Joseph LaMagna pushed back on the Conners hype, highlighting two red flags: the wrist injury that prompted his Oakmont withdrawal and a short-game profile ill-suited to Portrush’s massive, slow greens. LaMagna said he is “not excited to watch Corey Conners lag-putt from 65 feet in wind and drizzle” and added that the Canadian has never finished better than T-49 in an Open Championship. Until Conners proves healthy and shows touch on long Texas-wedge putts, LaMagna would bypass outright tickets and fade him in matchups against more complete players.

Joseph LaMagna floated Sergio Garcia as a deep sleeper, pointing to the Spaniard’s historically elite Open Championship resume—10 career top-10s and a playoff loss at Carnoustie—as proof he still thrives on links setups. LaMagna said Sergio “always finds the center of the clubface,” remains top-tier off the tee, and owns the shot-making chops to flight the ball under Portrush’s cross-winds. While recent form is spotty, he believes Garcia’s comfort in chop and pot bunkers makes a top-5 or top-10 ticket worth a sprinkle at triple-digit odds, especially if conditions turn cold and bouncy where creativity trumps raw distance.

Joseph LaMagna said Jon Rahm has rediscovered the "mojo" he briefly flashed during a 45-minute charge on Sunday at Quail Hollow and called him a "pretty significant threat" to lift the Claret Jug. LaMagna likes Rahm over Rory McIlroy specifically because Rahm drives it far straighter, a trait he believes Royal Portrush will reward given its 25–30-yard fairways and deep pot bunkers. Although Rahm has not posted a win since joining LIV, LaMagna argued that Scheffler’s absolute A-game is less likely to travel fully to Portrush, narrowing the gap and making Rahm’s current outright price attractive in both head-to-heads versus Rory and full-tourney markets. He cautioned listeners to monitor wave splits but said Rahm still profiles as the third-best player in the world and the most likely to match Scheffler if the Texan is merely “very good” instead of “historic.”

Joseph LaMagna argued that Jon Rahm is being undervalued relative to Rory McIlroy in Open futures. Rahm’s Bookmaker number currently trails McIlroy by more than 2-to-1, a spread LaMagna believes should be "much narrower." He pointed to Rahm’s sneaky strong spring—runner-up finish at Quail Hollow and a late charge at Oakmont where he briefly rattled Scheffler—plus the fact the Spaniard’s top-10 streak on LIV remained intact until last week. LaMagna said he sensed Rahm’s old "mojo" during that 45-minute Quail stretch when Scheffler bettors legitimately sweated, and added that Rahm’s penetrating ball flight and heavy right-to-left shot shape suit Portrush’s preferred lines. With course-fit boxes checked and motivation questions swirling around McIlroy, LaMagna likes scooping Rahm outright and head-to-head versus Rory before the market corrects.

Joseph LaMagna ran through Scheffler’s links resume and made the case that the only thing standing between the world No. 1 and another claret jug is the flatstick. Across three Open Championships and two Scottish Opens, Scheffler is averaging roughly +1.0 SG-Off-the-Tee and +1.5 SG-Approach per round; extrapolated over four rounds at Portrush, LaMagna expects a baseline of +4 OTT and +4.5–5 on approach. Because past winners generally need 12–13 total strokes gained, Scheffler cannot bleed strokes with the putter. LaMagna said he would be “shocked” if Scheffler gained 8+ strokes putting but believes a modest +1 to +2 on the greens makes a top-5 finish “almost automatic,” while a +5 week with the putter would make him a prohibitive favorite to win. Bettors uncomfortable with a +300 outright can instead attack Scheffler top-5 markets or anchor DFS builds, hedging with exposure to spike-putters if they doubt his blade on slower, grainier links greens.

Joseph LaMagna highlighted Shane Lowry as an ideal course-fit for Royal Portrush, noting that the Irishman’s "burly" build and elite hand strength allow him to chop the ball out of the wispy native rough and control flight in cross-winds. LaMagna pointed out Lowry’s previous success on similar setups—most notably winning the 2019 Open Championship—and argued that Lowry’s ability to vary trajectories makes him an attractive outright wager and core DFS play if the weather turns cold and blustery.