|
The standout from Northern Ireland will return
to Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England, the site of his only
Open Championship victory (2014). And after McIlroy finished
second to Wyndham Clark at the U.S. Open by a single stroke,
some sportsbooks have pegged McIlroy as the Open favorite --
above Scottie Scheffler and Span's Jon Rahm.
McIlroy is the +750 favorite at BetMGM and DraftKings, while he
is listed at +800 at FanDuel and PointsBet as of Monday
afternoon.
Curiously, it wasn't a clean sweep. Caesars Sportsbook lists
Rahm as the favorite to win at +750 and McIlroy tied for second
with Scheffler at +900.
McIlroy shot an even-par 70 Sunday to finish at 9-under 271,
never quite putting enough pressure on Clark, who also carded a
70 to win. McIlroy's only birdie came at the par-5 first hole at
the Los Angeles Country Club, then made 12 straight pars --
missing 11 birdie putts in that span -- before a bogey on the
par-5 14th.
"That one wedge shot on 14, missed birdie putt on 8, really
apart from that, I did everything else the way I wanted to,"
McIlroy said Sunday night. "... And I'm getting closer. The more
I keep putting myself in these positions, sooner or later it's
going to happen for me. Just got to regroup and get focused for
Hoylake in a few weeks' time."
As for other notables on the board, the unanimous No. 4 choice
among sportsbooks is Brooks Koepka, who won his fifth career
major in May at the PGA Championship. FanDuel and PointsBet
listed Koepka as short as +1200, while BetMGM, DraftKings and
Caesars have him at +1400.
Defending Open champion Cameron Smith of Australia -- now with
LIV Golf, like Koepka -- is fifth at BetMGM (+1600) and
DraftKings (+1800) but behind Norwegian Viktor Hovland at books
like FanDuel and Caesars.
Clark, who captured his first major title at the U.S. Open after
never placing better than T75 in any major start, saw his odds
shorten to as low as +3500 at DraftKings and Caesars, while he's
+5000 at BetMGM as of Monday afternoon.
Heading into the U.S. Open, Clark was listed as +7000 at
DraftKings.
--Field Level Media
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
