The Senior Open 2025 Betting Tips: Jiminez to shine at Sunningdale?

After the men’s major season ended at Royal Portrush on Sunday, it’s the turn of the senior’s final major of 2025 this week: the Senior Open Championship at Sunningdale Golf Club’s majestic Old Course.

Our resident golf tipster Jamie Worsley is, back with another comprehensive preview. Four golfers stand out to him as value this week, so let's check out his The Senior Open 2025 Tips here at Betfred Insights...

*You can bet on the tournament and check out the latest The Senior Open Championship Odds over on betfred.com

TOURNAMENT HISTORY 

The first edition of the Senior Open Championship took place in 1987 at Turnberry – an event won by England's Neil Coles. It has been staged almost every year since – excluding 2020 due to covid – and was designated as a senior major championship by the PGA Tour Champions in 2002.

Bernhard Langer's four wins in the event – coming in 2010, 2014, 2017, and 2019 – are a tournament record. He is closely followed by Gary Player (1988, 1990, 1997) and Tom Watson (2003, 2005, 2007) on three wins apiece. They are part of a four-man group to win this as well as The Open Championship, alongside Bob Charles (1989, 1993) and Darren Clarke (2022).

Last five winners:

• 2024 (Carnoustie)

Winner: K.J. Choi (-10)

Runner-up: Richard Green (-8)

• 2023 (Royal Porthcawl)

Winner: Alex Cejka (+5, playoff)

Runner-up: Padraig Harrington (+5)

• 2022 (Gleneagles)

Winner: Darren Clarke (-10)

Runner-up: Padraig Harrington (-9)

• 2021 (Sunningdale)

Winner: Stephen Dodd (-13)

Runner-up: Miguel Angel Jimenez (-12)

• 2019 (Royal Lytham & St. Annes)

Winner: Bernhard Langer (-6)

Runner-up: Paul Broadhurst (-4)

South Korea's K.J. Choi won his first major, senior or other, in this event at Carnoustie last year. He took the lead at the end of round two and never looked back, eventually running out a two-shot winner over Australia's Richard Green. He returns to defend this week.

THE COURSE

The Senior Open Championship has been held at 14 different courses in its history. It returns to the pristine Old Course at Sunningdale Golf Club, which will host the event for the fourth time this week.

Previous Senior Open Championships at Sunningdale:

• 2021 – Winner: Stephen Dodd (-13); runner-up: Miguel Angel Jimenez (-12)
• 2015 – Winner: Marco Dawson (-16); runner-up: Bernhard Langer (-15)
• 2009 – Winner: Loren Roberts (-12, playoff); runners-up: Fred Funk, Mark McNulty (-12)

Sunningdale's Old Course is situated in the famous Surrey/Berkshire Sandbelt and was designed by esteemed architect Willie Park Jnr, opening for play in 1901. Harry Colt worked as the secretary at the course from 1901 to 1913, during which time he applied his touch to a number of the holes, including relocating the 4^th, 7^th, and 12^th greens to where they're still positioned today.

The course is a 6682yd par 70 and possesses 4x par 3s (152-247yds), 12x par 4s (274-487yds), and 2x par 5s (496-523yds). This is a brilliantly diverse layout, featuring an even mix of birdie chances and holes where par is a good score. It's fair, fun and eternally playable, averaging a winning score of -13.7 across the previous three renewals of this event here.

This architecturally stunning and gently rolling heathland venue is both strategic and rewards creativity. Often attributed as being the first truly great inland course, it is framed by towering pine, birch, and oak trees, and is home to frequent changes in elevation, both up and downhill.

Although the driving corridors appear tight, the doglegging fairways are around average in width. They are bordered by beautiful, yet brutal heather – which also lines many of the strategically placed and deep bunkers – and it makes intelligent use of diagonal hazards, such as cross bunkers and ditches.

