British Open 2024: Early Predictions for Top Prize Money

Jordan Spieth does not come to mind when you talk about the current best options to win a men's golf major tournament.

Spieth last won a major in 2017 and he has not finished inside the top 10 in his last six major appearances.

However, he has found success at recent British Opens and that makes him a dark-horse contender for this week's event at Royal Troon.

The overall Open Championship success of Spieth and a few others over the last few years could make them contenders that are currently off the radar.

Of course, the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will be popular picks for the $3.1 million winners' purse, but as we learned last year with Brian Harman, long shots have a chance as well.

All of the past British Open metrics support a title candidacy for Spieth.

CBS Sports' Kyle Porter pointed out that Spieth ranks first in total strokes gained at The Open dating back to 2010.

Golf analyst Justin Ray broke down the cumulative Open scores since 2018. Spieth is second on that list behind Tommy Fleetwood.

Spieth produced a second place and tie for eighth at The Open in 2021 and 2022. He owns five top-10 finishes and one victory at the season's final major.

Spieth has not landed in the top 20 of a major since the 2023 Masters and he missed the cut last week at the Scottish Open.

However, he did shoot a second-round 68 last week, a good sign for how he might perform at Royal Troon.

Spieth is still considered a long shot given his form compared the form of others in the field, but he is certainly an intriguing pick to be in Claret Jug contention come Sunday.

It is not exactly a bold prediction to think Rory McIlroy will finish ahead of Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele at The Open.

McIlroy has been a fixture inside the top 10 at all majors and landed himself inside the top six in the last two Opens.

Scheffler only has one top-20 Open finish in his three career starts, while Schauffele has not placed better than 15th since a second-place mark in 2018.

Scheffler and Schauffele could very well finish inside the top 20, but compared to McIlroy, those placings will not be good enough.

McIlroy finished inside the top five on six occasions in his Open career and possesses more motivation to win after he fell apart on the back nine at the U.S. Open.

Ludvig Aberg broke on to the major stage with a second-place finish at the Masters.

The 22-year-old Swede added to his growing major resume with a tie for 12th at the U.S. Open.

Aberg has the lowest odds of any non-major winner in the field to capture the Claret Jug this week and it is easy to believe he will be in contention.

Aberg was in the mix for the win last week at the Scottish Open thanks to three rounds of 65 or lower.

He fell apart on Sunday with a final-round 73. That has been a theme with Aberg since the Masters. He carded five straight final rounds in the 70s.

Aberg's final-round play has left a lot to be desired, but he's at least been able to put himself in position to win. If he shakes off the final round curse, he could finish his first major championship season with a win.