2024 British Open predictions, picks: Ranking the field, favorites to win from 1-24 at Royal Troon

The 152nd Open Championship will live up to the 'open' in its name, but here's the most likely winners of the year's final major

The Open Championship is the most difficult major to prognosticate because there are more variables than any of the other three majors. Of course, we have no choice but to try and prognosticate the 2024 Open Championship, starting with a ranking of the top 24 players in this year's field at Royal Troon.

Any list of this kind must start with Scottie Scheffler, though that's not as much of a slam dunk at The Open as it is at the other three majors. From there, we weave our way through a sometimes-strange selection of players who have little in common other than that they all play professional golf.

Let's take a look at the top 24 players in this Open field, starting at the top with Scheffler and going all the way down to Akshay Bhatia, who if you have not noticed, has been doing some absolute work on the PGA Tour of late. Moving beyond the top 24, you can also take a look at Patrick McDonald's list of five Open Championship sleepers to watch at the final major of the year.