The fight to hoist the Claret Jug at the conclusion of the Open Championship begins on Thursday.
With many of the world’s best players on hand at Royal Troon in Scotland for the final major tournament of the year, any player in the field has an opportunity to be victorious on Sunday.
Who will that player be to win the Open Championship and hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday?
Here is a look at who some of the golf experts are picking.
PGA Tour selects favorites to win The Open, plus Tony Finau
Will Gray: Tony Finau
Will Gray is going with Tony Finau. Finau, 34, has yet to win a major and Gray points out that most Open Champions are older than the other three majors. Add in the game Finau has on top of finishing no worse than 18th in an event since May and that has Gray lined up.
Ben Everill: 2021 Open Championship winner Collin Morikawa
Ben Everill is going with a past Open Championship winner in Collin Morikawa. Everill notes Morikiawa’s T3 at the Masters, T4 at the PGA Championship and T14 at the U.S. Open. He also mentions how Morikawa has 10 straight top-25 PGA Tour finishes this season. Morikawa is looking for his third major victory this week.
Chris Breece: Collin Morikawa
Chris Breece is also going with Morikawa. Since the Masters, Breece recalls five different times Morikawa has contended (that should have brought at least one win). With the history Morikawa has finishing tournaments off on top of the resume he has, Breece knows he cannot shy away from that.
Matt Delvecchio: Collin Morikawa
Rounding the list of PGA Tour expert picks is Matt Delvecchio, who also chose Morikawa. Despite having a 1 in 158 chance in picking a winner, Delvecchio chooses a player that will be in contention. This comes especially after being a past Open Champion in 2021.
Rob Bolton: Scottie Scheffler
The next six picks from the PGA Tour are through their season-long fantasy picks where they list five starters and two bench spots, in addition to their winning pick. Rob Bolton is going with Scottie Scheffler to win. Bolton based his pick more on the strategy of PGA Tour Fantasy of getting four players to the weekend in contention.
Sean Martin: 2014 Open Championship winner Rory McIlroy
Sean Martin is going with Rory McIlroy, also noting the game strategy. Martin is going with McIlroy knowing that he does not want to use him until the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Mike Glasscott: Rory McIlroy
Mike Glasscott is also going with Rory McIlroy. Last week at the Scottish Open was a way to get loose in preparation for this week. Going all four rounds in the 60s en route to a T4 finish at the Renaissance Club is a good sign in the final major of 2024.
Christian Skaret: Collin Morikawa
Christian Skaret is going with Morikawa, based on the experience. Four top-5 finishes in his last six starts combined with no rounds in the 70s since the U.S. Open caught Skaret’s eyes. Add in the close calls this entire season, Skaret believes Morikawa can get Claret Jug No. 2.
Cameron Morfit: Open Championship first-timer Ludvig Aberg
Cameron Morfit is going with Ludvig Aberg to win the Open Championship. Although Aberg is rookie, Morfit noted his first Masters in April. That was when Aberg was the runner-up and only Scottie Scheffler was the only thing from putting on the green jacket. To sum it up, Morfit is not scared to go with a rookie this week.
Brett Jungles: Rory McIlroy
Brett Jungles has only two words and probably only needed two words to pick Rory McIlroy. “Revenge szn.” Revenge season is the reasoning behind the pick to choose McIlroy to win the Open Championship. It would be McIlroy’s fifth major and second Claret Jug.
Related: Open Championship TV Schedule & Tee Times: When does McIlroy and aberg tee off the first two days
Golf.com makes their picks to win the Open, choosing the favorites
Ryan Barath: Rory McIlroy
Ryan Barath is going with experience with his pick in Rory McIlroy. Rory was in good spirits when talking to the media on Tuesday after a reset following his U.S. Open loss. That motivation that McIlroy has now, is what Barath is going with this week.
James Colgan: Scottie Scheffler
James Colgan is choosing Scottie Scheffler to hoist his first Claret Jug. He is primarily going off the odds, noting that it is Scheffler’s best odds to go with to win. Colgan noted that a win at Royal Troon would get him halfway to the career grand slam and his third major title.
Nick Dimengo: Ludvig Aberg
Nick Dimengo is going with an Open Championship rookie in Ludvig Aberg. Dimengo said Aberg is the “future face of the sport” and is ready to prove that. He also noted that Aberg track record in majors this year is favorable with a runner-up and a T12. Dimengo said those strong finishes will help him not be overwhelmed as the tournament progresses.
Connor Federico: 2023 Open Championship winner Brian Harman
Connor Federico is going with the reigning champion in Brian Harman. Harman is trying to become the first player since Padraig Harrington in 2008-09 to go back-to-back. He knows that he will not win by six strokes like he did last year. However, he also knows that no win picked Harman to win last year.
Jonathan Wall: Viktor Hovland
Jonathan Wall is going with Hovland because of his success at Open Championships. Hovland has finished no worse than 13th and his form has been good. It is a matter of being in contention. Wall notes that three of the last seven major winners have been first timers. So, Wall thinks Hovland makes it four of eight this week at Royal Troon.
