championship a month earlier and this new tactic should pay dividends.

"Scheffler ranked only 36th for Putting Average and 68th for Strokes Gained: Putting and he looked flummoxed on the greens a number of times last week in Scotland but the fact he played there is a huge plus.

"I expect his game on and around the greens will be far better than it was last week and bidding to emulate Schauffele's feat last year by winning the Open a few months after winning the US PGA Championship, he's a very fair price to win his fourth major and his first Open at 6/17.00 on the Exchange."

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Each Way Tips up to 90/1:  MacIntyre can win us a few Bob

Dave Tindall: "Robert MacIntyre was in no state to win last year's Open after his thrilling but draining victory in the Scottish Open a week before. So, having earmarked him for this, I was far from unhappy to see his low-key performance at The Renaissance Club last week.

"It's easy to argue that 65th isn't ideal prep but there was nothing really wrong with rounds of 68-71-72-71 and you sense that the adrenaline had rather gone when he wasn't in contention and that MacIntyre's mind, or at least a chunk of it, was on Portrush.

"Clearly he has strong memories of the Northern Irish venue as in 2019 MacIntyre finished in a tie for sixth there on his Open debut.

"For some context, he was 146th in the world rankings at the time so wasn't the Bob Mac of today - the one who won twice on the PGA Tour in 2024 and was runner-up in the US Open last month.

"Now 14th in the rankings, it's also intriguing that the first of his 2024 PGA Tour wins - with his Dad as stand-in caddie at the Canadian Open - came at Hamilton. Why does that have extra interest? Because the course is also a Harry Colt design. MacIntyre was also 12th at Wentworth last year by the way."

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First Round Leader Tips up to 80/1:  Rose to blossom on day one

Dave Tindall:  "Justin Rose should almost be an auto-bet in this market when it comes to to the majors.

"Incredibly, he's a five-time first-round leader at Augusta and has also been in the top six after 18 holes on four other occasions at the US Masters.

"In the Open Championship, Rose finished day one in the top five in two of his first four.

"That's going back some, but in the last four he was 16th after day one here at Portrush, ninth following the first day at Royal St. George's and fourth on the closing Thursday leaderboard at Troon last year.

"Rose, also a first-round leader in the 2019 US Open, ended last week's Scottish Open with a 63 and it's also worth remembering that he was fourth after 54 holes here six years ago so can clearly score at Portrush.

"The 60/161.00 shot (1/5, 6 Places) is a 2.48pm starter alongside Robert MacIntyre and Bryson DeChambeau."

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Big Price Tips up to 529/1: Have faith in links lover Lawrence

Matt Cooper: "Ahead of any major championship I like a golfer who has recent experience of contending in the tournaments that define a career. It's a stipulation that obviously pulls in the stars, but it also drags in plenty of the surprise winners, too.

"Open winners also tend to have have at least one decent effort in the championship (or on high quality linksland).

"And this week I like Harry Colt as an angle. The golden age architect was responsible for Royal Portrush and also Wentworth's West Course - and Shane Lowry won his Claret jug at the former and is an expert at the latter.

"First up using those three notions is the South African Thriston Lawrence who headed into the final round at Royal Troon 12 months ago one shot back of the lead and hung around to finish fourth.

"Shortly after he played nicely at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland (fourth after 18 holes, finishing T26) and he was second at Wentworth.

"A month ago he spent the first 54 holes of the US Open in the top six before finishing T12."

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Rating the Favourites:  Tyrrell Hatton worth a play

Dave Tindall: "Tyrrell Hatton was sixth here in 2019 and after his fourth place in the US Open, the Englishman has the benefit of a big recent run in a major.

"As well as his stellar record at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, he also has a couple of top fives in the Irish Open.

"And with Harry Colt the designer of Portrush, it may also be significant that Hatton has a win and a second on another of his famed layouts, Wentworth.

"Back Hatton for a Top 10 at 4.131/10.

"These are my top two bets (along with John Rahm for a Top 5 Finish) but I'll also definitely consider backing Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre in the Top 10 market."

