The fourth and final major of the 2026 season is upon us! Royal Birkdale in Southport, United Kingdom, is hosting The Open Championship for the 11th time in this event's prestigious history. Many of the players on tour consider the Open to be the best event that they can win during the season, and it is the key to many players who are currently chasing a career grand slam. With Scottie Scheffler back as the defending champion and Jordan Spieth back as the defending winner at Royal Birkdale, there are many storylines to follow this week and many good bets to make. Before we dive in, it is important to remember that links golf is a different beast, and The Open lacks much of the historical data we hope for when trying to find our favorite plays for events.

 

 

 

The Open Championship Free Picks Featuring Tom Kim & Viktor Hovland

Tom Kim To Finish Top 20 (+220 at DraftKings)

Tom Kim is back to looking like the player we thought he was a few years back. He hit the PGA Tour running, with 3 wins in his first two seasons as a cardholder, but faltered over the last few years such as in 2025 where he recorded just one top 10 and 3 top 20's overall. Kim has found some of that magic again of late, and is coming off a win at the Scottish Open that usually correlates with success at a following Open Championship. 

Kim has a great statistical profile this week, namely through great number in bogey avoidance (4th in the field), approach (15th), putting (7th), and play in the wind (3rd). To make matters even more favorable for us, this price for a top 20 is strong, especially considering he's one of just a handful of players who meet criteria of the previous 12 winners of this event.

 

 

The Open Championship One & Done Pick: Viktor Hovland

If the stars are going to align for Viktor to win a major, this might just be the chance. Hovland has been playing great over the last month, with a 3rd place finish at the RBC Canadian Open, a win at the Travelers, and a T13 finish at the Scottish Open. He enters this event 2nd in approach from 150 to 200 yards, 6th in Driving Accuracy, 7th in Major History and Approach in the Wind, and 17th on our comparable courses. Given the fact that we've likely used many of the “bigger" names in the field at this point in the year, Viktor makes a ton of sense this time around.

 

 

The Open Championship Long Shot Pick: John Keefer (250/1 at DraftKings)

Let's start this off by saying we have not seen a winner of the Open Championship since Darren Clarke in 2011 who ranked outside the top 40 in the Official World Golf Rankings. This is a long shot for a reason, especially at this event. That said, I think Keefer could surprise players this week. Keefer is a great approach player, who just recorded a T3 finish at the Scottish Open at a similar venue in similar conditions. On top of that, much of his issues this season have been off the tee, as he can spray the ball around. Since the Charles Schwab, he's been much improved though, gaining accuracy on the field in 4 of 5 events. The short game will need to cooperate, but this is the type of profile I'm willing to take a chance on as a longshot.