British Open - Who will win ?, is Tiger worth backing at last

[Uncle Spielberg]

Tiger Woods perennial favourite whenever a masters comes along is at almost tempting odds with Ladbrokes to win the British Open this week at 7/1.

Previous masters he is always around 3/1 favourite. This is the first time he has been worth backing for 2 years.

If he gets his shit together 7/1 may prove a big price and if he wins you can be sure he will be 2/1 for the next masters.

Anyone tempted with Tiger at 7/1 or who else is your money going on ?.

 

[Jambo Seagull]

I think 7-1 is crap odds for someone whose game is out of sorts. Someone on the Hearts Website suggested Stephen Ames. I've cut and pasted what he said:-

STEPHEN AMES (50/1 Corals, Hills)

Stephen Ames is going into The Open in the form of his life. He won the Ciara Western Open on Sunday which propelled him to sixth place in the US money list with only Mickelson, Els Woods Singh and Scott above him. Since March 21st he has only ONCE failed to finish in the Top 15 of any Tournament he has entered with all but one of those Top Ten finishes. He hasnt missed the cut in The Open since 1996( true he hasn't qualified for every Open since then) with his best finish being Tied 6th in 1997, the last time The Open was played at Troon. He is also still 50's on Betfair (49/1) so possible trading possibilities available. Ames is also 2nd overall in the US Tour Stats.

ADAM SCOTT (50/1 Corals)

Adam Scott is unbelievably still only 24 with a BIG future ahead of him.Adam Scott remarkably holds fifth place in the US money list having only played Ten Tournaments this year. Of that Ten tournaments he has won two and holds five top ten places. His previous Open record is poor but his relative youth and inexperience should forgive his past misdemeanours. It should only be a matter of time before his first major. Won The Players Championship earlier this year.

Other good value outsiders are;

K.J. Choi @ 66/1
M. Weir @ 40/1
S. Appelby @ 66/1
C. Howell @ 125/1

I think either Ames or Scott are not bad shouts.

 

[Woodingdean Gull]

Gareth,

try Thomas Bjorn at 100/1. Got to be worth each way.

 

[Easy 10]

Anyone know what Ian Poulters odds are ? He's been on top form lately, could be worth an e/w bet.

 

[Marshy]

Get your money on Els.
Guaranteed to be in the shake-up come Sunday.

 

[Eastleigh Seagull]

Montgomerie at 100/1 get on him e/w. It is his home course, he looks to be relaxing a bit, got to be in with a chance for top 5 if the weather gets up.

 

[Easy 10]

Won't be much value in Els, and its STILL too risky to just lump a wad on one of the favourites to win the thing outright. These competitions are notorious for complete no-hopers to appear from nowhere to take the Jug.

I'm still kicking meself from last year. Perusing the names at the start of the tournament, the missus said "Ohhh, put some money on Ben Curtis" (purely because Curtis is our sons name).

"250/1 ? Bollocks to that, never heard of him" said I, lumped a load on Garcia, and then watched in horror, head in hands as Curtis climbed the leaderboard. Then Bjorn blew up at the end and all but handed it to him on a plate. His every holed putt was greeted with a "tch" from the missus. Nightmare afternoon.

 

[donuts]

goosen

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I fancy some middle class bore in bad clothes to win.

 

[Barnet Seagull]

Certainly some value in there...

