After a controversial few months for the PGA Tour, it's time for a major celebration of the sport at the 2022 Open Championship. The milestone 150th British Open on the sport's hallowed ground of the Old Course at St. Andrews will put the LIV Golf squabble on the backburner and return the focus to the world's elite golfers. Rory McIlroy, a strong ambassador for the PGA Tour and critic of colleagues who bolted for the controversial league, is the 2022 Open Championship favorite for the historic final major of the year. Rory McIlroy is the 9-1 favorite in Caesars Sportsbook's latest 2022 Open Championship odds.
Xander Schauffele, who has won his past two outings, including last week's loaded Scottish Open, is the second choice at 14-1. Scottie Scheffler (16-1), Jon Rahm (16-1) and Jordan Spieth (16-1) aren't far behind, followed by Justin Thomas (18-1) and Matt Fitzpatrick (18-1). Tiger Woods is a 60-1 long shot in his return to action in the 2022 Open Championship field. Before you make any 2022 British Open picks, you need to see the PGA predictions and best bets from SportsLine golf insider Patrick McDonald.
After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour.
He takes a measured approach to his outright selections and is up more than 64 units on those plays in 2022, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship.
Now, McDonald has studied the 2022 British Open field and is locking in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. You can head to SportsLine now to see all of his 2022 British Open picks and predictions.
Top 2022 Open Championship expert picks
One player McDonald is fading this week is Cameron Smith, who is among the favorites at 22-1 but seems to be sliding backward. The Australian is among the favorites at 22-1 and has won twice this season, but the golf expert is fading him because his strengths have faded. The 28-year-old relies on stellar putting and a precise short game, but his recent play in those areas has been mostly average. Smith needs those elements to be elite because he can get himself in a lot of trouble off the tee. He ranks 140th in strokes gained off the tee, and while the fairways are wide, the bunkers and rough are highly punitive.
Meanwhile, McDonald believes Dustin Johnson (30-1) could be one of the 2022 Open Championship sleepers to target this week, as he is trending upward and comes in with a chip on his shoulder. The 28-year-old is just 18 months removed from winning the 2020 Masters, and his vilification for joining LIV Golf seems to have sparked him out of a funk that had lingered since then. Johnson has played well in two of the three majors, finishing 12th at the Masters and 24th in the U.S. Open. He has finished in the top 15 in six of his 12 Open Championships, including eighth-place last year. His power and talent in cutting through the wind will help him a lot at St. Andrews. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2022 Open Championship golf picks
As the year's final major approaches, McDonald has been locking in his best bets for the 2022 Open Championship. They include prop picks, head-to-head matchups and a forgotten player who is a must-back. You can only find out who it is and get the rest of McDonald's British Open picks at SportsLine.
So what 2022 British Open picks should you target? Where does all the betting value lie for Open Championship 2022? And which overlooked player is a must-back? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald's top prop picks for the 2022 Open Championship, all from the expert who's up more than 64 units on outright plays in 2022, and find out.
