The Open Championship 2025 FRL Tips: Four to tame Portrush on Thursday

Our golf tipster Jamie Worsley is back with his First Round Leader tips for the final major of the season. You can read Jamie's full in-depth preview and The  Open Championship 2025 Golf Tips here. 

He's hoping to take advantage of a potential draw bias in the morning at Royal Portrush. Check out his The Open Championship 2025 First Rounder Leader Tips below...

The Open Championship Odds

Exciting is building for the start of the 153^rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush tomorrow. We should be in for some good old-fashioned links conditions, which could lead to one part of the draw having the advantage in round one.

It’s projected to be overcast and cool on Thursday, with a constant breeze that will begin at around 8mph in the morning and rise to 12mph in the afternoon. The gusts are also forecast to get stronger as the day progresses, potentially reaching highs of 29mph from 14:00 to 17:00. In addition, rain is predicted to be a feature throughout, first arriving at around 11:00 and continuing to come and go over the rest of the round.

That forecast looks likely to benefit those out earliest (between 06:35 and 08:25), which is where I’ll primarily concentrate in the first-round leader market. That being said, this is not an exact science, and conditions can easily change before the event begins. With that in mind, I’m selecting one player who sits outside those preferred tee times.

0.75 pts Patrick Cantlay each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 55/1

Start time: 08:25

Patrick Cantlay is somewhat of an enigma in major championships, owning all of the necessary skills but rarely putting them to use to contend in the game’s biggest events. However, he’s hitting the ball brilliantly at present, generally starting well, and if he can get the putter firing to the level we know he’s capable, he can hit the top on day one in Northern Ireland.

Cantlay has recorded eight top-15s in 15 starts this season and missed just two cuts. He’s had three top-fives – in the Truist Championship, Genesis Invitational, and AmEx – and the majority of these high-level performances have been engineered by his long game, ranking 8^th in approach and 23^rd off-the-tee.

His often brilliant putting has been somewhat inconsistent in 2025, but it still regularly catches fire and contributes towards his many fast starts. He ranks 12^th in round-one performance this season and has had seven first-round top-20s in his last 11 starts.

Cantlay has a decent Open Championship record, missing just one cut in six starts and producing a best of 8^th at St Andrews in 2022. Meanwhile, he was a solid 41^st at Royal Portrush in 2019, where he shot his best round of 70 on the first day.

0.75 pts Sepp Straka each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 55/1

Start time: 09:36

Sepp Straka shared the first-round lead in last week’s Scottish Open thanks to six-under 64, before eventually finishing 7^th. He’s developing a great Open Championship record and as a precise ball-striker who is putting better than ever, he can claim back-to-back first-round leads tomorrow.

Straka has picked up two trophies this year, winning The AmEx back in January and the Truist Championship in May. Indeed, his PGA Tour form all season has been superb, recording 10 further top-20s – including an added four top-10 finishes – but he has disappointed in the first three majors, missing the cut in each. Something he’ll be desperate to put right this week.

The Austrian ranks 7^th in approach, 16^th in driving accuracy, and 18^th in putting over the last three months, which goes some way to explaining the overall quality of his results. Although he hasn’t been among the best first-round performers, he did open with a 63 six starts ago when he won the Truist – which was enough to sit 3^rd after the opening round – and of course, last week’s display is another positive.

Straka missed the cut at St Andrews on his Open Championship debut in 2022 but returned to finish an excellent 2^nd at Hoylake in 2023. He backed that up with a 22^nd-place finish last year at Royal Troon – an event at which he sat 11^th after round one – and as a former winner of the Cognizant Classic he’s a player suited to links golf.

0.75 pts Nicolai Hojgaard each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 70/1

Start time: 06:35

Nicolai Hojgaard signed off with a brilliant 64 in Scotland, helping him to a 4^th-place finish. He’s hitting the ball well, largely performing on the greens, and with many promising results on links/like-like courses, I’m taking him to pick up where he left off at The Renaissance Club.

Hojgaard’s performance last week was his best solo display of what has been a hit-and-miss season. He has looked good since finishing 2^nd in the Zurich Classic alongside brother Rasmus – finishing 41^st in the PGA Championship, and he was 24^th in the Rocket Classic two starts.

He hit the ball beautifully in Scotland, ranking 3^rd off-the-tee, 13^th in greens-in-regulation, and 25^th in approach. Whilst it is also promising to see him excel on those difficult greens, ranking 11^th in putting. His approach play has been strong all season, ranking 13^th on the PGA Tour and since March, he’s been the 17^th-best driver in this field.

Nicolai missed the cut on his Open Championship debut back in 2018 at Carnoustie when still an amateur, but he has made each cut as a pro, recording a best of 23^rd at Hoylake in 2023. He made his best start in the event last year, opening with a two-under 69 to sit 4^th after the first round at Royal Troon, and doing so from an early 07:30 tee time, I fancy him to take advantage of being in the first group out on Thursday.

0.5 pts Haotong Li each-way (1/4 - 5 places) @ 125/1

Start time: 07:41

Haotong Li can really take it low when he gets it rolling and is somewhat of a first-round machine. He was disappointing when missing the cut at The Renaissance Club, but he’s been largely excellent this season and I’m happy to take the chance on him bouncing back here at an appealing price, from what is hopefully a helpful start time.

Li’s missed cut last week was his first of a season in which he won a fourth DP World Tour title in Qatar, and has recorded four further top-10 finishes. He’s been hitting the ball excellently, ranking 2^nd in approach, 12^th in greens-in-regulation, and 21^st off-the-tee on the DPWT, and as a top-50 putter, he has an ideal profile for this market.

As mentioned, he loves a fast start, sharing the first-round lead in the Hainan Classic back in April thanks to an opening 66, and he was 8^th after round one of the Austrian Alpine Classic four starts ago, shooting a 67. This is something he’s often achieved on the links, including opening with a 64 at Kingsbarns in the 2021 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to share the first-round lead.

Li finished 14^th there that year and has recorded two top-10s in the event, including a 7^th-place finish last year. However, there is no better pointer regarding his ability to perform on the links than his Open Championship debut at Royal Birkdale in 2017, where he closed with an incredible seven-under 63 – the second-lowest score of that week – to finish 3^rd.

You can find all Jamie's latest Golf Betting Tips over on our dedicated golf Insights hub.