I'll plump an E/w on each of those *'d

E Els 8/1
T Woods 8/1
P Mickelson 14/1
R Goosen 14/1
V Singh 14/1
S Garcia 20/1
D Love III 25/1
P Harrington 25/1
S Ames 25/1
A Scott 33/1
D Clarke 33/1
J Furyk 40/1
R Allenby 40/1
C Campbell 50/1
F Jacobson 50/1
M Weir 50/1
S Appleby 50/1
D Toms 66/1
I Poulter 66/1
K J Choi 66/1
K Perry 66/1
L Westwood 66/1
M Campbell 66/1
P Casey 66/1
S Maruyama 66/1
T Bjorn 66/1
C DiMarco 80/1
C Howell 80/1
D Howell 80/1
J Leonard 80/1
M-A Jimenez 80/1 *
N Price 80/1
P Lonard 80/1
S Verplank 80/1
T Immelman 80/1
T Levet 80/1
J Daly 100/1
J Kelly 100/1
J Haas 100/1
L Donald 100/1
P O'Malley 100/1
P Price 100/1
S Cink 100/1
S Flesch 100/1
S Leaney 100/1
T Clark 100/1
T Lehman 100/1
B Curtis 125/1
B Davis 125/1
B Faxon 125/1
C Montgomerie 125/1 *
C Parry 125/1
G McDowell 125/1
J Haeggman 125/1
J Remesy 125/1
N Faldo 125/1
P McGinley 125/1 *
R Green 125/1
R Sabbatini 125/1
T Herron 125/1
Z Johnson 125/1
A Baddeley 150/1
A Forsyth 150/1
A Hansen 150/1
B Estes 150/1
B Van Pelt 150/1
C Pettersson 150/1
C Riley 150/1
E Romero 150/1
G Evans 150/1
G Norman 150/1
M Calcavecchia 150/1
M Gronberg 150/1
M O'Meara 150/1
R Beem 150/1
S K Ho 150/1
S Lowery 150/1
S Micheel 150/1
T Izawa 150/1
B Jones 200/1
B Lane 200/1
B Tway 200/1
C Beckman 200/1
C Cevaer 200/1
D Fichardt 200/1
F Lickliter 200/1
G Day 200/1
I Garrido 200/1
J Huston 200/1
J Kaye 200/1
K Ferrie 200/1
K Fukabori 200/1
L Oosthuizen 200/1
M Lafeber 200/1
M Tunnicliff 200/1
P Broadhurst 200/1
P Hedblom 200/1
Paul Lawrie 200/1
R Jacquelin 200/1
R Pampling 200/1
S Drummond 200/1
S Dyson 200/1
S Kendall 200/1
T Hamilton 200/1
T Hiratsuka 200/1
A Oldcorn 250/1
D Duval 250/1
J Kingston 250/1
J Randhawa 250/1
M Foster 250/1
M Goggin 250/1
N Colsaerts 250/1
N Flanagan 250/1
A Buckle 300/1
A Le Vesconte 300/1
A Stolz 300/1
C Perks 300/1
G Emerson 300/1
G Muller 300/1
H Hoshino 300/1
H Mahan 300/1
H Otto 300/1
J Green 300/1
K Eriksson 300/1
K Felton 300/1
M Erlandsson 300/1
M Hazelden 300/1
M Olander 300/1
Paul Sheehan 300/1
S Barr 300/1
S Lyle 300/1
S McRoy 300/1
S Struver 300/1
S Wakefield 300/1
T Kamiyama 300/1
T Van Der Walt 300/1
W Bennett 300/1
A Atwal 500/1
A Millar 500/1
A Willey 500/1
B Hume 500/1
B McElhinney 500/1
B Willman 500/1
D Chand 500/1
D Sugrue 500/1
E Little 500/1
J Cheetham 500/1
L Atkinson 500/1
P Bradshaw 500/1
P Wesselingh 500/1
S Whiffin 500/1
S Wilson 500/1
Y Tsukada 500/1
L Campbell 750/1
S Tiley 750/1

 

[Jambo Seagull]

Has there ever been longer odds on a defending champion than 125-1?

 

[Southover Street Seagull]

It's called The Open by the way! Not the British Open, that is what the Yanks call it. It's like calling the F.A Cup the english F.A Cup!

 

[Jesus Gul]

for a real outsider try the Indian Arjun Atwal at 500/1 (wow imagine)

He's won 2 European tour events but struggled in the States of late.

500/1 is too big a price - same price as some of those club pro's who've won through regional qualifying. get on him each way

other outsiders

Lehman - 150/1 - ol man won the Scottish Open recently and did alright last week
Jacquelin - 200/1 - good looking French dude
Chris Riley - 250/1 - solid Yank
Marteen Lafeber - 250/1 good European Tour player

 

[jonnyboylennon]

With the weather how it is as well, you'd be a f***ing FOOL to back Tiger Woods.

