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

Where to watch the Open Championship

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 6.30am Thursday

Best bets

Nicolai Hojgaard to win 10.31am threeball
4pts 8-11 Betfair, Power

Viktor Hovland to win 2.48pm threeball
3pts 13-10 general

Romain Langasque to win 12.20pm threeball
2pts 17-10 bet365

Matt Wallace to win 1.15pm threeball
1pt 6-4 bet365

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Open Championship later first-round-threeballs preview

The two Open Championship favourites – Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy – are on opposite sides of the draw, so how they are treated by the Wirral weather over the first two days will be important.

Scheffler is an early starter, teeing off alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott at 9.47am on Thursday, while McIlroy does not get going until 2.59pm in the company of Jon Rahm and Justin Rose. Given the vagaries of the British summer, punters need to keep a close eye on the forecast.

The chances of a significant draw bias seem small, with Scheffler having the slight edge if anything. Both Thursday and Friday afternoons are set to be breezy, but Thursday morning is expected to be calmer than Friday morning.

McIlroy, Rahm and the other late starters in round one will just be looking for a solid score, aware that birdies will probably be in short supply. Viktor Hovland is in the same section of the draw and the Norwegian can be trusted to hang tough and win his first-round threeball.

Hovland is up against two badly out of form playing partners – Justin Thomas and Tony Finau – teeing off at 2.48pm. A breezy Major venue is no place to find your game and the struggles of Thomas and Finau seem likely to continue.

Thomas, trying a new putting grip in Scotland last week, is enduring a confidence crisis. He has missed three of his last five cuts and was tailed off in the Scottish Open last week, sharing 60th place. His 2023 Majors results are MC-65-MC, which is an absolute embarrassment for a player of his stature.

Finau's form suddenly dipped in the wake of his Mexico Open victory at the end of April. He has not slumped to Thomas's depths, but has been extremely lacklustre. Hovland, in contrast, can boast 2023 Majors form of 7-2-19 and won the Memorial in June. He is swinging with great authority and looks set for another positive links experience, having finished 12th and fourth in his two previous Open spins.

Odds-against Hovland looks a bargain, while Nicolai Hojgaard is even more appealing at a shade of odds-on for the 10.31am threeball. The dashing Dane is developing into one of the best players in the world and the 22-year-old can outclass Bio Kim and Kazuki Yasumori.

Hojgaard, despite four-putting the ninth hole of the Renaissance Club on Sunday, finished sixth in the Scottish Open to punch his ticket to Hoylake. He came close to winning on the PGA Tour in March and could be set for a barnstorming Open debut. Bio Kim and Yasumori are two of the weakest runners in the tournament.

Former Carnoustie king Romain Langasque can beat Brendon Todd and Travis Smyth in the 12.20pm contest. Langasque, who won the Amateur Championship at that Open venue in 2015, has found form recently and is by far the best ball-striker in the group.

Smyth has been competing in a low grade on the Asian Tour. Langasque, making his fourth Open start, has twice carded in the 60s in round one of this event and has hopes of repeating the trick after finishing in the top 25 in eight of his last 12 tournaments.

Matt Wallace is also worthy of day-one attention. The Londoner, who made his PGA Tour breakthrough in the Corales Puntacana Championship in March, has made the cut in his last two Opens. The opposite is true of his playing partner, Zach Johnson, who had the weekend off at Royal Portrush and St Andrews. The veteran is distracted by his Ryder Cup captaincy and a practice round with Brooks Koepka was probably his most important Hoylake round of the week.

Australian debutant David Micheluzzi joins Wallace and Johnson in the 1.15pm threeball. Wallace had a decent Scottish Open warm-up and 6-4 looks more than fair.

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