Early 2023 Open Championship Picks and Preview

Summarized by: Live Sports Direct

29 December 2022

It's never too early to start preparing to make picks for the 2023 Open Championship. December presents an opportunity to get great closing line value on a player months in advance.

The 151st Open Championship will be played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake. It will only be the third Open held there since 1967. The course was designed by Harry Colt. Since the 2014 Open, RoyalLiverpool has seen a few changes to the golf course. The biggest change is a 180 degree change of the 15th hole.

Royal Liverpool played 7,400 yards in 2014. The course has been altered for the 2023 Open Championship. There are new tee boxes on the Par 5 15th and 18th that can stretch the holes to play over 600 yards long. Changes to the greens on 4, 7 and 8 have been subtle. Royal Liverpool is a traditional links course. It's not one that demands precision and patience. The weather will affect the tournament. Oak Hill will host the PGA Championship in 20 23. St. George's is considered the weakest course on Open Rota. However, Royal Portrush was a wonderful venue.

There are several LIV players who have received an official exemption into the 2023 Open Championship. Other Liv players will be able to play their way in through either the Open Qualifying Series or Final Qualified.

Cameron Smith is a past Open Champion. Phil Mickelson is past Champion, Louis Oosthuizen is also a former Open champion, Henrik Stenson is an Open winner, Dustin Johnson is Top 10 at 2022 Open Championship, Bryson DeChambeau is in Top 30 in 2022 FedEx Cup playoffs, Brooks Koepka is recent U.S. Open champ, Patrick Reed is Masters champion. Lee Westwood is 2021 Ryder Cup participant. Paul Casey is 21st Ryder cup participant, Sergio Garcia is 22nd Ryder, Ian Poulter is 23rd. Bernd Wiesberger is the 21nd.

The weather can be a big factor at the Open Championship. In 2014 at Royal Liverpool, only Adam Scott and Shane Lowry managed to finish the tournament despite playing in very poor weather conditions. There is no high-level analytical data for handicapping the 2023 Open. The past strokes gained or ShotLink data don't exist for the event.

Rory McIlroy won the 2014 Open Championship.

Rory only hit four drivers in his final round at Royal Liverpool. Rory was aggressive on the holes he had downwind, but conservative on holes with internal OB or wind. In 2023, Rory will play more conservatively. Rory's favourite player will be a thoughtful, heady and patient player. He will target golfers with good short game, mid-irons and a track record of putting well on undulating putting surfaces. The winner will hold the Claret Jug on Sunday. It will take place at the Open Championship at Liverpool in 2024.

Viktor Hovland is a 30/1 favorite to win the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. He has a good short game and is good with his mid irons. The Open is his best major so far in his career. He finished T12 at the Open at St. George’s and T54 at Andrews last year.

Hovland is playing in the Open Championship in early 2023. Since 2010, players who have won their first major championship have been in contention at a major before they broke through and won. Hovlands short game has been woefully deficient, but he has improved recently. He is only losing 0.04 strokes per round to the field over his last 50 rounds. He has gained strokes around the green in six of his eight ShotLink measured tournaments. If his shortgame is better, he could have a massive 20th. The Open presents a lot of opportunities to putt from off the greens.

Cameron Smith won the 2022 Masters. Matthew Fitzpatrick won 2022 PGA Championship. Scottie Scheffler won four Top 10s in seven career majors. Jon Rahm won 2021 U.S. Open.Hideki Matsuyama led the 2017 Pga Championship with nine holes left. Bryson DeChambeau briefly held a share of the lead in final round of 2020 PGC Championship before winning 2020 US Open and Shane Lowry held 54 hole lead at 2016 US open. Gary Woodland had 36 hole leads at 2018 PGAs and 2019 Open Championship, and won 2019 US Open, Patrick Reed was T2 at the PgAs, won in his next major start at 2018 Masters, Justin Thomas shot 63 in 3rd Round at 2017 USOpen.

Matthew Fitzpatrick is not a good enough golfer to win the 2023 Open Championship. He has one Top 20 finish in seven career Open Championships starts. His approach shots between 150 and 200 yards to 32.6 feet are one of the worst on the PGA Tour.