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British Open betting Preview
British Open betting Preview by Ian Hudson
Over the last 30 years 15 British Open champions have been winning a major for the first time. The theoretical odds of this happening at Sandwich can be generally expressed at even money based on this sample. The purpose of this article is to examine the chances of those players who have yet to win a major and are genuine contenders for the tournament known as The Open.There are four major championships during the golfing year. Winning them is a genuine measurement of a player's standing in the history of the game. Jack Nicklaus won 18 in his career while Tiger Woods has now reached 14. Two years ago Woods looked a certainty to surpass Nicklaus's total. However recent injuries and domestic turmoil have prevented him from winning a major since the US Open of 2008.
The four majors are the Masters in April, the US Open in June, the British Open in July and the US PGA in August. The Masters is always held at Augusta National while the British Open is always played at a links course. Woods is the only player since Mark O'Meara in 1998 to have won more than one in any season. Ben Curtis won the Open when it was held at Sandwich in 2003. The player who comes from a place called Sandwich in the United States was a 500/1 outsider eight years ago.
The best point of call in assessing the chances of non-major winners at Royal St Georges is the current world rankings. There are just six players in the top 20 who have won a major championship. Some pundits have questioned the validity of the rankings that allow statistically the best player in the world to reach that position in the standings without winning a major. Sir Nick Faldo is one person to have expressed his concern with this scenario. Only Woods and Phil Mickelson of the best 20 players in the world have won more than one.
There is often discussion and debate about who is the best player never to have won a major. Colin Montgomerie reached a career high of number two in the world, won the European Order of Merit eight times but has never won a major. He has come agonisingly close but reached the higher echelons of the world rankings without even winning a regular tournament in the United States.
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Luke Donald is currently at the top of the world rankings and he has not won a major championship. He has contested 10 tournaments in The US Tour this season and made the top ten eight times. He won the PGA Championship in May which is the flagship event of the European tour and last week's Scottish Open. Despite such consistency Donald's best finish in a major was a third in the 2005 Masters. In 26 appearances in major championships Donald has finished in the top 10 on just four occasions.
When the Open was last played at Sandwich in 2003 Donald missed the cut with something to spare, though obviously he was a relative newcomer to major tournament play in that year. His best 2 efforts in the Open have come in the last two years but despite finishing 5th in 2009 he has never truly been in contention for his home Open.
Lee Westwood has risen to number two in the world on the back of great consistency in the majors over the last three years. In that time he has had five top 3's from 10 championships. He was third in the Open of 2009 when a 72nd hole bogey cost him a place in the play-off with Tom Watson and eventual winner Stuart Cink. He was second a year ago at St Andrews, seven shots adrift of champion Louis Oosthuizen. On his current progression Westwood has a great chance of winning his first major at this year's Open.
I believe Sergio Garcia deserves a major due to an overall level of consistency over the first 10 years of his career. He first made a name for himself at the 1999 US PGA Championship when he beat everyone in the field except Tiger Woods as a 19 year old. The player formerly known as El Nino has an excellent game from tee to green but his woes on the greens have been costly.
In 2007 at Carnoustie he missed an eight foot par putt on the last hole to claim his first major. He was beaten in the playoff by Padraig Harrington despite hitting the pin on one of the extra holes. Twelve months earlier he was in the final group with Woods at Hoylake. Overall he was in the top five in the Opens of 2005, 2006 and 2007. His finishes in the Open have improved progressively over the last 3 years.
The highest ranked player from the United States is Steve Stricker at number five. The former world number 2 was 5th in the US Open in 1998 and 1999. He has recorded 5 top 10 finishes in the 20 majors he has played since 2006. His runner up finish in the 1998 USPGA is his best Major finish to date. Stricker's recent tournament win at The Memorial was his tenth on the US Tour. He has played in 10 Opens since 1996 and recorded two top 10s over that period.
The next US player in the rankings without a major championship to his name is Matt Kuchar. It will be interesting to see how he fares at the Scottish Open that is being played on a seaside course for the first time since 1996. Kuchar performs excellently in the key stat areas for scoring well on Open courses. He has played in the Open 6 times and his best finish was 27th a year ago. If he goes well in Scotland I can see a big showing from Kuchar at Sandwich.
Jason Day has been identified as a future major champion and he is the highest ranked player in the world rankings who doesn't hail from Europe or the United States. The Australian stands at number 7 in the world and has made the top 2 in this year's Masters and US Open. If you placed a bet on this year's Open champion being a first time major winner you would have Day on your side in addition to 5 other players from the top 10 in the world. At even money this appears to a decent betting proposition. Compare Golf Odds for the British Open 2011