Top Golf Betting News This Month | Hovland Earns Dramatic Travelers Win, Scheffler Still Leads Open Championship Odds | July, 2026
A thrilling Travelers Championship ending saw Viktor Hovland beat Scottie Scheffler in a 1-hole playoff early Monday morning after a rainy Sunday delayed proceedings. It was Scheffler’s fourth runner-up finish of the year. Hovland’s victory also broke a concerning stretch of starts that included just one victory since 2023, coming at the Valspar last year.
Hovland will look to carry his newfound momentum into a busy three-week run culminating in the last major of the year, the Open Championship. From a betting perspective, a review of odds movement confirms a lack of surprises on tour this season, outside of Aaron Rai’s PGA Championship victory. Jon Rahm is the biggest slider, falling to (+1800) after hitting a peak of (+1400) before the U.S. Open.
Interestingly, Matt Fitzpatrick jumped to (+2000) from (+2500) despite missing the cut at the U.S. Open. That kind of reverse line movement suggests books are adjusting for Fitzpatrick’s preference for links courses, as The Open Championship will take place at links-style Royal Birkdale in Merseyside. Read this article to access more insights, golf betting trends and golf stats and analysis to inform your golf betting picks, and learn more at our dedicated golf betting page for 2026.
https://x.com/TheOpen/status/2063682401780515291?s=20
The biggest golf betting storylines this month
The most obvious storyline is the inevitability of Scottie Scheffler. Last year’s Open champion is yet again the biggest favorite of this year’s edition at (+500). The perennial tournament favorite has defended his elite status over and over again in 2026 with six top-5 finishes in his last eight starts. Here are the results of Scheffler’s most recent starts:
Scheffler's Recent Starts
Travelers Championship
U.S. Open
The Memorial Tournament
The CJ Cup Byron Nelson
PGA Championship
Miami Championship
There are some concerns regarding his ability to shut the door on his opposition as Scheffler is now winless since January, but one should be wary of discounting a player for being in the running every Sunday afternoon.
Another development bettors should keep an eye on is the preparation of Rory McIlroy. McIlroy is purposefully withdrawing from many PGA Tour events, much to the chagrin of the sport’s most ardent rule-following fans, to focus on the year’s majors. As a lifetime Tour cardholder, McIlroy has the unique privilege of participating in as few events as he’d like. As Rory looks to limit his playing time in an effort to manage fatigue, age, and injury, bettors now have much less data on the Northern Irishman to work with. Like the Masters, Rory has traditionally shined at The Open Championship. McIlroy has earned three top-10 finishes in his last four starts in Britain’s major.
The Scottish Open will also be an important event that could influence odds for The Open. Often referred to as a warm-up event for the year’s final major, the Scottish Open offers the last chance to qualify for The Open. In recent years links courses have been chosen to host the tournament to give players more experience with the unique course style ahead of The Open Championship.
Biggest futures, outright odds moves this month
Wyndham Clark’s U.S. Open victory certainly turned some heads, but the line movement is a bit more tempered. The conditions were awful this year in the U.S. Open lending to a ton of scoring variance. Seeing names like Keith Mitchell, Sam Burns and Clark at the top wasn’t all that surprising once you factor in the volatile nature of the windy weekend. That means that Clark isn’t getting bet like he’s prime Tiger Woods. Indeed, his odds have moved from opening 50/1 to just 40/1, establishing Clark as a fringe contender for back-to-back major wins. However, there is an argument that Shinnecock Hills resembled a links course and demanded many of the same skills required to win at Royal Birkdale later this month. If Clark can carry his confidence into July, his price will look like a bargain possibly before Saturday.
Tommy Fleetwood represents another Tour player enjoying some positive line movement ahead of The Open Championship. The Englishman often receives attention this time of year at a “hometown” course, and bettors should not be too dissuaded from backing him this year. Fleetwood earned respectable finishes at the Travelers and the U.S. Open most recently. Moving from (+2000) to as low as (+1400), Fleetwood is one of the top favorites to hoist the trophy on July 19. Fleetwood made his first Open cut at Royal Birkdale back when the club last hosted the event back in 2017, and has earned three top-10 finishes since.
