​Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.The final major championship of the year begins Thursday, July 16, with Round 1 of the British Open at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMy early British Open predictions are headlined by 2014 Open Champion Rory McIlroy, as the Northern Irishman looks to win his second major championship of the year.Best early bet: Rory McIlroy to win (+850) – With a T4 finish here in 2017 and a respectable T7 finish last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, McIlroy is perfectly positioned to take down his seventh major championshipBest early value: Sam Burns to win (+4000) – This is a long number considering Burns is fifth in this field in true strokes gained tee-to-green and second on approach across his past five eventsCourse: Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a legendary 7,223-yard, Par 70 links layout with flat fairways framed by massive, towering sand dunes, and a punishing layer of thick native roughWeather: The early forecast suggests classic, testing coastal elements with sustained wind gusts blowing between 10-20 mph across all four daysExpected cut: This 156-player field will be trimmed to the Top 70 players and ties following Friday’s second round of playThe Open Championship runs at Royal Birkdale Golf Club from Thursday, July 16, through Sunday, July 19. Check out our full British Open odds for more.GolferScottie Scheffler+750Rory McIlroy+900Matt Fitzpatrick+1600Tommy Fleetwood+1600Jon Rahm+2200Chris Gotterup+2800Collin Morikawa+2800Ludvig Aberg+2800Xander Schauffele+2800Viktor Hovland+2800Odds from BetMGM, one of our best golf betting sites. Check out the full Open Championship field.Outright: Rory McIlroy (+850): The 2014 Open Champion has seven additional Top 10s in this event, including his T4 at Royal Birkdale in 2017.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOutright: Viktor Hovland (+2800): With a pedigree of stringing together wins, Hovland’s recent ball-striking spike and recent results should have your attention.A celebrated stop in The Open rotation, Royal Birkdale Golf Club returns to the spotlight to host golf’s oldest major for the 11th time in its history. Playing as a testing 7,223-yard Par 70, this iconic property makes the developing “bomb-and-gouge” approach challenging. Instead, Birkdale relies on flat, fair fairways that run through valleys framed by towering sand dunes.Unlike other penal links designs, the fairway bounces are rarely blind, but the true defense lives just off the short grass. Players who stray from the fairway find deep, penal fescue rough or are trapped behind severe dune formations. The property also features over 109 bunkers, and Birkdale underwent an extensive Tom Mackenzie and Martin Ebert redesign in phases ahead of this championship.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe green complexes themselves are tamer and more modest in size compared to modern major layouts. The