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Open Championship 2025: Five to watch using Betfair's Birdie Bonus

Dave Tindall: "Viktor Hovland is clearly a contender for the Claret Jug and the good news is that he could win you some free bets along the way due to being a strong starter.

"The Norwegian ranks 18th for Birdie Average this season and has fired 66s in his last two opening rounds on the PGA Tour:  Scottish Open and Travelers Championship.

"Talking of 66s, he's recorded one of those in each of his last three Opens. Hovland can go low on the links and he comes in off a tied 11th at the Renaissance Club. "

What is Birdie Bonus?

Betfair has a great free bet offer for the 2025 Open Championship.

Betfair's Birdie Bonus market hands out free bets for every birdie your win-only selection makes in the first round of the Open Championship.

What it means is that if you place a £5 bet or more in our Birdie Bonus market, each time the player you back to win the Open at Portrush picks up a shot at any hole during the first round you'll land a £1 free bet. 

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Open Championship 2025 Player Guide: Profiles of the top 50 players

Jon Rahm

Open record: 59-44-MC-11-3-34-2-7

Matt Cooper: "It was at Royal Portrush six years ago that the Spaniard first came of age in the Open finishing T11th - one of four top 12 finishes in his last five starts.

"He won't be afraid of bad weather either. "This is proper Open weather to become a champion," he said after that 2019 effort. "You're a true champion if you conquer rain, wind and difficulty." He also said: "I played so good tee to green, I just couldn't hole a putt." He uttered the same at last month's US Open."

Angle? He has an exceptional record on the Irish linksland: four starts, victories at Lahinch and Portstewart, fourth at Ballyliffin, and that Open T11th in 2019

First round/birdie record? He was top 10 after 18 holes in the US Open.

Back Rahm on the Sportsbook
Back Rahm on the Exchange

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Open Championship 2025: 10-year trends point to...

Dave Tindall: "At current prices (seven days before they tee off at Portrush), it's 4/1 Scottie Scheffler, 15/2 Rory McIlroy and 20/1 Bryson DeChambeau. It's easy to think of them as the top three players in golf but how about their links skills?

"Well, let's tweak the Open Form category a little. If we note that six of the last 10 Open winners had previously enjoyed a top six in the event, while three others had finished 7th to 9th, we then get some separation.

"McIlroy is an Open winner with seven top sixes in the tournament. Scheffler, meanwhile, has a best of seventh while DeChambeau's highest finish is eighth. Rory is clearly the Open specialist while the two Americans still have something to prove.

"Therefore, after a tie-break, your trends winner is Rory McIlroy. What a story it would be if he could add an Open victory in front of his home crowd to his stunning Masters win from April."

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Open Championship 2025:  Major form stats ahead of Royal Portrush

Andy Swales: "Sepp Straka is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year and his excellent tee-to-green game should help him tame Royal Portrush this coming week.

"He is currently fourth in two significant stats' categories on the PGA Tour: Greens-in-Regulation and Strokes Gained: Approach the Green. Was a joint runner-up in The Open at Royal Liverpool two years ago and was seventh in Scotland on Sunday."

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Open Championship 2025: Form stats for the final major of the year

Andy Swales: "As with most Open venues, the ability to score low usually depends on the weather, and this was no exception in 2019 when the eventual champion - Shane Lowry - made the most of benign conditions over the first three days. By Saturday evening, he enjoyed a four-stroke advantage after posting rounds of 67-67-63 to reach 16 under par.

"But on Sunday, scoring became more difficult, with tee times moved forward because of an adverse weather forecast. None of the top five finishers broke par (71) in the final round, as Lowry claimed victory by six shots.

"Over four days, Lowry topped the Greens in Regulation table, posting impressive stats of 79.17%, against a field average of 62.26%. On day one he was 88.89%, which was better than anyone else, and in his record-breaking third round of 63, Lowry led the way once again by hitting 17 of the 18 greens in regulation."

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