2023 Open Championship Odds: Three expert long-shot PGA bets to win

The 2023 Open Championship is set to get underway early on Thursday morning (1:35 a.m. ET) at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake on the northwest shore of England.

This is the third time since 1967 that the British Open has been contested in Hoylake, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy lifting the Claret Jug in 2006 and 2014, respectively.

Royal Liverpool is a par-71 that measures 7,312 yards and, by all accounts, will favor accuracy above everything else.

Like any other links-style course, trouble looms as soon as the ball exits the fairway, so Woods famously kept his driver in the bag en route to his win here 17 years ago.

Scottie Scheffler is currently the betting favorite at +700.

Still, he is only slightly ahead of McIlroy, who is heading into this week riding a wave of momentum after his dramatic victory at the Scottish Open.

Jon Rahm, who was last seen missing the cut at the Travelers Championship, is the third choice at +1300. Brooks Koepka (+1800) is the only other player under +2000.

The last two winners of the Open Championship came from near the top of the board, Cam Smith was +2000 last year and Collin Morikawa went off at +3500 the year before, but this tournament has seen plenty of long shot winners.

Shane Lowry (2018) and Zach Johnson (2015) were both +8000 when they lifted the Claret Jug, while Darren Clarke (2011) was +15000, Louis Oosthuizen (2010) was +20000 and Stewart Cink (2009) was +12500 in their respective championship years.

Heck, there was even a 300/1 winner at the Open back in 2004 when Ben Curtis shocked the world.

With that in mind, here are a few long shot picks worth considering at the 2023 British Open:

2023 British Open picks

Kurt Kitayama (300/1, PointsBet)

First thing to note about Kurt Kitayama is that he’s the No. 25 golfer in the world right now per the Official Golf World Rankings.

Those rankings have plenty of flaws, but the point is that you’re getting a top-25 player at 300/1.

Kitayama ranks ahead of players like Corey Conners, Justin Rose, Denny McCarthy and Hideki Matsuyama in the OWGR.

All of those players are being offered at much shorter prices than Kitayama.

Not only does Kityama have a win this year against an elite field on a difficult course, but he’s also bagged a T4 finish at a major and has a runner-up finish at the 2022 Scottish Open to draw on for positive experience on links courses.

Brendon Todd (500/1, FanDuel)

It’s been a while since Brendon Todd was in the winner’s circle (he won back-to-back events during the fall of 2019), but it has not been long since the 37-year-old was close.

Todd finished T2 at the John Deere Classic two weeks ago and now heads to the course where he finished T39 on his Open Championship debut.

Todd will never be mistaken for a long hitter, but he’s as accurate as they come off the tee and has had a solid season on, and around, the greens.

He’s not the most exciting player, but he will have you hootin’ and hollerin’ if he’s in contention at this number on Sunday morning.

Abraham Ancer (+50000, FanDuel)

There was a time not too long ago when Abraham Ancer was considered one of the ascending young players in golf.

But, as with a lot of players who defected, things have quieted down around Ancer considerably since he moved to LIV Golf.

Nonetheless, Ancer remains a talented player who has the goods when it comes to accuracy and keeping the ball out of trouble. Ancer has flashed some form of late — he’s got back-to-back top-20 finishes on LIV — and was T11 at the 2022 Open Championship.

There’s more than enough here for a play at 500/1.