Player movement and injuries impacting golf betting odds
While golf player movement has been limited during the summer swing, big changes are on the horizon for golf in the coming years. Beginning in 2028, the PGA will reinvent its entire structure with a new two-tier format combining the Korn Ferry Tour with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. Match play will be introduced in a revolutionized playoff format while top players on tour will be invited to a series of elevated international events played in the fall. Approximately 144 players will comprise the Challenger Series, the less distinguished of the two proposed tiers, in a race for promotion to the Champion Series. While many of the same events and locations will remain on the schedule, the possibility of new events in currently neglected major northern U.S. cities like Chicago, Boston and New York adds excitement to the announcement.
There are still many details to be determined, and not all players appear to be on board with the changes. The biggest concern regards the ineligibility to participate in Challenger Series events as a Champion Series participant. That eliminates popular players like Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth from attending fan-favorite events like the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
What could add some excitement is the last-chance series to take place in the fall, offering players in danger of falling to the Challenger Series with a four-to-six event run to gain the points needed to stay in the premier tier. In other golf betting news, LIV Golf appears to be on its last legs with funding proving difficult to secure. That could bring an influx of talent back to the PGA Tour within the calendar year.
Futures market check
I could harp on the dominance of Scottie Scheffler in my golf betting analysis ad nauseum, but I think you already get the idea. Scheffler leads The Open Championship odds and any other future event he is expected to participate in, for that matter. Rory McIlroy is (+800) to win The Open Championship before the rest of the pack joins contention at odds of (+1800) or longer. That includes the aforementioned Fleetwood, Rahm and Fitzpatrick along with Xander Schauffele (+2200) and Collin Morikawa (+2500).
Morikawa is an interesting case for The Open after putting in a 9-under round on Sunday at the Travelers to narrowly miss the playoff. After dealing with a nagging back injury for most of the spring and early summer, Morikawa battled back with some strong finishes in June. He now enjoys some well-earned market confidence and will hope to add another Open Championship trophy to his cabinet after winning the major back in 2021. Viktor Hovland (+3000) saw little movement despite winning the Travelers in the final weekend of June, exhibiting the confidence sportsbooks already had in the Norwegian. Hovland has notoriously struggled in major events, potentially opening up a gap between public sentiment and market confidence.
Bryson DeChamebeau is still in the sportsbooks’ doghouse as he deals with one of his worst seasons in recent memory. Usually a perennial major favorite, DeChambeau’s struggles in 2026 have been well-documented. His opening odds of (+1800) to win The Open are drifting as high as (+5000) now.
Golf betting trends we’re watching this month
The biggest value angle to consider at The Open Championship is a course fit. Unlike the Masters and other single-location events, The Open is hosted by various clubs across Great Britain. While they typically fit the description of a links course, they have their own idiosyncrasies that lend to some edges in betting markets if sportsbooks are not wary. That is why bettors should not be surprised to see names like Justin Rose, Tyrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre and Chris Gotterup at the top of odds boards. But how do we separate the frauds from the true contenders?
One flag is nationality. Colloquially known as the British Open, this major often solicits plenty of betting action on English, Scottish, Irish and Northern Irish players as the public naturally believes they will flourish with a hometown edge. But not all Scots play well on links courses and not all Brits fare well at Royal Birkdale. MacIntyre, for example, does fit the description as a lefty on a links course with a home course advantage, but his recent form has been poor. And take Justin Rose; the Brit has excelled at Birkdale in the past but is rarely this big of a favorite, making his price feel more story-driven than anything. Discover more golf betting analysis on the upcoming tournament with our page on British Open betting in 2026.
What could move odds before next month’s update
The John Deere Classic is the next PGA Tour event on schedule, but as a non-signature event it will likely not move the odds much. Look to the Scottish Open results for some real line movement just days out from the start of The Open Championship. Most of the big names competing in the major will be getting their feet wet overseas there and preparing for the links setup.
Any big weekends from smaller names could catapult their major odds like we saw with Aaron Rai after his PGA Championship win. This type of movement is usually precautionary, as public volume flocks to any recent winners, but could be justified based on strong recent form and renewed player confidence. Any success from Scheffler or McIlroy, however, will actually likely not change things much. Sportsbooks are much more confident in their strength indexes of the top golfers they see week in and week out. Explore top 2026 betting sites to learn more.
Previous golf betting news updates
[Masters week]: McIlroy defended Augusta, but Scheffler stayed the PGA favorite.
[April 16]: Young shortened from +3000 to +2200 for the PGA Championship.
[May 2026]: DeChambeau fell from opening (+900) to (+2500) to win the U.S. Open after two bad major starts.
[June 2026]: Jake Knapp injury woes continue, odds plummet after Memorial WD
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