Rory McIlroy Consensus Open Favorite in Native Northern Ireland, Star Shot 61 at Royal Portrush at Age 16

Rory McIlroy is the consensus betting favorite for this week s Open Championship being played in his native home country of Northern Ireland at Royal Portrush Golf Club.

Rory McIlroy is back at one his favorite courses in the world. (Image: Peter Morrison/AP)

The Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas says McIlroy has attracted the most money and printed the most ticket slips. As a result, the casino has his odds short at just 8/1. A $100 bet nets $800 on Rory becoming Champion Golfer of the Year for a second time in his career.

DraftKings and MGM sportsbooks also have McIlroy at 8/1, while FanDuel has him slightly longer at 17/2 (+850). The SuperBook has Brooks Koepka next at 10/1, followed by Dustin Johnson (12/1), Jon Rahm (14/1), and Tiger Woods rounding out the top five at 18/1.

Heavy Favorite

There s plenty of reason for the enthusiasm surrounding the four-time major winner s chances this week. this year including The Players Championship and Canadian Open, and a staggering 11 finishes inside the top 10 in just 14 events played.

The 30-year-old finished T8 at the PGA, and T9 at the US Open. Oh, and one other thing: McIlroy has home-course advantage this week, as he holds the course record at Royal Portrush – a 61 he shot in the 2005 North of Ireland Amateur at the young age of 16.

Whenever I think about Royal Portrush and about links golf and my development, I always think about that round of golf, McIlroy told TheOpen.com. There are not many golf rounds where I remember every shot, but for that round I do.

The R A will setup the course much harder than the one McIlroy played 14 years ago. The over/under on the low round of the week is at 64 (both -110). As for the winning score, the over on 272.5 is at even money, and under -120. That number comes to 68.125 strokes a round for the Claret Jug winner.

Other Contenders

The confidence I had, and the cockiness I had at 16, sometimes I think I have to rediscover that a little bit, McIlroy added. Bettors feel confident he s the man to beat this week.

He s favored in numerous one-on-one matchups including versus DJ (-170), Justin Rose (-190), Koepka (-155), Rahm (-180), and Woods (-200).

With a ton of liability on McIlroy, there are some more attractive lines on other strong favorites, as oddsmakers look to reduce their potential exposure should McIlroy indeed win.

Francesco Molinari – the defending Open champ – has missed just one cut in 12 PGA Tour starts this year. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, finished third at the WGC-Dell Match Play, and . The Italian is at 25/1 to defend his Claret Jug.

McIlroy has the lowest score in relation to par at The Open since 2014 at -32. But despite his well-publicized struggles, Jordan Spieth is next at -30. However, because Spieth hasn t won since the 2017 Open, he s at a distant 40/1.

40/1 is also where Louis Oosthuizen is at, and with the SuperBook revealing that the South African and winner of the 2010 Open has generated the fourth most money, a victory by him would also presumably be a blow to the casino.