The first round of The Open Championship takes place on Thursday as we get to see Royal St Georges for the first time properly this week with the entire field all going out looking to get off to a decent start.
This is a course which has thrown up plenty of surprise winners so everyone teeing off on the first tee on Thursday will fancy their chances of being the latest man to lift up the Claret Jug come Sunday afternoon.
First Round Leader
As ever in a major tournament the first market that we have a look at in the opening round is that of the first round leader. The Open is slightly different to the other majors with the exception of The Masters in that everyone goes off the first tee with the opening tee time at 6.35am and the last not until 4.16pm so there could be a draw bias which we need to investigate. As it happens the winds are expected to remain fairly constant but the day gets hotter the longer it goes on.
There is talk of the fairways being watered to keep balls from bouncing in the heavy rough here but that water can only last so long on a roasting hot day so I want to be with players out early and there are a couple of form horses who fit the bill. They are Christiaan Bezuidenhout and the recent Irish Open winner Lucas Herbert. Bezuidenhout is more of a gut selection but he drives the ball well and has a brilliant iron and short game which is the key around here. He’s out at 7.30am when the course will be at its softest and we know he likes a tough test as he won at Valderrama. Herbert has started the last two weeks with rounds of 64 and 69 so he is getting out of the blocks well. If he keeps the ball in play off the tee then he has the form behind him to post a score on a track which should suit from the fairway.
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Thursday 3 Balls
The whole field go out in threes on Thursday and they all go out off the first tee. There are plenty of fans on site and the TV coverage is excellent so we have plenty of good groups to follow over the course of the day. The pick of the earlier groups out are the 09.25 BST group of Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Branden Grace and the 09.58 group of the defending champion Shane Lowry, US Open winner Jon Rahm and the man he beat at Torrey Pines in Louis Oosthuizen. The better groups in the afternoon are the 15.10 BST group of Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott as well as the 15.21 group of Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed and Cameron Smith. All the groups have been priced up and I like three bets.
Ernie Els/Gary Woodland/Cole Hammer
Match tees off at 09.03 BST
The first of the three balls I’m happy to get involved with sees the former champion Ernie Els out alongside a Gary Woodland, who didn’t just win the US Open two years ago but he won it at Pebble Beach on the coast, and Cole Hammer.
The amateur, Hammer, hasn’t really shown much in his major appearances so he is easy to dismiss and that leaves the other two. I respect Els’ Open record and links form and the fact he came second in a recent Champions Tour event but this is a tough track and I don’t expect him to have the easiest time out here. Woodland can be hit or miss but he’s good in the wind and one of the better Americans when it comes to all-round games. If he drives the ball well I think he is a huge runner in this group.
Jason Day/Joost Luiten/Johannes Veerman
Match tees off at 12.20 BST
The second group I like in the first round sees the former USPGA champion Jason Day out alongside the European Tour veteran Joost Luiten and the American player Johannes Veerman who is on debut in the tournament this year.
Veerman is in good form after finishing 3-8 in the last two weeks and he got better the longer the week went on in Scotland last week but in the main he is known as someone who sprays it off the tee and there is no future here for that. Luiten’s short game and putting is regularly a mess so I want nothing to do with him. That leaves Day who was the last one off my shortlist when writing my outright preview. Day has come back to form in the last two outings with a couple of top 15 finishes where his driving has really improved. If he drives it well here he has the short game and approach play to go well. He has a taste of this course back in 2011 which Luiten has but as I said his short game is not good enough right now. All things point to a Day win here.
Matt Jones/Daniel Hillier/Marcel Siem
Match tees off at 14.37 BST
The final group I like the look of is the mid-afternoon one between the Australian winner of The Honda Classic in Matt Jones, the relatively unknown New Zealand player Daniel Hillier and Marcel Siem, the German player who has been around the European Tour for a while.
The latter two did well to qualify for this and just being here might be an achievement in itself. If they want more you would think the best they can do is to be here for the weekend. I’m not sure that is the case for Jones, who has a couple of Australian Open titles to his name so a fast and firm links should be right up his street. We saw at The Honda Classic that he has the strength of mind to tackle tough courses and if he can manage his way through this one off the tee then the rest of his game should be more than good enough to come through here.
Tips
Back C.Bezuidenhout First Round Leader (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back L.Herbert First Round Leader (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back them here:
Back G.Woodland to beat E.Els & C.Hammer for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back J.Day to beat J.Luiten & J.Veerman for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Coral
Back him here:
Back M.Jones to beat D.Hillier & M.Siem for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
Back him here:
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