The bentgrass greens are average-to-large in size, and some of the quickest and most pure around. These undulating and occasionally multi-tiered putting surfaces can be hard to read, with subtle breaks that bamboozle many and penal sand traps litter the perimeters – often leaving bunker shots from uncomfortable distances.

Sunningdale has a fantastic selection of short par 4s. This includes two potentially drivable holes on the front nine – the 315yd 3^rd and 274yd 9^th – and the 320yd 11^th, where players must hit a blind tee shot over a wasteland bunker strewn with heather.

Those birdie chances are cancelled out by a handful of especially testing holes. Players will be happy take par and run on the 487yd par-4 2^nd and the monstrous 247yd par-3 15^th. In addition, the 485yd par-4 10^th – described as one of the very best par 4s in England – is arguably the most unforgettable hole on the course. It requires a tee shot from an elevated tee box into a handsomely designed, bottlenecking fairway, which is framed by well-placed bunkers, heather, and imposing trees.

Sunningdale's Old Course is one of the most magnificent and storied course on these shores, and it's going to be a joy to watch the seniors tackle it again this week.

THE WEATHER

There's been rain about in the area in recent days, but fortunately it is forecast to disperse before the start of the event. It is predicted to be virtually perfect throughout the four tournament days, with pleasantly warm and bright conditions accompanied by a gentle 9mph breeze.

KEY STATS

• Total Driving
• Greens-in-Regulation
• Par 4 Scoring

I'm going to side with strong ball-strikers at Sunningdale this week, especially players who excel off the tee. The fairways aren't overly narrow and there are several holes that really benefit any longer hitters in the field, but you need to be smart in how you navigate them and anyone too wayward will soon come unstuck around here.

Hitting plenty of greens is a major asset anywhere, particularly at a course that poses such puzzling questions around the greens. Meanwhile, with the excess of par 4s around this par-70 layout, it's important to score well on those holes.

CORRELATING EVENTS

There's no direct comparison to Sunningdale on the PGA Tour Champions. Therefore, I'm going to keep it light on comp courses. Two courses that could be of use are host of the Sanford International, Minnehaha Country Club, and Dominion Energy Charity Classic host, The Country Club of Virginia's James River Course.

Each of these venues are traditional, tree-lined courses of a similar length to Sunningdale's Old Course. They both have bentgrass greens and smart bunkering, requiring players to tackle it with strategy.

THE FIELD

Miguel Angel Jimenez is the leading player in this year's Schwab Cup on the PGA Tour Champions. No. 2 on those rankings, Stewart Cink is the only player missing the from the top 25, with No. 3 Steven Alker, No. 4 Angel Cabrera, and No. 5 Padraig Harrington all in action.

K.J. Choi is the defending champion and one of seven former winners in attendance, joined by Alex Cejka (2023), Darren Clarke (2022), Stephen Dodd (2021), Bernhard Langer (2019, 2017, 2014, 2010), Miguel Angel Jimenez (2018), and Paul Broadhurst (2016).

There are a number of Senior Open debutants in the field. This includes familiar names such as Soren Kjeldsen, Freddie Jacobson, Darren Fichardt, David Drysdale, and David Howell.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders: Padraig Harrington 7/1, Steven Alker 15/2, Miguel Angel Jimenez 10/1, Soren Kjeldsen 12/1, Ernie Else 14/1, Thomas Bjorn 18/1

5 pts Miguel Angel Jimenez to win @ 10/1

At the age of 61, Miguel Angel Jimenez is playing the best golf of his PGA Tour Champions career and is fantastic value this week. He hasn't finished outside the top four in two attempts at Sunningdale in this event, is playing better than anyone on the senior's circuit in 2025, and with each area of his game looking sharp, I feel he ought to be the favourite.

Miguel has collected more titles this season than he has in the previous four combined. He claimed the Trophy Hassan II on his second start of the year in Morocco, won the Hoag Classic two starts later and has picked up a further two trophies in his last four starts – winning the Principal Charity Classic, before achieving a third senior major success in the Kaulig Companies Championship. He's finished no worse than 11^th in the first four majors of the year and was 3^rd in the U.S. Senior Open just two starts ago.