My EW tips are Freddie Jacobson and Phillip Price.
Get on.

 

[Billy Seagull]

As Southover Street Seagull says its called THE OPEN. The British Open is a darts tournament I believe

Anyway, on to the business of finding the winner...

Tiger Woods - can't get the ball on the fairway - CANNOT win. 7/1 is a joke.

Ernie Els is also a very short price. Yes, he may win but at the current odds he can be bypassed. No value whatsoever.

Phil Mickelson - reborn this season when winning the Masters but missed the cut last week which puts me off him. His Open form is very ordinary and his price is short enough - not for me this week.

Retief Goosen is the form player of the last month - he took the US Open in great fashion and managed to keep his cool on at Shinnecock Hills. Since then he has won the European Open at the K Club in Ireland to show the form he's in. He said before that EO victory that he was tired after winning the US Open - it didn't look like it to me !! He has a pretty good record in The Open - 8th in 2002 and 3 10th places in 9 starts. What puts me off him though is that winning back to back majors is very rare as is winning 3 tournaments in a row. He may prove me wrong but I feel this may just be one tournament too far for the Goose.

Vijay Singh played in the US last week which is hardly the best preperation and I think he doesn't enjoy playing in The Open and is plenty short enough in the betting.

SERGIO GARCIA is the first European to appear in the betting at 22. The young Spaniard has lost the re-gripping demons that plagued him last season and has clinched two victories on the US Tour so far this year, the last of which was in a playoff in the Buick Classic the week before the US Open. He was 4th in The Masters without really contending and then 20th in the US Open. His stats in the US are impressive and is 4th in Greens in Regulation htting over 70% of greens. He has finished in the top 10 in his last three opens and maybe just about to make a major breakthrough of he can keep his temprement under control. His price is a little bit skinny but I have to back him to win his first major.


JIM FURYK is just coming back from a wrist operation but it seems that his time off hasn't seen him forget how to swing a golf club (badly!!). Last years US Open winner has had just 2 other tournaments recently when making the cut in this years US Open and when coming 7th in the Western Open 2 weeks ago. He was 4th in The Open when it was last played at Troon in 1997 so he knows his way around the course. On the downside he has missed the cut in his last 3 Opens. However, I can ignore that as he's also had 2 other top 10s and I reckon he could be the freshest golfer around and he has what it takes to win a major. I think he has a solid chance. 50/1 is massive.

STUART APPELBY is my next selection at about 50/1. The Aussie is in good form and was 5th in the Western Open 2 weeks ago. He's already won on the US Tour this season and has 3 other top 10 finishes to his name. His Open record is very good - lost in the playoff to Els in 2002, 11th in 2000, 15th last year and was 20th when the Open was last at Troon in 1997. He's a steady golfer who could be ready to take the step up to win a major.

LUKE DONALD is my idea of an outsider. Trading at about 170 on Betfair the young Englishman is carving out a fine career in the US and has already won on the US tour and lost in a playoff to John Daly in the Buick Invitational in February. He was 3rd in the Western Open 2 weeks ago and has 2 other top 10 finishes so far this season. The key to his game is his driving accuracy - he has hit nearly 70% of fairways this season which is 21st best on tour and he's also hit nearly 70% of greens in regulation. Hitting fairways and greens is going to be the key at Troon and his odds are an insult.

So rounding up my 4 against the field are:
Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk, Stuart Appelby & Luke Donald.

Good luck everyone.

 

[Beach Hut]

As much as I dislike him I think Monty is a good bet and may well finally produce the goods.

 

[Inkerman]

Is it The Open where our South Stand seats go for the summer?

 

[Easy 10]

Is it The Open where our South Stand seats go for the summer?

Yup.
It comes to something when a section of your ground goes further afield than the football team pre-season.

 

[spidey]

Odds - Harrington at 25's, or Casey as a decent outside chance at 66-1.

Heart - preferably a brit, but anyone as long as he's not a yank.

 

[saafend_seagull]

why is david duval 250-1? he past it?