The final major of the golf calendar is upon us, with the Open Championship'teeing off at Royal Liverpool Golf Club (Hoylake) in England on Thursday, July 20.
While many of the favorites and big names will right fully receive most of the betting attention, you can still find some sleeper picks and dark horses to focus on that could do much better than projected at Hoylake.
FanDuel dark horse pick winners this year have included Max Homa in the'Farmers Insurance Open, Adam Svensson in the'RSM Classic,'and Matt Fitzpatrick in the'RBC Heritage.
If you're timid about betting any of these guys to win outright, FanDuel Sportsbook also offers great finishing position betting options, where you can still get solid odds for finishing top 30, top 20, top 10, etc.
Open Championship PGA Dark Horse Picks 2023
Check out the Open Championship preview'along with top'finishing position odds, tournament matchups and golf props on FanDuel Sportsbook.
1. Tommy Fleetwood (+2500)
We'll continue to stick with Tommy Boy Fleetwood in a home game for the 32-year-old Englishman. His caddy knows these grounds at Hoylake better than anyone, and Fleetwood is solid in his iron play, trajectory, and among the leaders in Par 4 efficiency. Fleetwood finished runner-up in a playoff at the 2020 Scottish Open in rain-soaked conditions, and his ability to really grind out a round and play in windy or wet conditions giv es him another edge. Add in top-tier strokes gained stats across the board over his last 36 rounds including in Ball Striking and Around the Green, and this 2019 runner-up at The Open and T4 finish last year at St. Andrews will have a whole country on his side.
2. Shane Lowry (+2500)
Shane Lowry has been playing his best golf this year since May. The 36-year-old Irishman has solid strokes gained stats including Tee-to-Green, Off-the-Tee, and Approach gaining at least 6-strokes Total in five of his last six events. That includes T12 last week at the Scottish Open, where his short irons were sharp and he also gained 10 strokes Short Game and Putting combined. Add in solid long iron play and Proximity, and the 2019 British Open champ and top 10 finisher at Hoylake in 2014 is a contender again as a links specialist. A top-10 finish also returns +320.
3. Ryan Fox (+10000)
Ryan Fox can clearly outperform these long odds. The 36-year-old New Zealander captured the 2022 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour in October, and finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy on the 2022 DP World Tour Rankings. Fox was a dark horse pick last week at the Scottish Open and finished T12, and now he's offered at even longer odds. He has eight top-30 finishes on the PGA Tour since March, and top-30 odds this week return +165. Fox also finished top 20 in the 2019 Open and be came the first man to go sub-30 on an inward loop when he shot 29.
Honorable mention: Matt Fitzpatrick (+4500) along with big bomb longshots Victor Perez (+35000) and Matt Wallace (+50000). Know that since 2018, there have been no less than 10 players who finish top-6 in The Open whose odds were greater than 100/1 to win. Top 10 or 20 finish bets can clearly payoff as well.