The 151st Open Championship begins Thursday at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. The GolfChannel.com writers weigh in with their predictions:

Who wins the 151^st Open?

REX HOGGARD: Scottie Scheffler. Whether you buy his take that his putting woes are a media-generated non-story, the world No. 1 is a clear front-runner. He hasn’t finished outside the top 10 since April (that was a tie for 11th at the RBC Heritage) and is leading the PGA Tour in strokes gained: tee to green by nearly a full shot, which is a Tiger Woods-like dominance.

RYAN LAVNER: Scottie Scheffler. It almost seems wrong that a player who is compiling such a historically great statistical season has “only” two victories. But that ends at Hoylake: He’s a strong enough driver to avoid the penal fairway bunkers, crisp enough with his irons to hit boring shots through the crosswinds and creative enough around the severe greens to salvage par if out of position. As with most tournaments these days, his chances for victory (as opposed to another ho-hum T-3) hinge on his putting performance. Here’s guessing an average week on the greens is enough to propel him to the claret jug.

BRENTLEY ROMINE: Rory McIlroy. Every major it seems a lot of us pick Rory, and every year for a decade now, he breaks our little hearts. His ball-striking looked incredibly controlled at a windy Scottish. He seems to have shed the lingering disappointment from his Masters MC. He finally gets major No. 5 and wins again at Hoylake.

Who contends but doesn’t win?

HOGGARD: Rory McIlroy. Winning back-to-back events is difficult both physically and mentally and, let’s face it, it’s already been a mentally draining year off the course for the Northern Irishman. Winning last week at the Scottish Open is proof that McIlroy’s game is as sharp as ever but he’ll have to endure so much more to go back-to-back at Royal Liverpool, where he won the claret jug in 2014.
 

LAVNER: Rory McIlroy. The 1A to Scheffler’s 1B favorite status, McIlroy has so much working in his favor this week: his current form and Open record, his championship pedigree and course history. But he still has to seize the moment in golf’s biggest events. He has had far too many major Sundays like the U.S. Open than the Scottish Open, where his macho birdie-birdie finish stole the title. If something clicked there to once again unleash his inner assassin, we’ll soon find out.

ROMINE: Tommy Fleetwood. There's some added pressure to contend just south of where he and his caddie, Ian Finnis, grew up. But Fleetwood has been knocking at the door at The Open the past couple of editions and he's in great form, including a T-6 Sunday at the Scottish. He's one of the best on Tour around the greens, which I believe will be a big separator with Hoylake's smaller greens and many tricky runoff areas and pot bunkers.

Who is your sleeper pick (outside OWGR top 25)?

HOGGARD: Robert Macintyre. Although coming up short last week at The Renaissance Club was heartbreaking, the only proof one needs that the Scot was made for links conditions was his 3-wood approach shot from 212 yards at the 72nd on Sunday for what he thought was a walk-off birdie. The left-hander has a swing built for the kind of winds that are poised to pummel Hoylake.

LAVNER: Bryson DeChambeau. Yes, technically, he qualifies here, since he’s currently ranked 105th in the world. But this could be one of Bryson’s best chances to nab an Open. His supreme driving could eliminate many of the fairway bunkers that will torment his fellow playing competitors, and his iron play is approaching 2018 levels when he played his best golf. Even without the trophies to prove it, he’s been in championship form for the past two months.

ROMINE: I like a few guys, but don't sleep on Min Woo Lee. His T-5 at LACC gives him that major confidence boost, and his length and ability to hit the stinger off the tee will help.

Who disappoints?

Wyndham Clark. He was brilliant at the U.S. Open and has played some of the year’s best golf on the toughest courses (including his victory at the Wells Fargo Championship), but he hasn’t cracked the top 20 in his last two starts and his only previous start at The Open featured middle rounds of 73-76 and he tied for 76th out of 83 players last year at St. Andrews.

LAVNER: Max Homa. At the beginning of the year, this seemed like a monumental major season for Homa – a chance for him to prove that he can perform in the game’s biggest events, that he belongs among the top players in the world, that his major record with zero top-10s was merely a product of inexperience. But so far, at least, it’s been a disastrous Grand Slam campaign for the world No. 8: T-43 at the Masters, T-55 at the PGA, a missed cut at the U.S. Open. Now he’s making just his third career start in The Open, where he has yet to produce a finish better than 40th. It could be another long week.

ROMINE: Matt Fitzpatrick. When a player says he realistically should finish top 30, that's not a great sign. Add in Fitz's subtle disappointment with English fans and Hoylake's changes, and it's a recipe for, well, a top 30.

Over/under winning score: 15 ½ under par?

HOGGARD: Over. Actually, way over. In ’06 at Hoylake Tiger Woods won his masterpiece at 18 under par at Royal Liverpool and in ’14 McIlroy finished one off that pace at 17 under (though both were at par 72). Even with the forecasted winds and rain the course will play soft which is a recipe for low scores.

LAVNER: Over. 17 under will be the winning score. That’s the winning total from McIlroy’s triumph here in 2014, and there are reasons to suggest we get there again even with the course par reduced from 72 to 71. Most notably: A wet weekend will soften and slow down a links that is already greener than R&A officials would prefer. It may take a late flourish from the final groups, with two par 5s and a short par 3 in the last four holes, but the winner will be deep under par – and that’s OK. As the R&A’s Martin Slumbers said today: “The number is the number.”

ROMINE: Under. But just barely. I see a lot of green around Hoylake, much like 2014, when Rory won at 17 under. Some showers should keep things soft and the wind should be manageable for much of the competition. That said, remember the par is now 71, so that's four strokes right there compared to nine years ago. 

Which bet is worth a few pounds?

HOGGARD: Corey Conners. Those on this side of the Atlantic will tell you the key to betting golf is finding value, which is almost never atop the odds. Deeper down the odds list is where you find value and that’s Corey Conners, who at 55-to-1 is an easy choice considering his recent form (a top-10 finish at the Travelers Championship followed by a solid finish in demanding conditions to tie for 19th last week in Scotland) and he’s played well in The Open before (T-15 in 2021).

LAVNER: Jordan Spieth, 25-1. Since 2015, all Spieth has done in the year’s final major is rank first in score to par, rounds in the 60s, birdies or better per round and scoring average. Simply put, he’s been better in this championship, statistically, than anyone, and it’s why he has a victory and four other top-10 finishes in nine career tries. Spieth hasn’t been nearly as sharp since injuring his wrist two months ago, but links golf, much like Augusta National, taps into his vivid imagination and shot-making skills.

ROMINE: Check out my ranking of the entire field for value, but I like a few pounds for each-way bets on Bob MacIntyre (100-1), Denny McCarthy (110-1), J.T. Poston (250-1), Ewen Ferguson (300-1) and Lee Hodges (500-1). Could look at make-the-cut or top-20 odds for some of these guys, too.