Will a longshot raise the Claret Jug for the second straight year?
• 3 min read
Brian Harman entered last year’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool far from the minds of bettors everywhere. Listed at 175-1 when the week began, the American bulldog blitzed the field at Hoylake to capture the Claret Jug. Harman’s ascension to the winner’s circle is not unusual in this championship and hardly unusual at this year’s host golf course, Royal Troon.
While Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson dueled as top-20 players in the world last time The Open Championship was held at Troon in 2016, Todd Hamilton was the definition of an outsider in 2004. Listed at 500-1 by oddsmakers, the 38-year-old rookie defeated then three-time major champion Ernie Els in extra holes to score the biggest victory of his career.
Will 2024 produce another Hamilton? It seems unlikely on the surface given the reign of Scottie Scheffler and the quality of the top players like PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele and U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau. However, if you look closer at those leaderboards, you see plenty of forgotten names who ultimately contended
Collin Morikawa at the Masters, Viktor Hovland at the PGA Championship and Patrick Cantlay at U.S. Open were all listed north of 50-1. It wasn’t Rory McIlroy but rather Matthieu Pavon who stood alongside DeChambeau the final day at Pinehurst No. 2. Longshots have made a habit of contending at majors in 2024, and The Open could be their time to finally breakthrough.
