Double Dubai Duty Free Irish Open winner Jon Rahm has been cut to odds of 16/1 to capture the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
Rahm was at 18/1 with Paddy Power ahead of Sunday’s two-shot success at Lahinch.
The Spaniard’s revised odds to lift the Claret Jug now has the 24-year old just behind the 15-time Major winning Tiger Woods and World No. 2 Dustin Johnson, and with the American duo at 12/1.
Rahm will be teeing-up in a fourth Open and a 14th Major in his now eight-time pro winner career but whether he becomes the first Spanish-born winner of golf’s oldest major since the late Seve Ballesteros captured a third Open in 1988 hinges on whether he’s the same player ‘mental-wise’ that turned-up to win at Portstewart in 2017 and last week at Lahinch.
Spaniard Jon Rahm 16/1 to win a first Major next week at Royal Portrush (Photo – European Tour/Getty)
“It’s not that I am doing anything necessarily better or special,” said Rahm.
“Compared to my first two years as a pro, I’m just a little more level-headed, a little bit more mature, slowly growing up and all that helps.
“Yeah, just mature, maturing. I am still 24, so there’s a lot of growing up to do up to this point and a lot of growing up to do from now on.
“That’s the main difference in my golf game in this year and years past.”
With just nine days to tee-off in the 148th Open, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka are joint 8/1 favourites with Paddy Power for the year’s final major.
McIlroy famously set the Portrush ‘Dunluce Course’ record with a 61 at age 16 while the ‘revised’ layout, that includes a new par-5 7th and par- 8th hole is currently 67 though that’s set to be lowered starting on July 18th.
Koepka heads to The Open having either first or second in each of the first three majors this year.
Here’s a look at some of the other Royal Portrush players the spotlight may shine including three other Irish currently in The Open field:-
18/1 – Justin Rose
20/1 – Francesco Molinari, Jordan Spieth
22/1 – Tommy Fleetwood, Ricky Fowler, Xander Schaufelle
28/1 – Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay
33/1 – Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen, Paul Casey
