Life 2 Sports
Golf

2021 British Open odds: Jon Rahm the favorite at Royal St. George's after capturing first major title

Jun. 22, 2021
2021 British Open odds: Jon Rahm the favorite at Royal St. George's after capturing first major title

Jon Rahm has been the favorite to win the next major championship awarded almost every day for the last three weeks, and will likely remain so for the next month. Rahm became the favorite to win the U.S. Open in early June, was the favorite every day except for Saturday night and is now the favorite to win the Open Championship at Royal St. George's in July.

Rahm does not have a career top 10 in The Open, but he's been a bear in majors over the last seven months. Since the 2020 Masters last November, he has tied or beaten 471 of 488 opponents (96.5%) in his last four major championships. It's not difficult to see why he's the 9-1 favorite to win The Open, especially when you consider quotes like this one from Phil Mickelson to Alan Shipnuck of Golf Digest.

"I actually think there's a lot of guys who win one [major championship] and they feel like they're done," Mickelson told Digest last week after Rahm's win at Torrey. "I feel like [Rahm] has incredible support from his wife and he's got a great caddie and a great team behind him. He has a great game and a lot of heart. I think he's going to elevate even higher than what we saw today."

I wrote about this on Monday, but Rahm already has probably the most complete game in the world over the largest window of time. Though he probably will not remain the favorite at all the upcoming major championships over the next year or two, he certainly could be.

Rahm's closest call -- if you want to call it that -- at an Open came back in 2019 at Royal Portrush when he was in the top 10 after three rounds but nine back to Shane Lowry going into Sunday's finale. He ended up T11 and lost by 12. Still, his game has evolved since then, and as long as he doesn't allow let his temperament affect his decision-making -- like he succeeded in doing at Torrey Pines -- nobody has a better chance to subdue mighty St. George's like the Spaniard.

The other interesting storyline going into The Open is Dustin Johnson, who is currently 12-1 to win it. He scared the lead in 2011 when Darren Clarke won at Royal St. George's before hitting a ball out of bounds on the 14th hole. He went on to finish tied for second with our other most recent major champion, Phil Mickelson.

Here's a look at the odds -- provided via William Hill Sportsbook -- for the 149th Open.

Who will win the Open Championship, and which long shots will stun the golfing world? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard and best bets, all from the model that's nailed seven golf majors, including Jon Rahm's epic U.S. Open victory.


Scroll to Top