Steve Palmer's Open Championship first-round leader preview and free golf betting tips

Where to watch the Open Championship

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 6.35am Thursday

Best Open first-round leader bets

Ryan Fox first-round leader
1pt each-way 75-1 bet365

Lucas Herbert first-round leader
0.5pt each-way 100-1 general

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Open Championship first-round leader predictions

Course conditions should be welcoming when the early starters arrive on the first tee at Royal Liverpool on Thursday morning – a rain-softened track under calm skies – and a pair of Australasians may set the first-round pace.

Ryan Fox and Lucas Herbert are both in the 6.57am threeball, with amiable Korean Byeong Hun An for company, and this trio should be able to complete their opening round before any significant breeze starts whipping across Hoylake.

Fox relishes links golf and is full of confidence, having banked some healthy cheques on the PGA Tour in recent weeks. The New Zealander, a playoff loser in the 2018 Irish Open on links terrain, won the Dunhill Links Championship last year.

Fox underlined his suitability to links golf with 12th place in the Scottish Open last week, building on a solid Majors campaign having finished 26th in the Masters, 23rd in the US PGA and 43rd in the US Open. He can attack at Hoylake on the opening morning and upstage the big names.

Herbert has also shown a liking for links golf, having finished fourth in the Scottish Open in both 2020 and 2021. This exceptional putter tied for 15th place in the Open at St Andrews last year, appreciating the straightforward nature of that layout, and he should enjoy a relatively easy introduction to Royal Liverpool.

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