Open Championship 2025: Dave Tindall's FOUR each-way picks from 30/1 to 90/1

• 30/131.00 Viktor Hovland looks ready to win a major

• 30/131.00 Bob MacIntyre was sixth at Portrush in 2019

• 50/151.00 Russell Henley is in great form and was fifth in the 2024 Open

• 90/191.00 Tom McKibbin is a Portrush member shining on LIV 

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

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Introduction to the Open Championship

Only two Opens have been played at famed Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland and the vast majority of golf fans will know almost nothing about the first but plenty about the second.

Max Faulkner was the winner of that first edition at Portrush in 1951, sitting fifth after day one before taking the halfway lead, kicking clear to lead by six after 54 holes and eventually winning by two on 3-under.

Shane Lowry sparked glorious scenes of celebration when taking a very similar path 69 years later. The Irishman was second after 18 holes, tied after 36 and then burst away from the field in round three before winning by six on 15-under.

Obviously not much course form exists but we also have Jamie Donaldson's win in the 2012 Irish Open there. His round positions were 19-6-1-1 so on the evidence we have, you can't hang about. Portrush winners have got in contention early.

The course, situated on the North Antrim Causeway Coast, was designed by Harry Colt in 1932 following original work from inaugural Open champion Old Tom Morris in 1888. Martin Ebert designed two new holes and did further tweaks ahead of the 2019 Open. 

In terms of stats, Royal Portrush has aligned with other Open tests. Short game and putting count for a lot, hitting greens is important but driving it either very long or very straight less so.

It used to be a scramble trying to find what everyone was up to the week before the Open. Had they taken themselves off away from the tour for some links practice on the great courses in Scotland or Ireland?

Lowry did that before his 2019 Open win and it was well publicised but it's much easier to have a handle on most Open contenders these days as they're likely to have honed their links skills by playing in the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. That was won this year by US outsider Chris Gotterup with Rory McIlroy in behind in second.

That event looks the perfect build-up now since it became a co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour in recent years.

And a pattern has started to emerge. The last three Open winners - Xander Schauffele (15th), Brian Harman (12th) and Cameron Smith (10th) - all played well at the Scottish without the downside of using up mental reserves by being under the gun.

It seemed pretty obvious that Robert MacIntyre had expended too much emotional energy when winning last year's Scottish Open and few were surprised to see him finish down in 50th in The Open a week later.

Finally, one of the most common Open questions: what of the weather?

It's always worth keeping an eye on as the start approaches but on Monday morning this was published on the official Open site: "More changeable again from Thursday with further showers or spells of rain likely, perhaps heavy at times, although some fine and drier interludes are still expected. Generally light to moderate SW to SE winds but could become variable at times. Temperatures slightly above average."

The rain may be frustrating for spectators (note to self: pack brolly) but it doesn't look like a gusty, trouser-flapping Open.

Bet 1: Back Viktor Hovland @ 30/131.00

I do think 7/18.00 Rory McIlroy has a golden chance back on home soil. It's mental as much as anything with Rory and a second place in the Scottish Open suggests he's loving being back on British soil seeing family and friends.

Scottie Scheffler, the 9/25.50 favourite, will surely win a Claret Jug and why not now while I'm expecting a strong defence from 25/126.00 Xander Schauffele despite a modest year. A nod to 12/113.00 Jon Rahm too. He was 11th at Portrush in 2019 and is a double Irish Open winner.

But from the top end of the betting the one I like at the prices is Viktor Hovland.

The Norwegian was fourth at St Andrews in 2022 and in two of his other three Open starts Hovland took 12th on debut at Royal St George's in 2021 and 13th at Hoylake in 2023. He shot a weekend round of 66 in all three of those events.

That forms part of an excellent sequence of results in the majors which is basically just lacking a win to top it off.

The man who resides in windy Oklahoma, having gone to Oklahoma State, was Low Amateur on both his Masters and US Open debuts in 2019. 

Starting with the 2022 Open, he boasts a second, two thirds, a fourth and a seventh in the majors and his latest effort was a top three in last month's US Open at Oakmont.

Since then he's withdrawn from the Travelers Championship with a neck issue, a real shame given that he'd just fired a Saturday 63, and shown no ill effects from it by carding twin 67s on the weekend for 11th at the Scottish Open.

Hovland didn't take part at Portrush in 2019 but in terms of playing Harry Colt designs we can check his form at Wentworth. And the results give us another tick: fifth places on his last two visits in 2022 and 2023.

The one accusation that persists is that his chipping holds him back. It's been true in the past but at the US Open he ranked 2nd Around The Greens while Hovland was 9th for Scrambling (72.2%) in the Scottish Open. In fact he said this last week: " I do feel like lately I've been chipping and putting it better." 

A winner at the Valspar earlier this year, in terms of locating future first-time major champions, Hovland absolutely looks to be the next cab off the rank.

I think he can definitely win the Claret Jug so will get the biggest price possible by taking the 30/131.00 (1/5 Odds, 6 Places). 