Jack Hirsh: Scottie Scheffler
On the opposite side of Federico, Jack Hirsh is going with the betting favorite in Scheffler. As much as Hirsh wants to choose McIlroy, he cannot, knowing the success Scheffler has had this year. Scheffler is currently at six PGA Tour wins and getting to the record of nine wins is within reach. Nine wins would match Tiger Woods in 2000 and Vijay Singh in 2004.
Zephyr Melton: Collin Morikawa
Simmilar to Dimengo, Zephyr Melton made his pick based on 2024 major success. Collin Morikawa has a T3, a T4 and a T14 in each major this year. Although he has yet to be in the winner’s circle, Melton believes this is the time for the two-time major champion to make it three.
Nick Piastowski: Brooks Koepka
Nick Piastowski is going Brooks Koepka because of where he is at on the odds board. According to Vegas Insider, Koepka is going as +4000 on some betting sites, including BetMGM. Piastowski is going with that value because of the peak that Koepka can reach is being atop the leaderboard. In addition to Koepka, Piastowski also likes Morikawa.
Josh Sens: Rory McIlroy
Josh Sens is going with a player who has not won a major in a decade in Rory McIlrroy. In that span McIlroy has competing in 38 majors with numerous contentions. Sens believes the 39th time gets him over the hump for major win No. 5.
Dylan Dethier: Xander Schauffele
Dylan Dethier is going with Xander Schauffele to hoist his first Claret Jug. Dethier said that he edges out Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy to claim his second major championship in just two starts after his first.
Also read: How players like Xander Schauffele earned an exemption into the Open Championship field
The Athletic makes their Open Championship picks, going with the three different LIV Golf Players
Dennis Esser: Tyrrell Hatton
When Royal Troon last hosted the Open in 2016, Tyrrell Hatton finished tied for fifth. Daniel Esser believes that experiences favors him this week. However, Hatton will have to be able to control his emotions if he wants to hoist the Claret Jug.
Brody Miller: Jon Rahm
Brody Miller does not feel as confident when choosing Rahm because he has not picked the Spaniard to win once. However, Miller realizes that Rahm is still a top 10 player in the world and is hoping for a comeback. This will be coming after he withdrew from the U.S. Open due to a foot infection.
Hugh Kellenberger: Bryson DeChambeau
In a decision between Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy, Hugh Kellenberger is going with DeChambeau to win back-to-back majors. Kellenberger is going with DeChambeau based on his Masters performance, in addition to the U.S. Open victory.
Related: Open Championship FAQ: Everything You Need to Know about the final major of 2024
CBS Sports makes their Open Championship picks, picking a favorite and a underrated sleeper
Kyle Porter: Ludvig Aberg
Kyle Porter, a Senior Golf writer for CBS Sports, is going with Ludvig Aberg because of his consistent play. Aberg has finished inside the top 15 in seven of his last nine starts, dating back to The Players Championship. Although Aberg struggled during the final round of the Scottish Open last week, Porter is not shying away from the Swede.
Patrick McDonald: Tony Finau
Patrick McDonald is going with Tony Finau to hoist his first major trophy. Finau has finished inside the top five in each of his last two starts. McDonald also notes his track record at the Open. Before Finau missed the cut last year, he had finished no worse than 28th in six previous starts. That includes a third-place finish in 2019 and a T9 in 2018. McDonald concludes that Finau game relates to Royal Troon with his length off the tee, his iron game and his improved short game.
Also read: Open Championship Past Winners: The list of Champions to hoist the Claret Jug dating back to 1860
Golf Digest makes their Open Championship picks, chosing all European players, plus Morikawa
Here is a look at Open Championship picks from the Golf Digest crew to hoist the Claret Jug. (The Anonymous Caddie is on site at Royal Troon.)
| Golf Digest’s Expert Panel | Winning Pick |
| The Anonymous Caddie | Tommy Fleetwood |
| Pat Mayo | Tony Finau |
| Brandon Gdula | Ludvig Aberg |
| Keith Stewart | Rory McIlroy |
| Christopher Powers | Tyrrell Hatton |
| Stephen Hennessey | Collin Morikawa |
| Andy Lack | Tommy Fleetwood |
Related: 10 best Open Championship performances of all-time
My Open Championship pick: Tommy Fleetwood
With the way golf has been going recently, most major winners have been first timers. That speaks to how competitive it is and it is not one player dominating major tournaments left and right. As a result, I am going to pick Tommy Fleetwood to win this week.
He has not missed a cut at a major since the 2022 U.S. Open and has three top-5 finishes since. That includes a T3 at the Masters earlier this year. At the Open, Fleetwood has a T4 in 2022 and finished T10 last year. To top it off, it would be a great storyline because he has not won on the PGA Tour in six seasons.
Also read: Where Tommy Fleetwood stands in the latest world golf rankings heading into the Open Championship