The favorite winning a sporting event often isn’t good for the house. However, this was not the case with the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
Key Takeaways
- Scottie Scheffler’s dominant 17-under-par performance and four-stroke victory at Royal Portrush slowed action over the weekend
- Despite being the most-bet player in the field, the handle in the outright market was half of what it was on Scheffler in the U.S. Open
- BetMGM reported good results from golf’s four major tournaments
Scottie Scheffler, with odds of +550 before the tournament began, lifted the Claret Jug and claimed his fourth career major, second this season, on Sunday at Royal Portrush.
Scheffler's dominant 17-under-par finish and four-stroke victory at the British Open was a “good outcome for the sportsbook,” BetMGM data analyst John Ewing told Covers on Monday morning.
A combination of short odds that only got shorter as the weekend progressed and a lot of European love from bettors kept the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world from being a liability.
BetMGM said before the sport’s final major of 2025 that Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Ludvig Aberg, and Tommy Fleetwood, as well as American Bryson DeChambeau, received “solid action.”
Meanwhile, Scheffler was still the most-bet player in the field, but it wasn’t by the margins he’s received in other events this season. Before the British Open, Scheffler received less than 15% of the handle, down from the 30% before June’s U.S. Open. His ticket count was down about 5%.
Good for the book
With higher odds of +750 before the major, McIlroy was BetMGM’s biggest liability. The 2025 Masters winner was the fan favorite last week, playing the tournament in his native Northern Ireland, and was second behind Scheffler in handle and tickets.
He finished tied for seventh at 10-under-par, seven shots off the lead, to help score a win for the house.
DeChambeau was also a bigger liability than Scheffler. The LIV golfer opened with 78 on Thursday, but rallied to finish in the top 10 after firing off a 64 on Sunday.
No competition
Scheffler shot 68-64 in the first and second rounds to head into Saturday in contention. He was -165 to start the third round, and McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, and others were still right there near him.
However, Scheffler shot a 67 to take a four-stroke lead over Haotong Lee (+30,000 pre-tournament) into Sunday. McIlroy was six shots back entering the final round, and Scheffler’s odds to win the British Open outright jumped to -700.
Scheffler then birdied the first hole on Sunday, and despite a double bogey that gave golfers some hope later in the round, he never appeared catchable. A mostly dominant final round combined with early morning tee times for American bettors “limited some interest,” Ewing said.
“Competitive Sundays drive a lot of action,” he added.
Harris English (+10,000 pre-tournament) finished alone in second place.
Year in review
Despite McIlroy being the biggest liability to win at Augusta National, BetMGM reported operator-friendly results from golf’s major season, which is comprised of the four most-bet tournaments for the sport each year.
The Masters drove the most betting action, followed by the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and Open Championship.
Scheffler was favored in all four events this year. He was the second biggest liability before he won his second PGA Championship in May. With odds of +275 to win the U.S. Open, Scheffler was the biggest favorite at a major since Tiger Woods in 2009, but JJ Spaun captured that title.
