The 139th Open Championship tees off at the home of golf, the Old Course at St Andrews on Thursday at 6.30am in what are forecasted to be testing conditions, which should suit former champion Paul Lawrie, who will hit the first ball in anger. There are two subjects hogging the limelight on the eve of the Championship, Tiger Woods (who else) and the aforementioned weather. Forecasters predict some stormy conditions over the next four days and Woods has already been experiencing the full force of the British tabloid press in the lead up this week.
Bookmakers William Hill pushed Woods out to 7/1 on Wednesday, in a bid to attract new accounts but having held that price all day long, you wonder if the usual Tiger backers are looking elsewhere in 2010. There's no question that his off-course troubles and his on-course form have left punters uneasy about parting with their hard earned the way of Woods and news this week that he has changed putters for the first time in eleven years has split opinions.
Despite his lack of competitive golf, Tiger Woods has managed two fourth placed finishes in the first two golfing majors in 2010 and it would appear that it is his putting that is holding him back. However, there's also a concensus that his old putter won him 14 major tournaments and when golfers start messing about with the flat stick it's usually considered a negative. As the first round beckons, Woods is the favourite to be the leader at the end of Thursday's play, at 10/1 with Bet365. It's not necessarily Tiger's style to be leading so early in a tournament, but he did lead the Open here at St Andrews five years ago after a first round 66, going on to win the tournament with a record low score.
Sticking with the first round leader market, Miguel Angel Jimenez will be hoping that lightning can strike twice, as the mecurial Spaniard led the Open twelve months ago after day one thanks to a six under par total of 64. Jimenez was a winner of the French Open just two weeks ago, played on a the Paris National, which has 'links' style to it but surely in different conditions to what we can expect this week. Jimenez is a 100/1 chance with Paddy Power to get off to another flyer on Thursday.
British Open First Round Leader Odds.
If it's course form you're looking for, Oliver Wilson shot a final round score of 65 to claim second spot in the Dunhill Links played at St Andrews last year and when interviewed on Wednesday the Mansfield professional was in buoyant mood. Wilson's form has slipped in 2010 but he has a few good finishes to his name this season, including a top ten in Paris. When interviewed this week, Wilson was certainly taking the potential tricky weather conditions as a positive and could be a lively outsider in the Top English player market with bookmaker Victor Chandler, where he is a 33/1 shot.
Talking of the weather, as us Brits so love to do, after some glorious conditions so far this summer, mother nature looks to be saving her worst for the arrival of the world's best golfers. Wednesday's scheduled 'Champions Challenge' was cancelled due to the inclement conditions and not a lot of practice got done either out on the course. The forecast suggests that the morning starters might get the better of things on Thursday, so bear this in mind when betting. The Irish clan of players will all have plenty of bad weather experience and Graeme McDowell also has some recent major winning experience to draw upon. McDowell played inconsistently at Loch Lomond last week but could well have got rid of the cobwebs after celebrating his US Open win in style. McDowell doesn't tee off until 1.53pm on Thursday and might be a decent bet to win his three ball against Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy, especially if the wind gets up. McDowell is a general 33/1 shot for the Open and better fancied to do well by the bookmakers than his playing partners. The 6/4 available at Paddy Power to win his 3-ball looks a pretty good bet.
If you're thinking of having an each-way bet on this week's Open Championship, Irish bookmaker Boylesports is paying a quarter the odds on the first eight places, which is a cracking offer for those looking to have a bet on a player with longer odds. Open an account with Boylesports and get a £40 free bet.
As always, over the next four days we'll experience as many betting highs and lows as the golfers do out on the course, but at least we can do it from the cosy surroundings of home or work, plotting our next in-running move from behind a laptop rather than behind a gorse bush!
Posted: Wednesday, 14th July 2010
Author: Russell Lloyd
Tags: british open, open championship, tiger woods, graeme mcdowell, boylesports,
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