Northern Irish golfing prodigy continued his excellent record at St Andrews on the first day of the 139th Open Championship by carding a course record nine under par total of 63 in the benign Thursday morning conditions. This led to his odds being slashed to 11/4 from 14/1 pre-tournament by bookmaker Paddy Power and the 23 year old now heads the betting going in to Friday's second round.
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McIlroy has never carded a score bigger than 70 at the Old Course and after a quiet start the young Northern Irishman had a birdie blitz around the turn to card an Old Course record. McIlroy recently won the Quail Hollow Championship on the PGA Tour after carding a final round of 62 and like then, this first round birdie blitz has given him a great chance to win his first major and be the third youngest golfer to do so in the Open Championship.
Before the start of Thursday's first round, Tiger Woods was the pre-tournament favourite, with many bookmakers going after him with odds of 7/1. That price was all gobbled up prior to the World number one teeing off early on Thursday and after carding a five under par 67 Woods is now a 4/1 second favourite in the betting with Paddy Power. However, with the wind set to get up for the rest of the week, question marks continue as to how Woods will cope.
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Another market mover after the first day of the British Open was Englishman Lee Westwood. It could very well be a case of 'beware the injured golfer' in Westwood's case, as the world number three is struggling with a calf injury. That didn't stop the recent St Jude Classic winner carding a five under par 67 on Thursday afternoon, in conditions much less favourable than Woods and McIlroy's morning efforts. Westwood is now 8/1 from 18/1 with Paddypower and injury aside could be a big threat for the rest of the week.
As with any major golf championship, there were plenty of market movers on Day one, with South African Louis Oosthuizen one of the more significant. The Andalucian Open winner earlier this year looks set to make his first cut in four attempts in the British Open this week after carding a second best 65 in the first round. The South African's odds have tumbled from 250/1 pre-tournament with Paddy Power to 28/1 before his second round.
Former champion John Daly also had a good first day, carding a six under par 66 which means his odds came in from 150/1 to 35/1. Swede Peter Hanson was the second best of the European players after the first round also shooting a 66, in much worst conditions than Daly and goes in to round two a 28/1 chance with Paddy Powers.
The scoring was excellent on the first day but the weather conditions are set to worsten for the rest of the week, which could play into the hands of those who didn't captialise on Thursday. Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald were all well fancied pre-tournament but slumped to first round one over par totals of 73. Mickelson has drifted out to 80/1 from second favourite with Paddy Power as he finds himself ten shots adrift after day one.
11/4 Rory McIlroy (Friday's tee time: 13:31 - Score: -9)
4/1 Tiger Woods (14:20)-5
8/1 Lee Westwood (08:31) -5
28/1 Louis Oosthuizen -7
28/1 Peter Hanson (08:09) -6
33/1 Ernie Els (13:53) -3
33/1 Sean O'Hair (14:09) -5
33/1 Justin Rose (14:20) -2
35/1 John Daly (12:36) -6
50/1 Camilo Villegas (14:20) -4
50/1 Nick Watney (13:20) -5
50/1 Ross Fisher (14:09) -4
50/1 Paul Casey (08:20) -3
50/1 Martin Kaymer (09:31) -3
55/1 BAR
Odds supplied by Paddypower.com, with in-running live betting available throughout the Open Championship.
Posted: Friday, 16th July 2010
Author: Russell Lloyd
Tags: british open, 139th open championship, rory mcilroy, tiger woods, paddypower,
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