After three winning selections from four at the US Open last month, how will our guest writers do in the Open?
Sky Bet special: 28/1 all four to win
Sky Bet have quoted 28/1 that the below selections all land for Sporting Life readers, available by clicking on this link, after our writers came within one of a clean sweep at 80/1 in the US Open.
Please note that ties are paid in full, so if Schauffele were to finish tied for 10th with several more players, for example, and the other selections all won it would be settled as a winner at the full price.
Xander Schauffele top-10 finish
Former Sky Sports Golf editor Dave Tindall is a regular contributor to betting.betfair.com and various other publications. He selected Cameron Young for a top-10 finish in the US Open, the American hitting the frame at a nice price.
I don't think XANDER SCHAUFFELE is quite there just yet in terms of winning another major. But I do expect the defending champion to put in a really solid defence of the Claret Jug he won at Royal Troon last year.
The American has a wonderful temperament and a set of all-round skills that translate so well to performing strongly in the majors. His record shows it: Schauffele has 16 top-10s in 33 majors including a first and a second in the Open. He's not finished worse than 17th in his last three starts in the year's final major.
Despite being way below his very best this year, he's still managed eighth at the Masters and 12th in last month's US Open while he honed his links skills nicely with eighth in last week's Scottish Open.
Schauffele ranked first for strokes-gained approach at the Renaissance Club and started to putt much better as the weekend went on. Around 13/5 for a top-10 finish looks very backable.
Ryan Fox top-40 finish
Matt Cooper is a golf journalist and long-time Sporting Life contributor who previews the women's majors for the website and provides tips for multiple tours for betting.betfair.com and others. He selected Xander Schauffele for a top-20 finish in the US Open for a winner last time.
Following last year’s T25th at Royal Troon, RYAN FOX said: “I’ve got a pretty good record in the majors in terms of made cuts.”
He’s added two more top-30s since then at the PGA Championship and the US Open to make it six top-40s in his last 10 major starts. That alone wouldn’t be enough for this punt. Rather it sets up the notion that he’s getting better at playing them and now has the opportunity to add another in a spot that really should suit him.
First up, his best-ever Open performance was here – T19 in 2019. But he also likes the area. He has top-four finishes at nearby Portstewart and Ballyliffin. He even won at Galgorm Castle which is inland from Portrush. He’s also an Alfred Dunhill Links Championship winner and runner-up.
This week’s test is also a Harry Colt design and Fox won the BMW PGA Championship on another of those, Wentworth.
Min Woo Lee to miss the cut
Tom Jacobs is the host of the Lost Fore Words podcast and also provides tips and previews for Oddschecker. He selected Max Greyserman for a top-40 finish in the US Open, following on from a similar winning selection in Zach Johnson at Augusta.
MIN WOO LEE has a lofty reputation, and rightly so as a player who has won on both tours and has performed well in some huge events, including a top-five finish in the US Open.
Right now, he's not playing like he was in 2023 though, having been largely disappointing since his win at the Houston Open earlier in the year, and while he did finish 13th at the Rocket Classic, his form in the biggest events has been dire.
Finishes of 49th at the Masters, 61st at the Heritage, 51st at the Truist, and missed cuts at both the PGA Championship and the US Open are well short of what he'd have hoped for and bar The PLAYERS and that win in Houston on the eve of the Masters, he's been disappointing.
It might be that the Rocket Classic result was enough to get him back on track, but he skipped the Scottish Open last week, so we have no confirmation that his top-15 finish at a course he likes in Detroit was the start of a genuine turnaround in form.
This has also been his worst major. He did finish T21 at St Andrews, where big hitters prosper, but he's otherwise finished T41 at Royal Liverpool and missed his other two cuts. Min Woo has played poorly for much of the year, has been incredibly disappointing in the majors, and can be erratic off the tee. To me, that's a recipe for a short stay at Portrush.
Patrick Reed top-40 finish
Martin Mathews is a golf tipster who provides weekly betting previews for the PGA Tour via his own website, and major previews for Paddy Power.
PATRICK REED arrives in Portrush this week knowing it is 'now or never' with regards his Ryder Cup ambitions.
While the win may well be beyond Reed, it is fair to say that allowing for his recent solid form and his strong effort here in 2019 when he finished 10th a big week is certainly a possibility.
Tenth last week in Valderrama and a winner two starts prior to that in LIV Dallas, confidence should be high. Furthermore the 34-year-old old has already notched a third and a 23rd in two of this year's three majors to date.
If we then throw in the fact that Reed has comfortably finished inside the top 40 in five of his nine Open starts you would have to say that anything odds-against for him to do the same again this week looks very generous.
Posted at 1630 BST on 15/07/25
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