When it comes to golf betting, The Open is one of the most keenly anticipated events of the year. Our guide to betting on the Open Championship covers the latest odds and tips, as well as Open Championship betting offers and free bets for 2023.
Check out our recommended Open Championship betting sites below, where you can claim free bets which can be placed on the final golf major of the year.
The Open is the only major golf tournament that takes place on British soil and is often referred to as the British Open outside the UK. This historic tournament has been around since 1860 and is always held on a fiendishly difficult links course, making it unique among the four annual golf majors.
Betting on the Open Championship also has a long history, with UK bookmakers taking bets on the competition for half-a-century at this stage.
Online golf betting has changed the game, however, and golf betting sites now pull out all the stops for bettors when The Open comes around, with special offers like extra each-way places available.
Betting on The Open is now also possible after the tournament has gotten underway and throughout the four days of play, thanks to in-play services from online bookmakers. You can bet on the outright winner, first-round leader, 2-balls, 3-balls, and a host of other markets.
Gambling.com readers can claim any number of Open Championship free bets. Every golf bookmaker recommended on this page has a free bet offer available and claiming your bonus is straightforward.
Simply sign up with a betting site, make a first deposit and place an opening bet in order to trigger the free bet bonus. Free bets for The Open are then credited to your account once the initial qualifying bet has been settled.
To make the most of betting on this major championship, it's wise to take advantage of the Open Championship betting offers that are available once you've signed up. It's not just free bets that are available, as many new betting sites also run the following promotions once the week of The Open arrives:
Predicting the winner of the Open can be difficult, so many punters like to place an each-way golf bet on the outright market.
The best Open Championship betting sites offer extra each-way places, so you can potentially land a profit even if your player finishes further down the overall leaderboard. Bookies like Betfair often offer up to 10 extra each-way places at 1/5 of the outright odds.
If you’re placing Open Championship golf bets, you want to get the biggest odds available. The good news is that many bookmakers offer enhanced betting odds as part of The Open betting offers. Paddy Power is one of the most reliable for enhanced prices.
Bookies often target some of the market leaders to lift the Claret Jug and that means you can get an odds boost, where a golfer's price is increased by a number of units.
There are several Open Championship betting sites that create money-back specials which are worth checking out.
With these types of Open betting offers, you have a safety net, meaning you can potentially get your money back as cash or a free bet under certain conditions. For example, there could be an Open money-back-special if your player misses the cut.
There are lots of ways to approach Open golf betting and we have developed a few key strategies which are worth following. Check out these Open betting tips and bear them in mind when placing your bets.
We would advise golf bettors to put together a shortlist of players to back each-way when it comes to the outright betting market, considering so many bookies offer extra each-way places for The Open.
You might include a handful of the favourites and also go for some of the bigger-priced outsiders.
You can then consider your staking strategy and have a number of viable contenders on the Open Championship leaderboard.
Aside from the Open winner betting market, many punters like to place bets on the various groupings throughout the tournament.
You can wager on the player that will score best in a 3-ball grouping over the first two rounds of the Open Championship, or two-balls after the cut has been made.
Naturally, it’s much easier to back a golfer to outperform just their playing partners rather than the whole field and some customers like to place 3-ball accumulators for a bigger price.
Read More: Gambling.com's guide to 2/3 balls golf betting
It's always worth revising your Open Championship bets after each round of the tournament.
For example, cash out betting sites might have some options which could be worth taking, while the cut line might yield more value opportunities on the outright market.
Some bettors wait until the first two rounds are over before placing their bets on the action.
There are a number of popular betting markets available for The Open. Here are some of the ones that tend to see the most action from punters:
Betting on the Open Championship is simple when you visit one of the best bookmakers or betting apps online. Once you've registered with some basic personal details, navigate to the golf section and browse Open Championship markets, select your stake and confirm your bet.
There are a number of big stars in with a chance of winning the 150th Open Championship. Rory McIlroy is the bookies' favourite due to his hot form of late, while Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Matthew Fitzpatrick are some of the other main contenders.
We've compared the latest Open Championship odds from the best bookmakers - with Rory McIlroy currently trading at around 9/1 to win The Open. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is also in the mix at 14/1, while 15-time major winner Tiger Woods is 50/1 in the betting.
"Cian Kirby is a Production Editor in Gambling.com's content team. Working in the betting industry is familiar territory to him having previously worked for leading betting exchanges Betfair and Matchbook. Cian likes to think outside the box when it comes to gambling and his main sporting interests include GAA, Golf, National Hunt Racing, Soccer, Tennis, and Darts."
Reviewer since January 2021