2024 Open Championship picks, predictions, field, odds: Golf expert fading Tommy Fleetwood at Royal Troon

Reigning Open Championship winner Brian Harman will attempt to become the first player in 16 years to win the Claret Jug in back-to-back years when he tees off in the 2024 Open Championship beginning Thursday at Royal Troon in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Last year, Harman dominated the best players in the world at Royal Liverpool, winning by six strokes. This year he can become the first player since Padraig Harrington in 2007-08 to win two straight Open Championships. Harman is a +6000 longshot to win. Meanwhile World No. 1 and reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is the +450 favorite in the Open Championship odds.

Rory McIlroy is the +750 second choice in the odds among the 158 Open Championship players. PGA champion Xander Schauffele (+1100), Swedish sensation Ludvig Aberg (+1400), former Open Championship winner Collin Morikawa (+1400) and U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau (+1400) round out the top on the odds board. Before locking in any 2024 Open Championship picks, make sure you see the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf betting and fantasy expert Sia Nejad .

Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He's had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in betting head-to-head matchups. He also has been solid with his head-to-head matchups since last year's Charles Schwab Challenge, going 51-36-5 and returning 11.93 units over that span. That's a $1,193 profit for $100 bettors since May 2023.

Nejad also nailed Wyndham Clark, a +7500 longshot, as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship last year. In 2023, SportsLine debuted "The Early Wedge," and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners.

Now, Nejad has turned his attention to the 2024 Open Championship field and locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. See whom they are at SportsLine .

Top 2024 Open Championship expert picks

One surprise: Nejad is fading Tommy Fleetwood. The 33-year-old Fleetwood enters the week No. 25 in the FedEx Cup standings. He has struggled this season with his approach play, ranking 104th on Tour in strokes gained: approach the green (+0.003).

And Nejad does not like that Fleetwood has never been able to seal the deal on the PGA Tour. Fleetwood, who played his first Tour event in 2013, is 0-for-141. "There's no chance I'm putting money on Tommy Fleetwood at +2200," Nejad told SportsLine.

Another curveball: Nejad is high on Collin Morikawa, who is listed as high at +1600. No. 4 in the FedEx Cup standings, Morikawa has one runner-up, seven top-10 and 13 top-25 finishes this year. He is coming off an excellent tie for fourth at the Scottish Open.

Nejad likes that Morikawa is proven at links-style golf. Three years ago he won the Open Championship at Royal St. George's. "I think the strategy required by this course fits his style quite well," Nejad told SportsLine. See which other players to back at SportsLine .

How to make 2024 Open Championship picks

Nejad has locked in his best bets for the 2024 Open Championship and is backing multiple longshots, including one priced at more than +5000. This player "certainly seems to be in good form" and is a longshot who could surprise. You can see Nejad's PGA Tour picks only at SportsLine .

So which players should you target or avoid for the 2024 Open Championship, and which player in the Open Championship 2024 field could bring a huge payday of more than +5000? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad's top picks for the 2024 Open Championship, all from the expert who is 51-36-5 on his last 92 golf head-to-head picks .

2024 Open Championship odds, field

See Nejad's picks, best bets and predictions here .

