It’s time for the fourth and final Major of the season, as the PGA Tour tees it up for the 2024 The Open Championship at the venerable Royal Troon Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland on the Firth of Clyde. We’ll take a look at a handful of plays at PrizePicks for Round 1 on Thursday, focusing on the Pars or Better and Total Strokes categories for individuals, as well as the Birdies or Better Matchup area. Let’s make some money together. Here are our top PrizePicks predictions for the 2024 British Open.
It’s time for the fourth and final Major of the season, as the PGA Tour tees it up for the 2024 The Open Championship at the venerable Royal Troon Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland on the Firth of Clyde. We’ll take a look at a handful of plays at PrizePicks for Round 1 on Thursday, focusing on the Pars or Better and Total Strokes categories for individuals, as well as the Birdies or Better Matchup area. Let’s make some money together. Here are our top PrizePicks predictions for the 2024 British Open.
The LIV Golf defector Koepka head-to-head against Schauffele should be a slam-dunk play.
In majors this season, Koepka has made the cut in each of his three Majors appearances, averaging a 70.0 Scoring Average in Round 1. He generally has played well recently in Round 1, but Schauffele ranks No. 5 on the PGA Tour in Round Putts Per Round at just 27.60, making 414 putts in 15 total rounds. In addition, he ranks No. 3 on the PGA Tour with a 68.06 Scoring Average in Round 1.
Schauffele just does everything right, and he checks off a lot of boxes for success at Royal Troon GC. He ranks No. 2 on Tour in Strokes Gained: Total, No. 12 in SG: Off-the-Tee, No. 5 in SG: Approach to Green, while ranking No. 10 in SG: Putting. He also has a solid 33.11% Birdie or Better Conversion Percentage rate, posting 246 birds on 743 greens hit.
Look for Schauffele to outpace Koepka in Round 1 in this head-to-head birdies matchup while ranking No. 19 on Tour in Total Birdies. He does most of his damage on the Par 5s, too, posting a 55.56% in Par 5 Birdies or Better on 216 total holes.
Theegala is a dark horse pick, not only for this particular first-round prop, but I like him to make the cut, and threaten on Sunday to take the Claret Jug home with him. That’s how confident I am that Theegala can do special things this weekend.
First things first. Theegala needs to get through Round 1. He acclimated to the conditions with a solid T4 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club last week. He fired a 4-under 66 to open the tournament last Thursday, as he was apparently not bothered by the coolish temperatures and windy conditions.
Look for Theegala to be at or below par in Round 1 at Royal Troon on Thursday. He does so many things well, and he pulls into Ayrshire with a lot of confidence.
Finau enters Royal Troon GC with rounds of 71 or lower in five consecutive events, and eight of his past nine, including all three majors. He had a solid 68 at Pinehurst No. 2 last month at the U.S. Open to begin play in Round 1, and that set the tone for a solid weekend of golf which resulted in a T3 finish.
The 34-year-old does so many things right, and his game is tailor-made for Royal Troon. He ranks No. 8 on Tour in Strokes Gained: Total, while checking in No. 3 in Approach to Green, while ranking a respectable No. 15 in SG: Around the Green. The one area which could make things unravel is his work with the putter, as he is well below the field average, posting a -0.197 in SG: Putting while ranking a dreadful No. 152 in Putts Per Round – Round 1 – at 29.81.
Despite it all, he is No. 1 in Par 5 Birdie or Better average at 58.33%, and he has a solid 69.12 Round 1 Scoring Average, which is No. 12 on the PGA Tour despite the putting woes.
