Niall Lyons picks three to lead on day one of the Open Championship 2026 featuring two big longshots.
Rory McIlroy at 25/1 (WIN)
Morning starters have had the better of the first round in the last decade or so of the Open Championship but there's one from the afternoon wave who I can't resist and that's Rory McIlroy. In 16 appearances at the Open McIlroy has led or had a share of the lead twice. The opening round has been hugely successful for the Irishman all year. He led after the opening 18 in his first event of the year in Dubai and has followed that up with leads at Riviera, Augusta and then last week at the Renaissance. That's four first round leads in twelve events. With two in sixteen here we simply can not turn down the 25/1 on offer.
1.5pts WIN R.McIlroy FRL 25/1 AK Bets
Joe Dean at 200/1 (Seven Places)
The last chance qualifier held on Monday looks like a really good initiative and I expect that mini tournament to go from strength to strength in the years to come. The winner this time around was Joe Dean and that story could well have legs the rest of the week. The Englishman has played two Opens so far and has a top 5 finish at Troon after day one. He landed a first round lead at Stellenbosch in South Africa at the beginning of March and recently has gone well once again finishing 2nd after the opening 18 at the KLM Open then 5th at the same stage at the BMW International Open. His confidence should be sky high and an early tee time suits.
0.5pt each-way J.Dean FRL 200/1 (1/5 7) Bet MGM, VirginBet
Matthew Jordan at 125/1 (Seven Places)
I'll take a chance with another Englishman out very early in the shape of Matthew Jordan. Jordan's iron play has been excellent of late only to be undone by a shocking period on the greens. He missed the cut on the number at Shinnecock which is a fair effort and it's worth noting he ranked 10th in strokes gained approach on day one there. His iron play over the last few months has been the highlight in a run of poor results and I'm hoping a return to links greens could be the catalyst to an improvement with the putter. He has played the last three Open championships finishing 13th, 18th and 6th after each opening round and a plum draw should help on Thursday.
0.5pt each-way M.Jordan FRL 125/1 (1/5 7) General
