British Open Long Shots & Sleeper Picks 2025: Best Dark Horse Predictions for Royal Portrush

Esten McLaren makes three picks to win the 2025 British Open with odds of +5000 or better to claim major victory in Northern Ireland.
British Open Long Shots & Sleeper Picks: Outright Dart Throws and Plus-Money Prop Bets
Pictured: Justin Rose watches his shot as one of our top British Open long-shot picks. Photo by Malcolm Mackenzie/PA Images/Alamy Images/Sipa USA.

This week's Open Championship brings the best golfers in the world back to links golf, and what's expected to be downright miserable weather in Northern Ireland for much of the week should open the door for one of our British Open long-shot picks to claim the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush.

Will we see someone follow in J.J. Spaun's footsteps as the +17500 winner of the U.S. Open? We're targeting three golfers with British Open odds longer than +5000 to complement our Open Championship picks.

🎯 British Open long-shot picks

Here are my favorite sleeper picks to win the 2025 British Open at Royal Portrush this week, along with their best odds from our best golf betting sites.

🎯 Russell Henley (+6500 via DraftKings)
🎯 Justin Rose (+7500 via DraftKings)
🎯 Marco Penge (+18000 via DraftKings)

πŸ‘‰ Don't miss the rest of our golf picks for more predictions on the 2025 British Open.

πŸ’€ Sleeper picks to win the 2025 British Open

Here are the three sleeper picks I'm backing to win the 2025 U.S. Open.

🎯 Russell Henley

British Open Long Shots & Sleeper Picks: Outright Dart Throws and Plus-Money Prop Bets
Pictured - Russell Henley walks on the green as we look at our British Open long-shot picks. Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images/Alamy Images/Sipa USA.

πŸ“Š Best odds to win: +6500 via DraftKings ($10 pays $650)
πŸ”’ Implied win probability: 1.52%
πŸ’° Alternate bet: Top-10 finish (+600 via bet365)

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Henley enters this week a career-best fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and has four top-10 finishes in eight events since, including a T-10 in the U.S. Open.

The 36-year-old American had a career-best fifth-place finish in last year's Open Championship. His elite play and short game make him an excellent fit for links golf and the poor weather conditions we expect this week in Northern Ireland. I love the 6-1 odds for a top-10 finish as a safer alternative to the +6500 outright long-shot bet.

🎯 Justin Rose

British Open Long Shots & Sleeper Picks: Outright Dart Throws and Plus-Money Prop Bets
Pictured - Justin Rose plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Photo by Bill Streicher / Imagn Images.

πŸ“Š Best odds to win: +7500 via DraftKings ($10 pays $750)
πŸ”’ Implied win probability: 1.32%
πŸ’° Alternate bet: Top English player (+900 via DraftKings)


At 44 years old, Rose has as many runner-up finishes as missed cuts in his last four majors at two apiece. That includes a T-2 in last year's Open Championship.

The elder statesman among our three British Open long-shot picks finished sixth in the Scottish Open last week with 1.50 strokes gained: approach and 2.33 SG: tee-to-green per round. He was also strong on the greens, and putting has been his consistent strength this season.

The Englishman tied for 20th at Royal Portush the last time The Open was in Northern Ireland

🎯 Marco Penge

British Open Long Shots & Sleeper Picks: Outright Dart Throws and Plus-Money Prop Bets
Pictured - Marco Penge points in the direction of his shot and is one of our British Open long-shot picks. Photo by Malcolm Mackenzie/PA Images/Alamy Images/Sipa USA.

πŸ“Š Best odds to win: +18000 via DraftKings ($10 pays $1,800)
πŸ”’ Implied win probability: 0.55%
πŸ’° Alternate bet: Top 20 finish (+450 via DraftKings)


A T-2 finish in last week's Scottish Open shone a spotlight on Penge, but he should've been much more in the public view before that.

The Englishman enters this week at No. 92 in the OWGR amid a stretch of five straight made cuts, mostly on the DP World Tour, but including a T-28 in the PGA Championship. He won the Hainan Classic in China earlier this year and will make his first appearance in The Open since 2023.

I prefer the top-20 bet over the outright pick, but we could have a cash-out opportunity if he's in contention heading into the weekend, thanks to the inflated odds.

πŸ“Š British Open outright odds 2025

Here are the live Open Championship odds from our best golf betting sites, which will update in real time up to and throughout the 2025 tournament at Royal Portrush.

β›³ British Open info

  • When: Thursday, July 17 - Sunday, July 20
  • Where: Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland (last hosted in 2019)
  • How to watch: NBC, Peacock
  • Defending champion: Xander Schauffele (Royal Troon), Shane Lowry (Royal Portrush)
  • Favorite: Scottie Scheffler (+500 via BetMGM)

πŸ“œ British Open betting history

Here are the recent winners of the British Open and their early futures odds to win:

Year Name Odds Course
2024 Xander Schauffele +2500 Royal Troon
2023 Brian Harman +12500 Royal Liverpool
2022 Cameron Smith +5000 St Andrews
2021 Collin Morikawa +4000 Royal St George's
2020 Canceled NA
2019 Shane Lowry +6000 Royal Portrush
2018 Francesco Molinari +6000 Carnoustie
2017 Jordan Spieth +1200 Royal Birkdale
2016 Henrik Stenson +3000 Royal Troon
2015 Zach Johnson +8000 St Andrews

β›³ Golf betting odds pages

🏌️Best golf betting sites for the 2025 British Open

Want to bet on the British Open? Here are the best golf betting sites as determined by our expert team at Sportsbook Review, along with the best sportsbook promos:

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