The Open Championship gets off to an extremely early start this Thursday morning, with the first wave of golfers teeing off the final major championship of the year at 1:35 a.m. ET. This is the 154th Open Championship, and Royal Birkdale will be hosting the major for the 11th time after undergoing major renovations since it last hosted in 2017. The full field of 156 players from the PGA TOUR, LIV Golf and the DP World TOUR will face another historic and beautiful course as they try to claim the Claret Jug and the title “Champion Golfer of the Year.” For Round 1, there are many great options across a variety of markets available on DraftKings Sportsbook. Let’s pinpoint a few of my best bets for Round 1 of The Open Championship get the weekend off to a strong start.

Unlike many tournaments, The Open Championship will start every group at hole No. 1 in Round 1. The players will tee off about every 11 minutes starting at 1:35 a.m. ET, with the final trio teeing off at 11:21 a.m. ET. Without two distinct waves, it will be trickier to pinpoint a distinct weather advantage, although the early reports call for less wind early, which could favor the earlier start times rather than the later times when the course is firmer, and winds are up. Especially on a links-style layout like this one where weather is a huge factor, always be ready to read and react to how scores are trending if you are live-betting the event.

In this post, we’ll focus on my three best bets for Round 1 of The Open Championship on Thursday, July 16.

Robert MacIntyre Over 3.5 Birdies or Better (-128)

MacIntyre has gotten some momentum after a quiet stretch in the spring. He has excellent experience and results on links-style layouts and should be able to get at least four par-breakers in Round 1. He tees off early at 2:19 a.m. ET and will play alongside Rickie Fowler and Alex Fitzpatrick. Without as much wind, he should have the ability to get close and give himself chances for birdies.

In past links events, the 29-year-old lefty from Oban, Scotland, won the Scottish Open in 2024 after finishing runner-up in 2023, and he finished T3 last week. He drained 19 birdies or better across his four rounds last week, starting with five birdies or better in Round 1, five in Round 2, five in Round 3, and four in Round 4. Obviously, this is a different course, but it’s a great sign that he’s hunting birdies.

Last year at The Open, he had at least three birdies in every round and had six or more in Round 2 and Round 4. He has put together a great track record at The Open with three top-10 finishes and six made cuts in six career appearances. The links specialist has the potential to go very low and contend again this week, but whether he does or not, he has a great chance to get over this prop.

Justin Thomas (+142) over Alex Noren and Jason Day – 3 Ball – Round 1

At 4:47 a.m. ET, a veteran trio of Justin Thomas, Alex Noren and Jason Day get underway at Royal Birkdale, and of the three players, Thomas has the best form and enough major championship pedigree to play at these great plus-money odds.

Before a disappointing T50 at the Genesis Scottish Open, Thomas had seven straight top-25 finishes, including a T4 at the PGA Championship and a T17 at the U.S. Open. Over the last six months, he ranks third in the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and 30th in Total Strokes Gained. His approach game has been a little shaky, but he has been scrambling well and hitting the ball pretty accurately off the tee. He has made the cut in six of his nine Open Championship appearances, but has not ever finished in the top 10.

Jason Day has a much better track record at The Open Championship, finishing T2 in 2023 as one of his two top-10 and five top-25 finishes. He has made the cut in 10 of his 13 appearances at The Open, which could make him a threat to JT. However, he has been struggling badly lately. He finished T2 at The American Express behind Scottie Scheffler in La Quinta to start the year, but he has finished outside the top 60 in four straight events and has lost at least 0.5 strokes per round on approach in each of his last five tournaments. When he’s at his best, Day is a great option, but he hasn’t looked sharp and has again dealt with some injury issues, which gives Thomas the edge in Round 1.

The other option in his group is the 44-year-old Alex Noren, who has 12 DP World Tour wins and has proven he can pop for a big week on the PGA TOUR and even at major championships. He has made the cut in eight of his 12 trips to The Open, with seven top-25 finishes but only two top-10 finishes. Noren finished in the top 25 in each of his last two trips to The Open, but he has also been struggling with his form lately. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open and the Genesis Scottish Open and finished T55 at the no-cut Travelers Championship. He did spike for a T9 at the Memorial and a T7 at the Cadillac Championship, but his form is too inconsistent to trust in this matchup, making Thomas the preffered plus-money play as one of the best bets for Round 1.

Wyndham Clark (+190) over Cameron Young and Ludvig Aberg – 3 Ball – Round 1

At 10:04 a.m. ET, this exciting trio of big names tees off as one of the latest groups to get started. They’re right in front of Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, and Matt Fitzpatrick in another very popular group. In this trio, Clark is actually the longest shot of the three players, bringing extremely good value as he takes on Cameron Young and Ludvig Aberg.

Clark comes in with tons of momentum and a great links track record, while Young and Aberg have tailed off after hot starts early in the year. Before we focus on Clark, let’s look at his opponents. Young has the potential to contend any week, but after winning THE PLAYERS and the Cadillac Championship, he finished outside the top 25 at the PGA Championship, the Memorial, the U.S. Open and the Travelers. He missed the cut at last year’s Open Championship but did have a runner-up finish in 2022 and a T8 in 2023. He has the potential to win this group and even this tournament if at his best, but he hasn’t been at his best lately.

The same is true of Aberg, who finished T55 at the Travelers, and then missed the cut last week at the Scottish Open. While he has a strong (but short) track record in majors, he missed the cut in 2024 at The Open before finishing T23 last year at Royal Portrush. Like with Young, his putter has been ice-cold lately, and each players will need to flip his flat stick if he wants to keep up with Clark in Round 1.

Clark has been a boom-or-bust option with a high ceiling over the past few years, but he has locked in and gone on an impressive run lately. He won THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson towards the end of May and then claimed his second career major with a win at the U.S. Open. Since his win at TPC Craig Ranch, he has posted six straight top-15 finishes, including a T13 last week at the Genesis Scottish Open.

While his two career major victories have been at the U.S. Open, he has also played well at The Open Championship, with three made cuts in four tournaments, highlighted by a T4 last year at Royal Portrush. He seems to be very comfortable with links-style golf.

Over the last three months, he ranks third in the field in Total Strokes Gained and fourth in Strokes Gained: Putting. Last week, he finished second in the field in Scrambling and 17th in Strokes Gained: Approach, which will be key metrics for success this week as well. Based on how locked in he has been, he brings amazing value at almost 2:1 to end up the lowest score of this big-name trio on Thursday morning.