Can John Rahm rebound from one of the biggest bad beats in golf history with back-to-back majors and a 2021 Open Championship title?
The oddsmakers sure think so. And despite the Spaniard’s short odds to win this week’s major, plenty of Virginia sports betting enthusiasts are eager to pay the price.
Rahm is ranked No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He enters this year’s Open Championship (aka the “British Open” on this side of the pond) fresh off his first major championship.
Last month he won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in California. And two weeks prior, he had taken a commanding six-stroke lead into the final day of the Memorial Tournament. However, a positive coronavirus test forced him to withdraw. It was incredibly bad luck. Just horrible timing. And it played out on live TV.
Which, of course, made his US Open win all the sweeter just a few weeks later.
About the Open Championship
As of Wednesday, Rahm was available at +800 odds at BetMGM VA, FanDuel VA, and DraftKings VA to win the 149th Open Championship.
Here are some facts about golf’s oldest tournament, which draws the best players from the PGA Tour, European Tour, and Japan Golf Tour:
- Dates: July 15-18, 2021 (Thursday-Sunday)
- Course: Royal St. George’s Golf Club
- Location: Kent, England
- Broadcast/streaming: Comcast (NBC, Golf Channel, Peacock)
- Par: 70
- Length: 7,189 yards
- Field: 156 players
- Prize pool: $11.5 million
- Winner’s share: $2.1 million
- Defending champ: Shane Lowry (2019)
Organizers scrapped the 2020 Open due to COVID-19. It was the first time the annual golf spectacular didn’t go off as planned since World War II.
After a one-year layoff, golf enthusiasts are eager to see one of the sport’s most prestigious events.
And the players? Hoisting the Claret Jug after winning the Open would be a career-defining moment. But on a course with deep pot bunkers, uneven lies, gusting winds, and erratic bounces, players are going to face plenty of adversity.
Insurance for the Open Championship
Sportsbooks in Virginia often debut special promotions around major sports events. The Open is no different.
This week, BetMGM is offering customers “Top 5 Golfer Insurance.”
Basically, you get some consolation if your golfer comes up a bit short.
Simply place a pre-tournament wager on any golfer to win the 2021 Open (minimum +110 odds). That could be Rahm or any other golfers, including fellow favorites Brooks Koepka (+1600), Xander Schauffele (+1600), and Jordan Spieth (+1800).
If your golfer fails to win but does finish in the top 5, you get your bet back (up to $25) in bonus bets.
Jon Rahm is on a roll
In 18 PGA Tour events this season, Jon Rahm has posted 11 top 10s, a runner-up finish at the Zozo Championship in Japan, and his big U.S. Open win. He also finished seventh at the Masters and ninth at the Player Championship.
Additionally, the 26-year-old finished seventh at the 2021 Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club just last week.
That course should have Rahm well-prepared for Royal St. George’s this week. And after that remarkable run, Rahm is a popular betting option this week.
In addition to his odds to win (+800), here are other odds for Rahm at the Open. They’ll give you a good idea of the types of prop bets that are available for nearly all of the Open golfers this week:
- First round leader: +1600 (FanDuel)
- To make cut: -1000 (DraftKings)
- To miss cut: +570 (FanDuel)
- Top 5: +188 (DraftKings)
- Top 10: -110 (FanDuel)
- Top 20: -220 (FanDuel)
- Top 40: -500 (BetMGM)
- Top finisher from Spain: -225 (DraftKings)
- Bogey-free round in tournament: +600 (BetMGM)
- Matchups:
- Rahm (-150) vs. Xander Schauffele (+115) (DraftKings)
- Rahm (-192) vs. Rory McIlroy (+148) (FanDuel)
- Rahm (-192) vs. Brooks Koepka (+148) (FanDuel)
You can also find some special Odds Boosts and other betting specials for Rahm this week.
Here are some of them:
- Rahm, Koepka, or Spieth to win Open Championship: +400 (FanFuel)
- Rahm, Koepka, Schauffele, Spieth all to make the cut: -115 (BetMGM)
- Koepka, Justin Thomas, or Schauffele to win Open: +580 (Unibet VA)
- Rahm and Koepka both finish in top 5, including ties: +1100 (BetMGM)
- Rahm and McIlroy both finish in top 5: +1500 (William Hill)
