The 2024 Open Championship gets underway Thursday morning from Royal Troon Golf Club in South Ayrshire, Scotland.
But before anyone thinks about touching the Claret Jug, they must start strong in round one.
Let’s take a look at the favorites to lead after the first round.
Scottie Scheffler | +1400 |
Rory McIlroy | +1800 |
Xander Schauffele | +2200 |
Ludvig Aberg | +2500 |
Collin Morikawa | +2500 |
Bryson DeChambeau | +2800 |
Tommy Fleetwood | +3300 |
Tyrrell Hatton | +3300 |
Jon Rahm | +3300 |
Viktor Hovland | +3500 |
Robert MacIntyre | +3500 |
As expected, the First Round Leader market looks very similar to the outright market.
Scottie Scheffler (+1400) is the top-ranked golfer in the world and the outright favorite to win The Open, which, should he win, would be his third career major and first not at The Masters.
Scheffler leads the PGA Tour in Round 1 scoring average (67.80) but has not led after the first round in any of his 15 starts this season.
Collin Morikawa (+2500), Xander Schauffele (+2200), and Rory McIlroy (+800) are second, third and fourth in Round 1 scoring on tour this season.
Schauffele recently led after the first round of his PGA Championship triumph earlier this year, while Rory did so at the U.S. Open along with Patrick Cantlay. McIlroy’s last solo 18-hole lead in a major came at the 2022 PGA Championship.
Ludvig Aberg (+2500) is seventh on tour in first round scoring, and recently ended the first round at the U.S. Open in solo third place. The Swede also shot six-under 64 in the opening round at Renaissance at last week’s Scottish Open.
Bryson DeChambeau (+2800) is the only player since the start of 2023 to have the solo lead after 18 holes at more than one major, which he did at the 2023 PGA Championship and 2024 Masters.
The LIV golfer has been red-hot at majors this year, with a T6 at The Masters, solo second at the PGA Championship, and a win at the U.S. Open.
Englishmen Tyrrell Hatton (+3300) and Tommy Fleetwood (+3300) are two more names to keep an eye on when the players tee it up at Royal Troon on Thursday morning.
As shown below, Schauffele is one of two players at last 10 majors to both lead after the first round and win the tournament, joining Jon Rahm’s effort at the 2023 Masters.
Phil Mickelson was the last player to lead after the first round of The Open at Royal Troon, when he shot an 8-under 63 eight years ago.
Tournament | First Round Leader (Score) | Tournament Winner (Score) |
2024 U.S. Open | R. McIlroy, P. Cantlay (-5) | Bryson DeChambeau (-6) |
2024 PGA Championship | Xander Schauffele (-9) | Xander Schauffele (-21) |
2024 Masters | Bryson DeChambeau (-7) | Scottie Scheffler (-11) |
2023 Open Championship | E. Grillo, T. Fleetwood, C. Lamprecht (-5) | Brian Harman (-13) |
2023 U.S. Open | R. Fowler, X. Schauffele (-8) | Wyndham Clark (-10) |
2023 PGA Championship | Bryson DeChambeau (-4) | Brooks Koepka (-9) |
2023 Masters | J. Rahm, B. Koepka, V. Hovland (-7) | Jon Rahm (-12) |
2022 Open Championship | Cameron Young (-8) | Cameron Smith (-20) |
2022 U.S. Open | Adam Hadwin (-4) | Matt Fitzpatrick (-6) |
2022 PGA Championship | Rory McIlroy (-5) | Justin Thomas (-5) |
Odds mentioned in this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.