The 153rd Open Championship takes place at Royal Portrush this week and we have picked out three outright selections for the final Major of the season.
Major season comes to an end this week with the 153rd Open Championship, which will be staged at Royal Portrush for the third time and the first time since Shane Lowry’s success in 2019.
One of the finest courses in Northern Ireland, the Championship course, called The Dunluce Links, requires accuracy on approach and a solid short game, with scrambling often crucial to Open success.
Selections
- Viktor Hovland to win and each-way @ 22/1
- Ryan Fox to win and each-way @ 66/1
- Laurie Canter to win and each-way @ 250/1
Hovland to break Major duck
It has been a whirlwind couple of years for Viktor Hovland, who won the Memorial Tournament, BMW Championship, Tour Championship and FedEx Cup in 2023 before then making the strange decision to split with swing coach Joe Mayo.
The Norwegian ace largely struggled for form in 2024, missing the cut in three of the four Majors, although he did manage to finish third at the PGA Championship, 12 months after ending up in a tie for second in that event.
Another disappointing campaign appeared to be on the cards for Hovland, who had a string of missed cuts at the start of this year, until he sprang into life with victory at the Valspar Championship in March.
The 27-year-old then recorded top-30 efforts at the Masters and PGA Championship before claiming solo third at the US Open, ending up three shots behind champion J.J. Spaun.
Hovland has a habit of turning up on the biggest stage and his Open record makes for solid reading, with his four efforts from 2021 onwards reading T12-T4-T13-MC.
A T11 at last week’s Scottish Open will have served as solid preparation for the Open, and there is every chance Hovland could end up lifting the Claret Jug in Northern Ireland.
Tip 1: Viktor Hovland to win and each-way @ 22/1
Fox to take next step
Ryan Fox has been in fine form on the PGA Tour this season, winning the Myrtle Beach Classic and RBC Canadian Open, and that confidence has been taken into the Majors with a T28 at the PGA and a T19 at the US Open.
The powerful New Zealander has shown a liking for links golf in the past, notably landing the 2022 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and also finishing tied-second on his title defence the following year.
Fox has been solid from tee-to-green this year and his scrambling statistics also make for good reading on the DP World Tour, as he sits sixth in that department and is also ninth in sand saves.
It’s notable that Fox’s best Open finish came at Portrush in 2019 when tied-16th and he returns as a much more polished player.
Tip 2: Ryan Fox to win and each-way @ 66/1
Canter can make presence felt
Another player looking to make their Major breakthrough this week is Englishman Laurie Canter, who is back full-time on the DP World Tour after a stint on the LIV circuit.
Canter landed his second European title at the Bahrain Championship in February and the 35-year-old is 12th in greens in regulation and 13th in scrambling on the DPWT this term.
There were some positive spots during his display at last week’s Scottish Open, which should have tuned him up nicely for this Northern Ireland test.
Although relatively inexperienced in Majors, Canter’s best result in the ‘big four’ events came at the 2023 Open when tied-17th and he could make a big splash at huge odds this week.
Tip 3: Laurie Canter to win and each-way @ 250/1
