CBS Sports backs Scottie Scheffler over Rory McIlroy at Royal Birkdale, with Fleetwood, Fitzpatrick and dangerous sleepers hunting the Claret Jug all week long.
The Open Championship has a habit of humiliating reputations, but CBS Sports isn’t running from the obvious choice at Royal Birkdale.
Its prediction board still begins with Scottie Scheffler, even after the world’s top player stumbled to a missed cut at the Scottish Open.
Scheffler enters at 7-1, according to BetMGM, and CBS Sports is treating the poor tuneup as turbulence rather than a warning siren.
The argument is simple: His ball-striking résumé remains unmatched, his short game can rescue ugly rounds and extra preparation time at Birkdale may be more valuable than another weekend of competitive golf.
Rory McIlroy sits directly behind him at 17/2. Nobody in the field can attack Royal Birkdale with McIlroy’s combination of speed and imagination, but his recent tendency to produce one damaging nine-hole stretch remains a red flag.
If he avoids the blowup that has sabotaged several post-Masters starts, he could chase a second major victory of the season.
The most fascinating name may be Tommy Fleetwood. CBS Sports ranks the Englishman third at 15-1, placing him ahead of several proven major champions.
Fleetwood’s complete game has never been the issue. Closing has. A home crowd could either drag him across the finish line or tighten the pressure around every putt.
Matt Fitzpatrick shares those 15-1 odds and arrives with perhaps the strongest statistical profile of the challengers.
He leads the PGA Tour in victories, strokes gained on approach and strokes gained around the green. That’s a nasty combination for links golf, where precision and creativity often matter more than raw power.
Jon Rahm remains impossible to dismiss at 20-1, while former Open champion Collin Morikawa offers serious value at 30-1.
Morikawa’s accuracy and elite iron play make him especially dangerous if the wind turns Birkdale into a positioning contest.
Viktor Hovland, also 30-1, has repaired enough of his short game to complement one of golf’s best mid-iron attacks. Chris Gotterup, a three-time PGA Tour winner this season, is CBS Sports’ rising wrecking ball at 33-1 after finishing third in his Open debut last year.
Then there’s Justin Rose at 35-1, chasing the kind of ending Hollywood would reject as too sentimental.
The English veteran continues to appear on major leaderboards long after many assumed his best chances were gone.
CBS Sports’ list is loaded, but its message is clear: Scheffler remains the man to beat. Royal Birkdale, however, has never cared much for comfortable predictions.
