2023 British Open Round 2 Picks and Predictions: Buying Low on LIV

Round 1 of the 2023 British Open is now in the books, and the course played extraordinarily difficult as the bunkers, out-of-bounds stakes and swirling winds made this links track an absolute beast. There is currently a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard, with Christo Lamprecht, Tommy Fleetwood, and Emiliano Grillo holding a one-stroke lead over the rest of the field at 5-under.

We should expect another tough round on Friday. Be sure to check out all our British Open props on Covers and follow me on Twitter for more British Open picks and predictions throughout the week.

2023 Open Championship Round 2 picks

• DeChambeau Top-20 finish (+650)
• Gooch Top-20 finish (+650)

Picks made on 7/20/2023 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

Best 2023 Open Championship Round 2 picks

DeChambeau Top-20 finish

Currently, Bryson DeChambeau is T89 at 3-over par after shooting a 74 on Thursday. However, his performance was not as poor as this ranking indicates, with his score being heavily weighted by his double bogey on the fifth-hole Par 5.

I believe now will be the best opportunity to buy low on DeChambeau this week, as I expect a stronger performance on Friday. It was really his approach game that hampered him on Thursday, while the driver and wedges were solid.

So, can that iron play bounce back? This is not the DeChambeau-of-old; the guy who just relied on powerful drives before defecting to LIV Golf.

Of course, it appeared that way in the first round of this week, but we need to zoom out and look at DeChambeau’s entire body of work over the past two years. He has completely re-tooled his game since joining the rival tour and has become a much stronger all-around player.

These changes in his game have, predictably, paid dividends. Prior to this week, DeChambeau has finished inside the Top 10 in three of his past four LIV tournaments.

Obviously, the field this week is much more difficult, but he has also contended in three of his past four major championship appearances. DeChambeau posted a T4 finish at the PGA Championship, T20 finish at the U.S. Open and a T8 finish at last year’s British Open.

Even if DeChambeau performs just two strokes better on Friday, that means he could enter the weekend around the 40-50 range on the leaderboard, which would certainly give this 13/2 prop some legs.

Best odds: Bryson DeChambeau Top-20 finish (+650 at DraftKings – 0.5 units)

Gooch Top-20 finish

Talor Gooch is tied right alongside DeChambeau in the 89th spot on the leaderboard at 3-over par. We’re also going to back this LIV defector to put together a stronger performance on Friday.

Gooch’s scrambling and putting are the main reason for his current placement on the leaderboard, and are two of the most volatile metrics in golf. The rest of his game was as good as expected, hitting the majority of fairways and avoiding disastrous mistakes with his irons.

If he just gets a few of those putts to drop, he would be in a much stronger spot, which makes me think he can bounce back in the second round and see the weekend.

Gooch has been the “king of LIV” this season, boasting a tour-leading three wins. He’s also more than capable of competing against this stronger field, making four of his past six cuts at major championships with two Top 20 finishes over that stretch.

This will be the last time to take a shot on Gooch this tournament, at least at 13/2, and I think those odds make this a wager worth taking.

Best odds: Talor Gooch Top-20 finish (+650 at DraftKings – 0.5 units)

Live 2023 Open Championship odds

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