Draws and Fades: Sleeper stars on discount after Round 1 of 2026 British Open Championship

SOUTHPORT, England – What a crispy first round from Royal Birkdale Golf Club. Fans and this reporter alike find themselves sunburnt as if they spent the day on a tropical vacation rather than the northwest coast of England. Instead, the course and leaderboard were the hot commodities on Thursday as established stars and budding contenders kicked off The 154th Open Championship in true vintage style.

Jackson Suber stood alone atop the classic yellow leaderboard when play concluded, going 3-under on Royal Birkdale’s two par 5s to post a 5-under 65 and grab a one-shot lead over Dan Brown and Sungjae Im at 4-under.

Brown and Im teed off together in one of the early morning groups, appearing to capitalize on calmer conditions before the coastal British winds arrived. The gusts strengthened through the early afternoon before easing again late in the day, allowing some of the afternoon wave to salvage respectable rounds.

With only 24 players under par after the opening round, there are plenty of world-class players now available at a discount just a few shots off the pace.

Let’s take a look at the betting odds after Round 1 of The Open (via DraftKings):

• Scottie Scheffler (+450)
• Cameron Young (+1050)
• Bryson DeChambeau (+1275)
• Robert MacIntyre (+1500)
• Collin Morikawa (+1500)
• Jackson Suber (+1800)
• Jon Rahm (+1900)
• Tommy Fleetwood (+1900)
• Si Woo Kim (+2700)
• Rory McIlroy (+3300)
• Sungjae Im (+3400)
• Tyrrell Hatton (+3700)
• Chris Gotterup (+3900)

Scottie Scheffler has drifted back to nearly the same number he carried into last week’s Genesis Scottish Open before ultimately missing the cut, so the discount code has officially expired on the World No. 1. There’s a reason, though, that we stretched this list down to one particular name.

Draws

Chris Gotterup (+3900, Top 10 +260)

Fresh off his victory at the John Deere Classic, his third win of the season, I don’t see a brighter flashing green light on the board than Gotterup at this number.

The young bomber from New Jersey opened with an even-par 70 and sits just five shots behind the lead. Despite failing to break par, Gotterup striped it all day, gaining 3.79 strokes tee-to-green, sixth-best in the field. He was so dialed in that he even hit the flagstick on his opening hole, only to watch the ball ricochet off the green.

The problem was the flatstick, where he lost 2.37 strokes.

I’m not overly concerned. Gotterup ranks 27th on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting this season and has already shown he can thrive in links golf. After winning the Scottish Open last year, he backed it up with a contending performance at The Open. He knows how to play these conditions, and his game has matured considerably over the past year.

I’m buying.

Robert MacIntyre (+1500, Top 10 +125)

The man they call Bobby Mac just feels dangerous.

After nearly stealing last year’s U.S. Open and stacking another year of marquee finishes on his resume, MacIntyre has established himself as one of the toughest outs in professional golf.

His name on the claret jug just feels right.

When conditions get difficult, MacIntyre seems to elevate his game, and Royal Birkdale is shaping up to reward exactly that type of player. He opened with a 67 to put himself firmly in the hunt and now gets to chase the game’s oldest championship in conditions that should feel right at home.

Fade

Sungjae Im (+3400)

Oh, Sungjae. Few players are more tantalizing when they’re flushing it the way he was Thursday morning.

The problem is what comes next.

Im has repeatedly shown he struggles to string together four complete rounds before a baffling 76, or something close to it, sneaks into the equation. He ranks squarely in the middle of the pack in scoring average during Rounds 1-3 this season, but plummets to 150th on TOUR in final-round scoring average at 72.09.

Even Thursday’s ball-striking deserves a closer look. While he hit it beautifully, Im ranks just 150th in Strokes Gained: Approach this season and has relied heavily on his short game to survive.

With Royal Birkdale already burnt out and expected to become even firmer and more demanding as the week progresses, I don’t see Im taping and gluing his way around these green complexes for another three days on his way to lifting the claret jug.