The Open Championship 2024 First Round Leader Tips: Jamie’s four to consider

The 152^nd Open Championship begins tomorrow at Royal Troon and here, our golf tipster Jamie Worsley takes a look at who can handle the breezy first-round conditions to start this final major championship of 2024 strongly.

He's picked out four to consider backing as part of his The Open Championship 2024 first round leader tips.

Wind is set to be a factor all day, though will be a touch stronger for the later starters, with the 10mph morning conditions replaced by winds of 15mph in the afternoon, as well as gusts of 25mph+.

Thursday’s early starters have held the advantage across the last 10 editions of the Open Championship. Of the 14 players to hold at least a share of the first-round lead since 2013, 10 teed off in the morning as opposed to four in the afternoon. In addition, only two of those players were making their debuts in the event.

Therefore, my focus on the market this week, taking into consideration the event history and those forecast conditions, is on players that have Open Championship experience and hold an AM tee-time.

*If you missed Jamie's full The Open Championship 2024 Preview, you can check it out behind the link.

*You can get all the up to date and live The Open Championship 2024 Odds over on betfred.com

Tommy Fleetwood - 1/4 5 places – 1 pt ew @ 40/1

Start time: 09:36

Tommy Fleetwood is no stranger to starting this championship fast and with current form strong, in which he’s often starting well, I fancy him to take advantage of his early tee-time to hit the front on day one at Royal Troon.

Statistically speaking, Tommy is currently enjoying one of his best seasons, ranking 12^th in this field in strokes-gained total in 2024 and looking strong in all areas.

He’s missed just one cut in 17 starts and recorded 10 top-25 finishes. Producing best efforts of 1^st in the Dubai Invitational at the start of the year and he was an excellent 3^rd in The Masters back in April.

These results were initially due to him finishing events off well but he comes into this week with some strong first-round form in recent weeks. He’s sat inside the top-20 after 18 holes in each of his last five starts, including opening with a 5-under 65 to sit 8^th after the first round last week.

This will be Fleetwood’s 10^th Open Championship start and after missing his first three cuts, he’s since made his last six and recorded a best of 2^nd in 2019. He opened with a 68 that week to sit 3^rd after the opening round, then starting with a 69 to sit 9^th after the first round in 2021. However, he made his best-ever Open Championship start last year, shooting a 5-under 66 to tie the first-round lead and he can replicate that performance tomorrow.

Tony Finau – 1/4 5 places – 0.75 pts ew @ 55/1

Start time: 09:25

Tony Finau is the fifth-best player in this field based on recent form and as one of the best round-one scorers on the PGA Tour this season, he can make a strong start to our final major of the year.

Finau has looked good throughout the year but there’s no doubt he’s enjoyed his best spell of 2024 over the last couple of months. He’s finished inside the top-10 on his last three starts, recording finishes of 8^th in the Memorial Tournament, 3^rd in the US Open and 5^th in the Travelers Championship. He is 5^th in this field in strokes-gained total over his last 20 rounds, looking especially good in approach, ranking 2^nd.

The American ranks 12^th in round-one scoring and has sat inside the top-20 after round one in each of his last five starts. Shooting a 65 to sit 2^nd after round one of the PGA Championship; a 66 took him to another first-round 2^nd in the Charles Schwab Challenge; and further rounds of 68 and 65 have seen him sit 6^th after round one of the US Open and Travelers Championship.

Finau has played seven previous Open Championships and missed the cut for the first time last year. He made a great start on debut in 2016, shooting 4-under to sit 4^th after the first round and he has recorded two further first-round top-5s, firing a 67 to sit 2^nd after round one in 2018, whilst a 68 saw him sit 3^rd after the first round in 2019, the year he went on to record his best-ever finish of 3^rd.

Sahith Theegala – 1/4 5 places – 0.75 pts ew @ 60/1

Start time: 09:58

Sahith Theegala looked good on the links when finishing 4^th in last week’s Scottish Open and with his advantageous early start time, he looks well placed to keep the ball rolling on Thursday.

Theegala ranks 21^st in this field in strokes-gained total this season and has used that consistency in his game to record six top-10 finishes. The best of these came when runner-up in The Sentry and RBC Heritage, before recording his first top-10 in almost three months last week.

He was starting well at the beginning of the season, as he began his season with a 9-under 64 to take the first-round lead in Hawaii. He also looked good in the opening round of the Phoenix Open, sitting 2^nd after 18 holes and recorded two further first-round top-5s in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and RBC Heritage, before starting brilliantly at the PGA Championship six starts ago, shooting a 65 to place 2^nd after round one. Whilst an opening 66 last week was just one short of him hitting the top-10 on Thursday.

Theegala makes his third Open Championship start this week, after finishing 34^th on debut in 2022 and missing the cut last year. He shot 69 in round one of that debut effort at St Andrews, which was enough to see him into 13^th place after 18 holes and with plenty of promising pointers, I expect him to start even better this year.

Alex Noren - 1/4 5 places – 0.5 pts ew @ 80/1

Start time: 06:46

Alex Noren was one of the last players to get into this field after his 10^th in the Scottish Open last week and as a strong first-round scorer with an appealing Open Championship record, he can carry that positivity over into the first round this week.

Noren had been in great form in the middle part of the season, recording eight top-25s in a row from the Cognizant Classic at the start of March to the PGA Championship in May. However, he entered last week missing three of his previous four cuts and needed a performance to earn his spot into this week’s field.

He duly delivered, shooting a 65 to sit 8^th after the opening round and repeating that score on Sunday, he made his way into the top-10 and as a result, gained a spot here at Royal Troon.

The Swede’s quick start in Scotland should come as no surprise, as he ranks 6^th in round-one scoring on the PGA Tour this season. He opened with a 66 to sit 7^th after the opening round of his first start this year in the Sony Open, then shooting a 62 to share the first-round lead in The AmEx the next week. Before recording first-round runner-up finishes in the CJ CUP Byron Nelson and Wells Fargo Championship.

Noren finished 19^th on his Open Championship debut in 2008 and over the course of his next 10 starts in the event, he’s recorded five further top-25s, including top-10s in 2012 and 2017. He’s started with an under-par round in five of his last six, shooting 3-under to sit 3^rd after round one in 2019, whilst a first-round 68 took him to another first-round top-10 last year, when he sat 7^th after 18 holes.

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