​Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.The fourth and final major championship of the 2026 season takes the golf world to England’s Royal Birkdale for the 2026 British Open from July 16-19.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJordan Spieth hoisted the Claret Jug the last time The Open Championship came to Royal Birkdale in 2017, but it’s defending champion Scottie Scheffler who leads the way in this year’s British Open odds over Rory McIlroy.The Open Championship seemed like it would be the toughest nut to crack of the four majors for Scottie Scheffler. That was before he dominated the field at Portrush last year to win by four.While wins haven’t come as often in 2026 as they have in recent years, the form is still strong enough to run away from the field as he did a year ago.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRory McIlroy’s major championship season got off to a great start after winning his second straight Masters and finishing T7 at the PGA Championship before fading away at the U.S. Open.Still, he finished T7 at Royal Portrush last year and finished T4 when The Open last came to Royal Birkdale in 2017.Royal Birkdale is a 7,156-yard Par 70 located in Southport, England, that was designed by Frederick G. Hawtree and J.H. Taylor. It features flatter fairways than most links-style courses, but hilly rough areas make missed fairways incredibly penal. The wind will also provide some fight, as is usually the case at this tournament.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGolferOpening oddsScottie Scheffler+400Rory McIlroy+900Jon Rahm+1400Bryson DeChambeau+1800Ludvig Åberg+2000 Tommy Fleetwood+2000Xander Schauffele+2000 Robert MacIntyre+3000 Tyrrell Hatton+3000 Collin Morikawa+3500 Viktor Hovland+3500Opening odds courtesy of SportsOddsHistory.Let’s take a look at some recent British Open winners and their closing odds to win:YearGolferOdds2025Scottie Scheffler+6002024Xander Schauffele+14002023Brian Harman+125002022Cameron Smith+25002021Collin Morikawa+30002020No event: COVID-19 related.N/A2019Shane Lowry+80002018Francesco Molinari+25002017Jordan Spieth+12002016Henrik Stenson+25002015Zach Johnson+8000Odds courtesy of SportsOddsHistory.YearCourseLocation2027Old Course at St. AndrewsSt Andrews, Scotland2028Royal Lntham & St AnnesLancashire, EnglandThe Open Championship is one of the biggest and best golf events of the year, so naturally, many will be placing their first golf trades on the tournament. If that happens to be you, we have you covered with our beginner’s guide to how to bet on golf.The most popular way to trade on golf is by simply picking the winner, which is referred to as an outright. There are plenty of other ways to wager, however, including top finishers, head-to-head matchups, and plenty of props.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementScottie Scheffler has the best odds to win the 2026 Open Championship with a 16% win probability. Remember, odds are subject to change, so th