Scottie Scheffler may not be the favorite he once was, but he’s still as popular as ever with bettors.
The current Masters champion and winner of six golf tournaments this year heads into the sport’s final Major of the season as the +500 favorite to win the Open Championship.
“There’s been relentless support for the World Number 1 Scottie Scheffler at BetMGM, but we’re happy with our position with him at +500 currently,” Lead Golf Trader Matt Wall said in a release by the online sportsbook.
Scheffler begins Thursday’s first round at Royal Troon in Scotland with longer outright odds than golf’s other three big tournaments, but he’s still BetMGM’s biggest liability.
He was +400 at Augusta National, where he captured his second green jacket. That, combined with four wins and a tie for second in five consecutive events, made him a +400 favorite again at the PGA Championship.
Coming off a layoff after the birth of his first child and dealing with an untimely arrest in Lousiville, Ky., before the first round, Scheffler finished just inside the Top 10, but that didn’t douse the fire.
Following his win at the Memorial, sportsbooks had him pegged as a +250 favorite heading into the U.S. Open. However, the daunting spring caught up with him in June, leaving Scheffler tied for 41st at Pinehurst.
Too hot to lay off
Bettors can’t seem to get away from the hottest men’s golfer on the planet, as Scheffler has received 14.3% of the tickets and 23.7% of the handle at BetMGM’s outright market.
ESPN BET told Covers on Wednesday that Scheffler, who the Travelers Championship on June 23, has received 16.6% of the money and 7.9% of bets, the most of any golfer in the field.
DraftKings has seen 14% of the tickets and 16% of the handle land on Scheffler at +500. He’s No. 1 at FanDuel, where Scheffler is getting 11% of the money and is tied with U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau for the highest bet count at 6%.
Top contenders
As popular as Scheffler remains, he’s far from the only big name gaining wagering steam at Royal Troon in the outright market.
Rory McIlroy, who came so close but finished second at the U.S. Open, is +900 at DraftKings and seeing 13% of the handle and 9% of wagers. That’s second behind Scheffler and ahead of Dechambeau and Ludivig Aberg, who have taken 7% of the handle and 6% of the tickets at +2,000 each.
McIlroy is the third biggest liability for BetMGM behind Collin Morikawa, who’s fourth at ESPN BET with 5.5% of the bets and 6.7% of the handle at +1,400.
American or bust
There seems to be an American flavor with bettors at BetMGM.
“Big losers for us include Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau, and Akshay Bhatia,” Wall said. “Needless to say, we are hoping for strong performances by the European players this weekend at the British Open.”
Koepka is the most-bet golfer at BetMGM to miss the cut at +160 odds, and Finau has the second-most wagers to finish inside the Top 20.
Meanwhile, Bhatia burst onto the scene in 2024 with 10 Top-15 finishes and his second PGA Tour win. He’s finished tied for fifth and tied for second in his last two tournaments.
According to BetMGM, a bettor placed a notable wager of $4,000 to win $400,000 on Bhatia to claim the Open title at odds of +10,000.
Don’t tell Tiger when to quit
A pair of former Open champions lead BetMGM’s “to make the cut” market, as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are tied for the most bets at +200 each.
ESPN BET has told Covers that Woods (+20,000) has seen 2.5% of the wagers and 1.5% of the money. One of the game’s greats has played in the previous three Majors this year but only made the cut at the Masters, where Woods finished 60th overall.
Tiger made headlines this week with a response to 61-year-old European golfer Colin Montgomerie’s comments suggesting that Woods should consider stepping away from competitive golf.
“Well, as a past (Open) champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60,” Woods said. “Colin’s not. He’s not a past champion, so he’s not exempt. So he doesn’t get the opportunity to make that decision. I do.”
