British Open 2017: Latest Odds and Betting Tips for Golf's Top Contenders

The likes of Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy will gear up once again for the third major of the year on Thursday at the 2017 British Open.

The former is joint favourite with Jordan Spieth, according to the odds ahead of the prestigious tournament at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, while the latter is also among the usual suspects considered to be among the top contenders, though none are entering the tournament in anything resembling their best form.

Masters winner Sergio Garcia and British Open champion Henrik Stenson will also be among the most fancied.

Here are the top contenders to win it. Read on for a look at some of our betting tips ahead of this year's Open Championship:

Dustin Johnson, 14-1

Jordan Spieth, 14-1

Rickie Fowler, 16-1

Jon Rahm, 16-1

Sergio Garcia, 18-1

Justin Rose, 20-1

Rory McIlroy, 20-1

Hideki Matsuyama, 20-1

All odds courtesy of OddsShark.

Sergio Garcia, 18-1

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Garcia overcame a significant hurdle when he won the Masters in April—his first triumph in a major tournament.

The Spaniard has been in strong form this year—he hasn't missed a single cut and has only finished outside the top 20 in four of the 11 PGA Tour competitions he has participated in, one of which was his T21 finish at the U.S. Open.

He also finished T2 in BMW International Open last month, and he has a superb record at the British Open, per golf analyst Ron Mintz:

According to PGA Tour.com, the 37-year-old ranks second in strokes gained off the tee and third in strokes gained tee-to-green.

He also has the third-best scoring average of 69.359 and a sixth-best greens-in-regulation percentage of 70.42, so he would be a strong pick for this year's Open.

Rickie Fowler, 16-1

The last seven majors have been won by first-time champions, so Rickie Fowler will be hoping it's his turn for his first taste of major success.

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He is enjoying an outstanding season having earned seven top-six finishes on the PGA Tour, including a win at the Honda Classic and a T5 finish at the U.S. Open last month.

The American warmed up for the test of links play that Royal Birkdale has to offer by competing in the Scottish Open, where he finished T9.

Despite finishing six shots off the lead, he hit a cleaner four rounds than anyone else in the competition who finished above or level with him, with just six bogeys to his name, per the European Tour.

ESPN's Jason Sobel anticipated a strong performance from him following his excellent opening round, not just in Scotland but at the Open, too:

The European Tour shared one of his memorable efforts:

Per PGATour.com, the 28-year-old ranks top for his scoring average of 69.161 and for his sand save percentage of 71.26. His average total strokes gained of 2.122 puts him second on the PGA Tour, while his average of 4.44 birdies per round is the fourth-best.

Fowler has come close to winning a major on a number of occasions in the past, but this may well be the one where he breaks his duck.