Brooks Koepka Favored after 1st Round of Open Championship; Leader JB Holmes Given 33-1 Odds; Rory Listed at 250-1
- Brooks Koepka is the favorite to win the Open after Day 1
- Red hot Jon Rahm nipping at his heels along with a host of great golfers
- See the updated live odds entering Friday of the 2019 Open Championship
Stop if you’ve heard this before – Brooks Koepka is the betting favorite after a major championship round. That’s exactly the case after the four-time major champ posted a solid 3-under, 68, putting him just two strokes off the lead.
Jon Rahm is another player firmly in the mix, and we hope you took our pre-tournament advice to place a wager on him because you’d have gotten much better value on him than you’ll get right now. Let’s take a look at the updated Open Championship odds after Round 1.
2019 Open Championship Odds After Round 1
| Golfer | Position | Score | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooks Koepka | T-3rd | -3 (68) | +400 |
| Jon Rahm | T-3rd | -3 (68) | +650 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | T-3rd | -3 (68) | +1200 |
| Justin Rose | T-18th | -2 (69) | +1400 |
| Shane Lowry | 2nd | -4 (67) | +1600 |
| Patrick Cantlay | T-21st | -1 (70) | +2500 |
| Webb Simpson | T-3rd | -3 (68) | +2500 |
| Tony Finau | T-3rd | -3 (68) | +2500 |
| Sergio Garcia | T-3rd | -3 (68) | +2800 |
| J.B. Holmes | 1st | -5 (66) | +3300 |
*Odds taken July 18th
Brooks Koepka in the Mix for yet Another Major
Just when will Brooks Koepka come back down to earth and struggle in a major championship? It doesn’t look like it’ll happen this week, after another ho-hum round of 68, setting himself up to potentially be the only golfer ever to finish in the top-2 of every major in a calendar year.
About time Brooks Koepka finally showed up at a major.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) July 18, 2019
The amazing thing is Koepka barely appeared to break a sweat, en route to hitting nearly 80% of the fairways and being better than the field average in putting through 18 holes.
We warned that betting against him is at your peril, and at this point there’s absolutely nothing to suggest he can’t lift his first career Claret Jug.
Jon Rahm Ready to Win First Career Major Title
Jon Rahm has been playing the best golf of anybody in the world coming into the event, and kept the party going Thursday, shooting a 3-under, 68, to match a host of other great competitors. He scorched the front 9, shooting 31 before sliding back a little on his inward nine holes.
Jon Rahm’s last 6 starts:
T9
MC
MC
T3
T2
1 pic.twitter.com/yp6bgpdzkx— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 17, 2019
The eighth-ranked golfer in the world has been boom or bust in majors the last two years, so this week certainly looks like a boom for the 24-year-old. If not for Koepka, he’s the guy you need to be plunking down your cash for entering Friday.
Jon Rahm’s Major Results in Last Two Years
| Tournament | Result |
|---|---|
| 2018 Masters | 4th |
| 2018 US Open | CUT |
| 2018 Open Championship | CUT |
| 2018 PGA Championship | T-4th |
| 2019 Masters | T-9th |
| 2019 PGA Championship | CUT |
| 2019 US Open | T-3rd |
Best Live Value Picks at 2019 Open Championship
- J.B. Holmes (+3300): Not often is the first round leader still drawing these odds. Won at Riviera earlier this year, and finished 3rd at the 2016 Open. Hit 85% of fairways and 83% of greens on Thursday.
- Henrik Stenson (+3300): The 2016 Open champ came into the event with three straight top-10’s, and has posted four career top-3 finishes at this tournament. Supreme ball striker hitting almost 80% of fairways and averaged 1.5 putts/hole on day one.
- Hideki Matsuyama (+8000): Great longshot bet with huge upside. Shot even par to put him just five strokes behind. Made every cut this season and has seven career top-10’s in majors. Nothing worse than 23rd in last six events this season.
Michael "Hound Dog" Harrison is well known in the sports industry as the resident statistician for the SC with Jay Onrait Show. He has worked at TSN for over 16 years, where he's been featured on Sportscentre, That's Hockey, That's Hockey 2Nite, The Masters preview shows, and several more.