The Spaniard is making more birdies than anyone on tour and also leads the par 4 scoring ranking – an important stat for this week. He ranks 8^th in ball-striking and with his short game in top-notch shape, there are no negatives from a statistical point of view.

Jimenez finished 2^nd to Stephen Dodd when the event was last played here in 2021, losing out by a shot, and he was 4^th in the 2015 edition. He's also won both the Sanford International (2020) and the Dominion Energy Charity Classic (2019), and with arguably the biggest win of his career coming at nearby Wentworth in the BMW PGA Championship, he should relish returning to this part of the UK this week.

1.5 pts Darren Clarke each-way (1/4 5 places) @ 28/1

Darren Clarke finished a close-up 3^rd at Sunningdale back in 2021, just one shot back of Miguel Angel Jimenez in 2^nd. He’s hitting the ball superbly this year and as a player who often excelled on traditional English courses – winning the English Open on three occasions – he is primed to challenge in Berkshire.

Clarke has finished inside the top 25 in 10 of his 12 solo PGA Tour Champions starts in 2025, recording a best of 3^rd in the Chubb Classic at the start of the year. However, he did claim a victory alongside Thomas Bjorn in the American Family Insurance Championship doubles event four starts ago.

He’s the second-best ball-striker on tour, ranking 3^rd in total driving and 6^th in greens-in-regulation. Additionally, his ranking of 7^th in par 4 scoring completes an appealing profile for this course.

Clarke tied the first-round lead here in 2021 with an excellent five-under 65, before going on to finish 3^rd. He’s also a former winner of the Sanford International and with his one senior major title coming in this event at Gleneagles in 2022, he can become a two-time Senior Open champion this week.

1 pt K.J. Choi each-way (1/4 5 places) @ 45/1

Next up is defending champion K.J. Choi. He’s a player that has shone on these strategic, tree-lined courses throughout his career and can become the first player since Christy O’Conner Jnr in 2000 to successfully defend this title.

Choi made a great start to this season, recording three top-10s in his first six starts, performing best when 2^nd in the James Hardie Invitational. His form tailed off a little following that, but he had looked better prior to a missed cut in The Open Championship last week that I’m more than happy to forgive.

His scrambling has been key this season, ranking 13^th, but he’s sitting the ball solidly enough, ranking 36^th in driving accuracy and has started to find more greens in recent starts. Furthermore, ranking 22^nd in par 4 scoring he’s well equipped to handle those prominent holes this week.

Choi hasn’t played here before, though as a player who won on strategic courses such as TPC Sawgrass and Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course during his PGA Tour career, it looks a suitable test. This belief is strengthened by two runner-up finishes in the Sanford International, whilst he’s also finished 2^nd in the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.

1 pt Steve Flesch each-way (1/4 5 places) @ 66/1

Steve Flesch arrives here after impressing in the last two majors, recording back-to-back top-six finishes. He’s hitting the ball well this season and with American’s possessing a good record on these English heathland courses in this event, he can secure his first senior major title at Sunningdale.

Flesch if a four-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions but hasn’t won for almost two years. However, he’s looked lively in 2025, finishing 3^rd in the Galleri Classic back in March and he’s been excellent on his last two starts, finishing 4^th in the Kaulig Companies Championship and 6^th in the U.S. Senior Open.

He’s performed well from tee-to-green all season. The driver has been particularly strong, ranking 7^th in driving accuracy and 11^th in total driving; he complements that with a top-25 ranking in greens-in-regulation and as the 10^th-best par-4 scorer on tour, he ticks every box statistically.

Flesch is a proven PGA Tour Champions golfer but has never performed as strongly in the majors as he has this year. He’s got an excellent record in the Sanford International – finishing 2^nd on three occasions – and it may just be that this quaint English course is a perfect fit.

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