With three majors in the books this year, there's just one more opportunity for a male player to capture a major championship in 2019.
The British Open Championship is next month in July, being held at Royal Portrush Golf Club. The Northern Ireland course will be the first venue outside of England and Scotland to host the game's oldest major championship since 1951. We're expecting tremendous golf on a world-class venue, including with a heavy Irish and Ulster influence on the leaderboard.
A great week of players vying for the Claret Jug would mark a fitting end to an incredible 2019 men's major season.
The Masters went to Tiger Woods in spectacular, epic fashion. Brooks Koepka captured the PGA Championship, hanging on just as the wheels were coming off at Bethpage Black. Then Gary Woodland stepped up and stared down Koepka at Pebble Beach to pick up his first major championship at the age of 35.
So, with the final major of the year just weeks away, which players should bettors look toward as potential winners at Royal Portrush?
Brooks Koepka
Coming off a win and two second-place finishes in the first three majors of the year, Brooks Koepka is undoubtedly the favorite for the final major of 2019. Of course he is. However, he doesn't have a great record in this championship compared to the other three majors. He has improved his finish in every Masters start. He has won the US Open twice in a row and nearly won it three times in a row. He's the two-time defending champion at the PGA Championship. Despite this, Koepka at 7-to-1 makes sense because his game travels anywhere they're playing a major.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy has played an incredible number of rounds at Royal Portrush. He owns the course record, which he shot when he was 16. Sixteen! While Portrush has two new holes on the Dunluce course so it can accommodate the Open, 16 of the holes are the same. McIlroy should love what he sees at the Open. However, McIlroy has been disappointing in the three majors this year. He was a non-factor in the Masters. He back-doored a top-10 finish at the PGA Championship. His Sunday effort at Pebble Beach was derailed early, and he was ineffective on the par 5s.
Graeme McDowell
Before a 29-footer for par went in on the final hole of June's 2019 RBC Canadian Open, Graeme McDowell wasn't eligible to play in an Open in his home country, on a golf course he's played in upwards of 500 times. Now he's in, and McDowell is a legitimate threat to win. He's a 50-to-1 longshot in a deep field, but he has come alive in 2019, winning in the Dominican Republic and posting several other high finishes on the PGA Tour. If you're looking for someone who has a chance to win outside of the deep pack of players in the top 20 in the world, G-Mac may be your guy.
Fortunately, if you're based on the East Coast, you can take up some of these odds and wager on them. With golf betting available now in New Jersey, you are just a short drive away from being able to get a ticket and have a sweat in the year's final major.
