The Open Championship 2018: 12 golfers with the best odds to win the Claret Jug this weekend

Golf's oldest major tees off this weekend as the best in the world head to Scotland to compete for the Claret Jug at Carnoustie Golf Links in the 2018 Open Championship.

While the U.S. Open was an exceedingly difficult course this year, with breakneck-paced greens and narrow fairways forcing some of the coolest heads in golf to go on tilt momentarily, links golf presents a whole new set of challenges to the players this weekend.

Hard, sunburned fairways and high winds leave the likes of Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy to reconsider their booming drives in favor of powerful, low finesse shots that can skip their way to the greens.

It's anyone's tournament to win, but Las Vegas has established a few players as betting favorites for those looking to put a bit of action down on the event. Take a closer look below at the top 12 golfers Las Vegas expects to lift the Claret Jug this year. All lines are courtesy of the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook.

Dustin Johnson

Patrick Smith / Getty Images

Current odds: 12/1

World Ranking: No. 1

Best Open finish: T2 — 2011

One thing to know: As the top-ranked player in the world, it's tough to call Dustin Johnson a bad bet, but with longer odds available elsewhere in the field and the Open being such an unpredictable tournament, there might be better value available elsewhere.

Rory McIlroy

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Current odds: 16/1

World Ranking: No. 8

Best Open finish: Win — 2014

One thing to know: With top-five finishes at the previous two Open Championships, McIlroy will likely at least be in the running on moving day.

Rickie Fowler

Josh Hedges/Getty Images

Current odds: 16/1

World Ranking: No. 7

Best Open finish: T2 — 2014

One thing to know: Rickie Fowler is consistently one of the most popular bets to win at big tournaments — after top-three finishes at every major, the betting public has long been ready for him to finally break through.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• Share your opinion — Become a BI Insider today
• Tony Romo won a celebrity golf tournament but turned down the $125k prize in order to maintain his status as an amateur
• The much-anticipated Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson showdown could be a lot bigger and more fun than most people realize