We have previewed The Open in full but before the first tee ball is hit on Thursday morning there is enough time to have a look at the various side markets which are always priced up whenever a major tournament comes along.
As ever for these events we have markets based on the many nationalities that are on show at the tournament as well as things like finishing positions, age categories and specials for the leading contenders. Having scoured the markets I’ll chance my arm with three bets.
Top Debutant
There are 39 debutants in the tournament this year, each ranging from various statuses with some still amateur golfers, some on the minor tours and then the majority of them plying their trade on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour. In fact, a good chunk of this field are PGA Tour players who you wonder whether they will be ideally suited to the nuanced test in front of them.
There are 10 what I would call recognisable DP World Tour players in this market with Rasmus Hojgaard and perhaps Dan Bradbury among the leading ones of them. Bradbury, along with Ewen Ferguson, Yannik Paul, Ockie Strydom and Kalle Samooja have all won on that tour in the last 18 months. The first win of Ferguson could be most relevant here because it was in Qatar where the winners tend to go well in The Open. Being Scottish the conditions that Ferguson will encounter this week will come naturally to him and I think that is important. Ferguson arrives here having finished fourth at the British Masters and T12 on home soil last week. While the likes of Canada champion Nick Taylor, Valspar winner Taylor Moore, Denny McCarthy and Davis Riley are all respected from the PGA Tour, with form and conditions to suit the 10/1 on Ferguson looks a fair price to me.
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Top Irish Player
While there are a multitude of players in the top debutant market, there are just six players teeing it up in the Irish one and when you consider that Darren Clarke is past his competitive days and Alex Maguire is upped in class as an amateur you could argue there are only four real runners in this market – Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington and Seamus Power.
The first three are all former champions whereas Power is returning to action after a spell on the sidelines so I’ll take him out of contention. McIlroy is a former winner here but he is having to back up the win last week and it is never easy to contend the week after winning. To be fair, McIlroy has won in successive weeks twice in his career but the odds on about him winning this market just feels a little tight. Were McIlroy to falter I’m not convinced there is as much between Lowry and Harrington as 3/1 the former and 9/1 the latter would suggest. Harrington has been going very well on the Champions Tour this year and also has some positive results on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour this season. The way Lowry faded in the final round in Scotland is a negative for me so I’ll take a chance that Harrington can lead his countrymen home.
Top 30 Finish
The other market that I like this week is the top 30 finish one. As I’ve mentioned when betting on this market in the past you can either use this market to look to take a short price and bank some profit should everything go right or you can play an outsider whose claims weren’t quite strong enough to be a part of the outright staking plan but who should still have an acceptable week. I am always one for the latter tactic and that is no different here.
The player in question is Matthew Jordan who I’m sure everyone knows is a member of this course. That is a massive advantage and while not necessarily one to win him the tournament, it should lead to giving him a good chance to make the cut and then he would only need to play steady golf over the weekend to finish in the top 30. Jordan has played in an Open before having qualified for St Andrews last year and recently he has finished in the top 20 on exposed tracks in the Scandinavian Mixed and Made in Himmerland. Jordan also had a good week on a links course at the KLM Open as well as a top five in Qatar last year where form is very relevant to this event. He also has a top five in the Dunhill Links and a top 15 in this part of the world in the British Masters at Hillside which all suggests links golf is well within his comfort zone. The 3/1 he cracks the top 30 this week will do for me.
Tips
Back E.Ferguson Top Debutant (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with 888sport (1/4 1-4)
Back him here:
Back P.Harrington Top Irish Player for a 1/10 stake at 10.00 with Betfair
Back M.Jordan Top 30 Finish for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Betway
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