The Open Betting Odds and Free Bets. Rory McIlroy Favourite to Win

The Open Championship is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and the final Major of 2023 got under way this morning. Cameron Smith will be looking to become the first person to defend their Open crown since Padraig Harrington managed at Royal Birkdale in 2008.

Royal Liverpool, or Hoylake, is hosting the tournament for the 14 time, and the last time it was held here Rory McIlroy won the third major of his career. After his win in the Scottish Open, there will be plenty of people clamouring to punt on his fortunes at the best UK betting sites in the lead up to the tournament. 

The Open Free Bets

After the first round, played in good, sunny conditions, Tommy Fleetwood shared the lead on -5 with South African amateur Christo Lamprecht and Emiliano Grillo from Argentina. Fleetwood, from nearby Southport, dropped just one shot and carded six birdies, three of which came in his closing five holes. Can Fleetwood stay at the top of the leaderboard for the remaining three days? He's currently top of the betting market with many of the leading golf betting sites.

Tiger Woods famously won his third Open title here in 2006 using his driver just once all week and still managed to finish on 18 under. McIlroy won here in 2014 on 17 under, so can we expect another high scoring winner this week?

Before making your picks for the Open 2023, it is important to take a look at as many different free bet offers and other betting offers that will be available from all the best golf betting apps. Given it is such a huge tournament, bookies are likely to bend over backwards to entice you to sign up, meaning you can get your hands on some great value risk-free bets if you do your research. Here are some of our favourite offers:

The Open Championship Extra Places

With millions of people focused on the action on Merseyside this weekend, there may be plenty of contenders who you think could do well but may not win the Open. This is where it pays to shop around with some of the best betting sitesbecause some of them will be playing extra places up from the usual four places of a typical tournament. Here are some of the better options.

Betfred Extra Places

This is one of the better deals you are going to find anywhere. Betfred will be offering multiple different options each way for the week. It is offering 1/5 odds on six places and seven places, while it is also offering 1/8 odds on 10 places if there is a big-priced contender who you think could break into the top 10 come Sunday evening.

888sport Extra Places

888sport is offering eight places at 1/5 odds as standard on this week’s action. That means any player who has a great history around this course or links courses in general could be a great option when making your Open picks.

The Open 2023 Odds

Given Rory McIlroy won the last time the Open Championship came to Royal Liverpool and he won the Open warm-up tournament, the Scottish Open, this past weekend, he is unsurprisingly the favourite for the win. However, he has been among the favourite to win almost every major since his last victory in 2014. There are a number of candidates who will be going under the radar for many golf fans. Find the best betting odds for the tournament right here:

Open Championship Enhanced Odds 

As well as finding the best sign-up offers you can, and the betting sites with the most places being offered on each-way bets, you should also be on the lookout for any enhanced odds offers on players you think could go well. Here are some of our favourites before the Open gets underway.

bet365 Odds

Tommy Fleetwood should know the course better than anyone else having grown up in nearby Southport. Local knowledge may have helped him navigate his way round Hoylake on Thursday to card an impressive 66 to share the lead. bet365 is offering 10/3 on Fleetwood to lead the Open after the second round.

William Hill Enhanced Odds

Jordan Spieth is a three-time Major winner, but the most recent of those came at the Open in 2017. Since then, he has finished in the top 10 seven times included a second at the Open in 2021 at Royal St George's. After an opening round of -2, Spieth starts day two just three shots off the lead. William Hill is offering 5/1 from 10/3 on Spieth to win register a top-5 finish at this year's Open Championship.

BetVictor Odds

Emiliano Grillo was priced at 250/1 before the 151st Open Championship started with some bookmakers, but those odds have shrinked drastically after ended Thursday in a share of the lead. Can the Argentine hold his nerve and stay in contention ahead of the weekend's play? BetVictor is offering 11/2 on Grillo to lead the 151st Open after Friday's second round.

Who Will Win The Open?

Rory McIlroy recovered from a shaky start to his quest to win his first Major in nine years to finish Thursday's first day on level par. It looked as though the four-time Major champion would start the second day over par. Teeing off on the 14th, McIlroy, who won the Claret Jug the last time it was held at Royal Liverpool, carded back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 and produced a stunning up bunker save on the 18th to get back to parity. 

Even though he is five shots behind the leaders, McIlroy has shown time and again that he is capable of closing that gap. The world number two will hope that Thursday's round is his worst of the week and now that he has got a feel of the course in competition, he can plot his way up the leaderboard. Coral is offering 9/1 for McIlroy to win the 151st Open Championship.