The 2026 Open Championship continues Saturday with a fascinating leaderboard entering the weekend at Royal Birkdale. Pre-tournament longshot Lucas Herbert holds a two-stroke lead at 8 under, but some of the biggest names in golf are chasing him. Cameron Young is one of three golfers at 6 under, with big names like Sam Burns (-5), Jon Rahm (-4), Robert MacIntyre (-4), Tommy Fleetwood (-4) and Scottie Scheffler (-4) in pursuit as well. Bryson DeChambeau finished Round 2 at 7 under initially, but was later assessed a two-stroke penalty for a rule infraction on the 5th hole, putting him at 5 under.
Scheffler, the defending champion, is the favorite heading into the weekend in the 2026 Open Championship odds at +550 at FanDuel Sportsbook, followed by Young at +700. Herbert is third on the odds board at +950, with DeChambeau at +1200. Before locking in any 2026 Open Championship picks, be sure to see the 2026 British Open predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
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SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulated every PGA Tour event 10,000 times and reveals golf betting picks that have a history of being extremely profitable.
This same model has also nailed a whopping 17 majors entering the weekend, including the 2026 Masters -- its fifth Masters in a row -- as well as last year's PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites.
Now that the 2026 Open Championship field is set, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
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2026 Open Championship weekend predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the Open Championship 2026: Herbert, who is the leader by two strokes and one of the favorites entering the weekend at +950, barely cracks the top 10. He's a golfer to fade in Open Championship weekend bets. Herbert surged to the top of the leaderboard after his second-round 62 on Friday. He simply doesn't have enough track record at the majors for the model to confidently endorse him, however. He's never finished higher than T13 in any major, while T15 (2022) is his best performance at The Open. See who else to fade here.
Another Open Championship prediction from the model: Rahm makes a strong run over the weekend despite entering Saturday four shots off the lead. He's a strong value at +1500. He's been a boom-or-bust player at the majors this year, missing the cut at the U.S. Open, but finishing T2 at the PGA Championship. He's been steady at Royal Birkdale thus far with a 67 on Thursday and a 69 on Friday, and the model is high on him as one of the top choices among the golfers with double-digit odds to win entering Round 3. See who else to pick here.
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How to make 2026 Open Championship weekend picks
The model is also high on several other longshots, including one golfer going off around 30-1 who makes a surprising run. You can only see the model's picks here.
Who will win the 2026 Open Championship, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2026 Open Championship odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 17 golf majors, including three in 2025.
2026 Open Championship weekend odds, field
Get full 2026 Open Championship picks, best bets and predictions for the weekend here. (odds via FanDuel and subject to change)
Scottie Scheffler +550 Cameron Young +700 Lucas Herbert +950 Bryson DeChambeau +1200 Tommy Fleetwood +1300 Ryan Gerard +1500 Jon Rahm +1500 Sam Burns +1500 Si Woo Kim +1600 Robert MacIntyre +2200 Jackson Suber +2500 Alex Fitzpatrick +3000 Rory McIlroy +3000 Tyrrell Hatton +3500 Ludvig Åberg +3500 Shane Lowry +4000 Matt Wallace +4000 Bud Cauley +4500 Chris Gotterup +5000 Collin Morikawa +5000 JJ Spaun +5500 Thomas Detry +5500 Francesco Molinari +8000 Patrick Reed +8000 Victor Perez +8000 Pierceson Coody +10000 Sepp Straka +12500 Corey Conners +12500 Adam Scott +12500 Patrick Cantlay +12500 Daniel Brown +12500 Justin Thomas +15000 Xander Schauffele +15000 Hideki Matsuyama +15000 Sungjae Im +17500 Jordan Smith +17500 Ben Griffin +17500 Johnny Keefer +17500 Michael Thorbjornsen +17500 Nico Echavarria +22500 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +22500 Jacob Bridgeman +35000 Nick Taylor +35000 Rickie Fowler +50000 John Parry +50000 Cameron John +50000 Russell Henley +50000 Kurt Kitayama +50000 Kristoffer Reitan +50000 Matthew Southgate +75000 Min Woo Lee +75000 Sahith Theegala +75000 Hennie du Plessis +75000 Jesper Svensson +75000 Eugenio Chacarra +75000 Shaun Norris +75000 Ryan Fox +75000 Keegan Bradley +75000 Alex Noren +75000 Peter Uihlein +100000 Alex Smalley +100000 Marco Penge +100000 Brooks Koepka +100000 Naoyuki Kataoka +100000 MJ Daffue +100000 Marcus Plunkett +100000 Max Homa +100000 Laurie Canter +100000 Kazuki Higa +100000 Casey Jarvis +100000 Michael Brennan +100000 Kazuma Kobori +100000 Andy Sullivan +100000 Ryo Hisatsune +100000 Eric Cole +100000 Jose Luis Ballester +100000 Aldrich Potgieter +100000
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