2022 Open Championship odds, field, top contenders
See full Open Championship 2022 picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Rory McIlroy 9-1
Xander Schauffele 14-1
Jon Rahm 14-1
Scottie Scheffler 16-1
Jordan Spieth 16-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 18-1
Justin Thomas 18-1
Shane Lowry 22-1
Collin Morikawa 25-1
Will Zalatoris 25-1
Cameron Smith 25-1
Patrick Cantlay 25-1
Dustin Johnson 35-1
Tyrrell Hatton 35-1
Brooks Koepka 35-1
Tommy Fleetwood 35-1
Louis Oosthuizen 40-1
Viktor Hovland 40-1
Hideki Matsuyama 40-1
Sam Burns 40-1
Joaquin Niemann 45-1
Max Homa 50-1
Justin Rose 50-1
Tony Finau 50-1
Tiger Woods 60-1
Bryson DeChambeau 65-1
Ryan Fox 65-1
Sungjae Im 65-1
Corey Conners 80-1
Cameron Young 80-1
Seamus Power 80-1
Robert MacIntyre 80-1
Gary Woodland 80-1
Adam Scott 80-1
Marc Leishman 80-1
Billy Horschel 90-1
Patrick Reed 90-1
Abraham Ancer 90-1
Sergio Garcia 100-1
J.T. Poston 100-1
Paul Casey 100-1
Mito Pereira 100-1
Thomas Pieters 100-1
Lucas Herbert 100-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 100-1
Webb Simpson 100-1
Cameron Tringale 100-1
Keegan Bradley 100-1
Harold Varner 100-1
Victor Perez 100-1
Adrian Meronk 125-1
Keith Mitchell 125-1
Aaron Wise 125-1
Haotong Li 125-1
Danny Willett 125-1
Jordan Smith 125-1
Padraig Harrington 125-1
Talor Gooch 125-1
Kurt Kitayama 125-1
Jason Kokrak 150-1
Sebastian Munoz 150-1
Russell Henley 150-1
Joohyung Kim 150-1
Si-Woo Kim 150-1
Brian Harman 150-1
Kevin Na 150-1
Sahith Theegala 150-1
Francesco Molinari 150-1
Kevin Kisner 150-1
Min Woo Lee 150-1
Lee Westwood 150-1
Thomas Detry 175-1
Bernd Wiesberger 175-1
Harris English 175-1
Erik van Rooyen 175-1
Sam Horsfield 175-1
Dean Burmester 175-1
Nicolai Hojgaard 200-1
Chris Kirk 200-1
Justin Harding 200-1
Phil Mickelson 200-1
Mackenzie Hughes 200-1
Pablo Larrazabal 200-1
Luke List 200-1
Stewart Cink 200-1
Tom Hoge 200-1
Ian Poulter 200-1
Dylan Frittelli 200-1
Emiliano Grillo 200-1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 200-1
Henrik Stenson 200-1
Adri Arnaus 200-1
Richard Bland 250-1
Garrick Higgo 250-1
Guido Migliozzi 250-1
Wyndham Clark 250-1
Laurie Canter 250-1
Alexander Bjork 250-1
Takumi Kanaya 250-1
Matthew Jordan 250-1
Jason Scrivener 250-1
Zach Johnson 250-1
Richard Mansell 250-1
Brandon Wu 300-1
Fabrizio Zanotti 300-1
Thriston Lawrence 300-1
Trey Mullinax 300-1
Sepp Straka 300-1
Jamie Donaldson 300-1
John Catlin 300-1
Marcus Armitage 300-1
Shaun Norris 300-1
Kazuki Higa 400-1
Scott Vincent 400-1
Chan Kim 500-1
Ashley Chesters 500-1
Keita Nakajima 500-1
Yuto Katsuragawa 500-1
Dimitrios Papadatos 500-1
David Law 500-1
Sadom Kaewkanjana 500-1
Ben Campbell 500-1
Sihwan Kim 500-1
Lars Van Meijel 500-1
Shugo Imahira 500-1
Zander Lombard 500-1
Ernie Els 500-1
Brad Kennedy 500-1
Marco Penge 750-1
Mingyu Cho 750-1
Robert Dinwiddie 750-1
Anthony Quayle 750-1
Matthew Griffin 750-1
Minkyu Kim 750-1
Matt Ford 750-1
Aaron Jarvis 1000-1
John Parry 1000-1
Oliver Farr 1000-1
David Carey 1000-1
Paul Lawrie 1000-1
Aldrich Potgieter 1000-1
Jediah Morgan 1000-1
Barclay Brown 1000-1
Ronan Mullarney 1000-1
Jack Floydd 1000-1
Mark Calcavecchia 1000-1
Darren Clarke 1000-1
Filippo Celli 1000-1
David Duval 1000-1
Jorge Fernandez-Valdes 1000-1
John Daly 1000-1
Stephen Dodd 1000-1
Alex Wrigley 1000-1
Sam Bairstow 1000-1
Justin De Los Santos 1000-1
Jamie Rutherford 1000-1
