Jordan Spieth finished 44th and 36th in his first two appearances at the British Open in 2013 and 2014, but he’s still the clear favourite on the odds to win the tournament at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com as the world’s top golfers head to St. Andrews this week.
That’s because Spieth has been the best golfer in the world in 2015, winning both the Masters and the U.S. Open, and then taking the trophy at the John Deere Classic as well last week for good measure, and the oddsmakers have taken notice, as he’s the 9/2 favourite on the British Open odds — with no one else in the field better than 11/1.
One golfer had been challenging Spieth atop the British Open odds, but a ruptured ankle ligament will keep Rory McIlroy out of the field at St. Andrews this week — depriving him of a chance to defend his British Open title. McIlroy injured himself playing soccer two weeks ago.
That puts Dustin Johnson into the top challenger position for the tournament, with Johnson at 11/1 odds to win the British Open at the sportsbooks. Johnson came up short against Spieth at the U.S. Open last month to finish second, and he was also tied for sixth at the Masters. Overall, Johnson has nine top-10 finishes at majors but no victories.
Rickie Fowler is also winless at major tournaments, although he did finish in the top five at each of the four majors last season including a tied-for-second performance at the British Open. Fowler is coming off a victory in last week’s Scottish Open, which boosted his odds to win at St. Andrews this week to 16/1 at the sportsbooks.
Justin Rose follows Fowler at 18/1 on the British Open odds, with Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson both at 20/1, and Louis Oosthuizen sitting at 22/1 to get the victory at St. Andrews.
Tiger Woods is then at 25/1 on the betting lines, after he followed up his 17th-place result at the Masters with an ugly missed cut at the U.S. Open last month. Woods finished 69th at the British Open last year, but he was sixth in 2013 and third in 2012 and he won the tournament at St. Andrews in both 2000 and 2005.
Woods is also featured on the British Open prop bets at the sportsbooks, as he’s listed at EVEN odds to finish in the top 20 at the tournament and at -220 odds to make the cut this week. Spieth sits at -400 odds to finish in the top 20 at this year’s British Open, and he holds down a line of -1000 to make the cut and play into the weekend at the event.