Scottie Scheffler +450
Rory McIlroy +750
Xander Schauffele +1100
Ludvig Aberg +1400
Collin Morikawa +1400
Bryson DeChambeau +1400
Tommy Fleetwood +2200
Jon Rahm +2200
Tyrrell Hatton +2500
Viktor Hovland +3000
Robert MacIntyre +3500
Brooks Koepka +3500
Tony Finau +4000
Tom Kim +4000
Shane Lowry +4000
Patrick Cantlay +4000
Cameron Smith +4000
Sahith Theegala +4500
Hideki Matsuyama +4500
Joaquin Niemann +5000
Sungjae Im +5500
Min Woo Lee +5500
Cameron Young +5500
Adam Scott +5500
Wyndham Clark +6000
Matt Fitzpatrick +6000
Justin Thomas +6000
Brian Harman +6000
Aaron Rai  +6000
Corey Conners +7000
Jordan Spieth +8000
Louis Oosthuizen +9000
Si Woo Kim +10000
Sepp Straka +10000
Russell Henley +10000
Max Homa +10000
Jason Day +10000
Alex Noren +10000
Akshay Bhatia +10000
Davis Thompson +10000
Sam Burns +11000
Ryan Fox +11000
Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
Dustin Johnson +12000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +12000
Dean Burmester +12000
Rasmus Hojgaard +15000
Justin Rose +15000
Byeong Hun An +15000
Rickie Fowler +17000
Keegan Bradley +17000
Abraham Ancer +17000
Will Zalatoris +17000
Tom McKibbin +17000
Victor Perez +20000
Tom Hoge +20000
Tiger Woods +20000
Romain Langasque +20000
Denny McCarthy +20000
Adrian Meronk +20000
Harris English +20000
Matthieu Pavon +20000
Thorbjorn Olesen +25000
Padraig Harrington  +25000
Matt Wallace +25000
Kurt Kitayama +25000
J.T. Poston +25000
Ewen Ferguson +25000
Billy Horschel +25000
Matteo Manassero +25000
Mackenzie Hughes +25000
Adam Hadwin +25000
Jordan Smith +30000
Sebastian Soderberg +30000
Matthew Southgate +30000
Eric Cole +30000
Phil Mickelson +35000
Nick Taylor +35000
Matthew Jordan +35000
C.T. Pan +35000
Stephan Jaeger +35000
Maverick McNealy +35000
Laurie Canter +35000
Brendon Todd +35000
Ben Griffin +35000
Austin Eckroat +35000
Richard Mansell +35000
Guido Migliozzi +40000
Gary Woodland + 40000
Francesco Molinari +40000
Emiliano Grillo +40000
Chris Kirk +40000
Alexander Bjork +40000
Henrik Stenson +40000
Taylor Moore +40000
Sam Horsfield +40000
Ryo Hisatsune +40000
Lucas Glover +40000
Keita Nakajima +40000
John Catlin +40000
David Puig +40000
Yannik Paul +50000
Thriston Lawrence +50000
Joost Luiten +50000
Gordon Sargent +50000
Rikuya Hoshino +60000
Stewart Cink +70000
Sami Valimaki +70000
Marcel Siem + 70000
Dominic Clemons +70000
Zach Johnson +100000
Yuto Katsuragawa +100000
Younghan Song +100000
Shubhankar Sharma +100000
Sean Crocker +100000
Santiago De la Fuente +100000
Jorge Campillo +100000
Joe Dean +100000
Jesper Svensson +100000
Dan Bradbury +100000
Adam Schenk +100000
Tommy Morrison +100000
Calum Scott +100000
Ernie Els +150000
Vincent Norrman +150000
Sam Hutsby +150000
Daniel Brown +150000
Jacob Skov Olesen +150000
Nacho Elvira +200000
Minkyu Kim +200000
Luis Masaveu +200000
Kazuma Kobori  200000
Ryosuke Kinoshita +250000
Ryan Van Velzen +250000
Mason Andersen +250000
Jasper Stubbs +250000
Jaime Montojo +250000
Jack McDonald +250000
Gun Taek Koh +250000
Elvis Smylie +250000
Daniel Hillier +250000
Angel Hidalgo +250000
Andy Ogletree +250000
Altin Van Der Merwe +250000
Matthew Dodd-Berry +250000
Liam Nolan +250000
Denwit Boriboonsub +250000
Alex Cejka +250000
Michael Hendry +250000
John Daly +500000
Darren Clarke +500000
Masahiro Kawamura +500000
Justin Leonard +500000
Jeunghun Wang +500000
Darren Fichardt +500000
Charlie Lindh +500000
Aguri Iwasaki +500000
Todd Hamilton +500000