Bet 2: Back Robert MacIntyre @ 30/131.00

As mentioned, 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.

Back in 2019 when interviewed after his closing 68 at Portrush, he said: "Highlight of the week has to be holing a 15-, 20-footer on 18 there. The hair is standing on the back of your neck when that putt went in. That's what you play the game for.

"It's possibly the best links golf course I've ever played on. I played here in the Home Internationals, I knew I was coming to one of best. But I think for my first Open Championship to be here, I don't think anything can top it."

Fifth in the Irish Open at iconic Royal County Down last September, MacIntyre's name is absolutely flashing here when trying to pick out a player with strong Open credentials.

His price more than reflects this but I'll back the Scot at 30/131.00 (8 Places).

Bet 3: Back Russell Henley @ 50/151.00

I do like the idea of an experienced American winning or making a big run given the Open triumphs for Brian Harman in 2023, Zach Johnson in 2015 and Phil Mickelson in 2013.

The contenders would be Harris English, Keegan Bradley and Russell Henley. All are 35 or over and the average age of an Open winner is much older than it is at the three American majors.

That US trio are all in the top 10 of the FedEx Cup standings this season so are playing some great golf.

Harman and Johnson had both had a top six in a previous Open to suggest they could challenge but that rather rules out English and Bradley. They've had 20 cracks at this between them (Bradley 11, English nine) and both have a best of 15th.

But Henley did drop a hint that he was cracking the code when improving from a best of 20th by taking solo fifth place at Royal Troon last year. He shot 66-69 on the weekend and only finished four back from the winner.

Henley also beeps on the radar due to his record at PGA National, home of the Cognizant Classic (formerly Honda Classic).

Scroll through the history of that event and Open winners are leaping off the page: Mark Calcavecchia, Nick Price, Mark O'Meara, Justin Leonard, Todd Hamilton, Padriag Harrington, Ernie Els, Rory McIlroy.

Shane Lowry, the 2019 Portrush winner, has form there of 2-5-4-11 since 2022.

As for Henley, he won at PGA National back in 2014 and has a third, a sixth and an eighth in his last four attempts there.

This season, the 36-year-old from Georgia won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill after showing more good form by the sea when 10th in the Sony Open (he won that in 2013) and fifth at Pebble Beach.

He's since added eighth at The Heritage (Open winners Stewart Cink and Jordan Spieth won that coastal event in 2021 and 2022 respectively) while his last three start show fifth at Memorial, 10th in the US Open and runner-up at the Travelers Championship.

The top 10 at the US Open may be really key as so many major winners tend to have played well in a recent one. That enhances the cases of Hovland and MacIntyre of course.

The negative is that he skipped the chance to hone his links skills by missing the Scottish Open. But then again he was absent from the field last year (in fact, he's never played it) and still cracked the top five at Troon.

His overall form suggests he can play well anywhere and ranking 1st, 6th and 2nd for Scrambling in his last three events should grab our attention. He's 6th for SG: Around The Green this season if you want to use new money.

Back Henley at 50/151.00 (8 Places).

Bet 4: Back Tom McKibbin @ 90/191.00

Yes, I'm going to break from the norm and have a fourth pick!

Look, it's summer, I'm having a good year and you're not my real dad so can't tell me what to do.

Rory McIlroy's bid to win in front of his adoring home fans is the big story of the week but there's another player in the field who will also carry big local galleries.

In fact, he also grew up playing the same home club (Holywood) as McIlroy.

Tom McKibbin has been golfing his way around Royal Portrush since he was 10 and has actually been a member there for the last 10 years.

He's played numerous rounds there (he's been quoted as saying "more than 50" to "many hundreds": let's just say it's a lot) so knows every blade of grass.

McKibbin didn't even attend the 2019 edition due to playing in the US Junior Amateur so is thrilled to be there as a player this time. And not just one who will wave a lot and enjoy the ride.

After winning his first DP World Tour event (the Porsche European Open) in 2023 when still just 20 years old, McKibbin made the decision to join LIV at the start of 2025.

It seemed a rather odd path to take if you ignore the reported £4m joining fee but he's bedded in well and has really come to the boil in the last two tournaments.

At LIV Golf Dallas, McKibbin secured fifth place and at LIV Golf Andalucia last week he closed 69-66 to finish fourth.

In Dallas he ranked 1st for Scrambling and in a recent interview when he made the assertion that you need to do everything well to succeed at Royal Portrush, it's notable that McKibbin ranked 3rd in the All-Around category at both those latest two LIV events. 

His two top fives have probably knocked a fair bit off his price but he's a huge talent, has made the cut in all four of his major starts (three of those in America), was 10th at Wentworth last year and I probably have Hoylake 2023 in my head where course member Matthew Jordan put all that local knowledge to great use by finishing 10th. 

I want 10 places here so will play McKibbin at 90s in that market although 125s for 6 Places and 110 for 8 are alternatives.

Now read Steve Rawlings' Open preview