Golf majors in 2021 have been awesome.
April saw Hideki Matsuyama become the first Japanese man to win a major tournament when he took home The Masters. We witnessed a 50-year-old Phil Mickelson become the oldest player to earn a major with his improbable PGA Championship win in May. Then, in June, Jon Rahm birdied the 17th and 18th in the final round to cap off a thrilling victory at the U.S. Open.
The Open Championship was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 but golf fans — especially those who enjoy courses capable of providing some chaos and unpredictability — should be in for a treat this weekend.
The tournament returns to Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England for the first time since 2011 when Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke beat out Dustin Johnson and Mickelson to capture his first and only major.
Unlike the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island and U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, this links style course doesn’t necessarily favour the long bombers.
Accuracy off the tee is more important than distance yet even if a ball is hit well the contour of the fairways on certain holes can result in a bad bounce and unfortunate ball placement for an approach shot.
Despite various course alterations over the years there remains many blind spots players must be wary of, not to mention plenty of treacherous crater-like bunkers and undulating greens. The drier the course is the tougher the bounces will be.
Here’s a look at some notable names to keep an eye on.
THE FAVOURITES
Jon Rahm +850 | Brooks Koepka +1400 | Jordan Spieth +1800 | Xander Schauffele +1800 | Justin Thomas +2000 | Rory McIlroy +2200 | Dustin Johnson +2500 | Louis Oosthuizen +2800
Rahm was the odds-on favourite at the U.S. Open and his backers were rewarded with a +1000 return. The Spaniard has shorter odds this time around since no golfer is playing better than he is at the moment. He is strong on links-style courses and aims to become the first back-to-back major winner since Koepka did it in 2017.
Speaking of Koepka, the popular American routinely takes his game to a new level at majors. He had a T2 at the PGA Championship, a T4 at the U.S. Open and won’t be intimidated by the unpredictable course.
Spieth is excellent around the greens and has the style to conquer Royal St George. One of only three Americans to win The Open since 2009, Spieth is the top performer, statistically, at The Open dating back to 2015 and should be in the mix come Sunday.
You don’t often find Johnson in the +2500 range for big tourneys so that’s solid value for the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer, while Schauffele has nine top-10 finishes at majors since 2017 but consistently falls short of winning.
Bryson DeChambeau is notably absent from the top tier this time around. The polarizing figure has +3300 odds this week with the course not suited to his strengths, plus the fact he hasn’t had a top-10 finish since March and his caddie recently quit.
Oosthuizen is usually in the second- or third-tier group of favourites but the 2010 Open Championship winner deserves consideration after back-to-back runner-up finishes at majors in 2021.
CONTENDERS WITH VALUE & LONG SHOTS
Of the four majors, The Open Championship is consistently the one most likely to produce an unlikely winner. If you don’t like betting the chalky top contenders this tournament offers you some solid options.
Viktor Hovland +3300: The 23-year-old Norwegian is a popular pick this week. He opened at 40-to-1 odds and the public has bet him down significantly on all books. He has never competed in The Open and doesn’t have a top-10 finish at a major but with his skill set and poise it would seem like it’s only a matter of time before he wins one. He’s great off the tee and picked up a European Tour win at the BMW International Open two weeks ago.
Patrick Cantlay +3300: This course will require an ability to scramble well. Cantlay ranks second on the PGA Tour in scrambling in 2021 and second in Par 4 scoring, two keys stats for a course that requires plenty of patience. As long as he avoids the rough and his putter doesn’t fail him, he could be a dark horse in England this weekend.
Tyrrell Hatton +3300: England’s Hatton is solid on links courses with impressive metrics tee-to-green and on the approach. He has six wins on the European Tour, including at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January. Hatton is another popular mid-tier pick this week.
https://twitter.com/TheOpen/status/1415371809764040712
Matt Fitzpatrick +4000: Has he come close to winning a major? No. Is he a household name? Not yet. However, the young Brit has been playing well lately and is coming off a T2 at the Scottish Open, hoping to carry that momentum into The Open.
Harris English +6600: Another good scrambler who ranks high up there in many putting categories, the 31-year-old is coming off a third-place finish at the U.S. Open and a win at the Travelers in late June.
Lee Westwood +6600: Westwood has five top-four finishes at The Open, including in 2019, and has shown an ability to attack the pin on courses such as this.
Webb Simpson +7000: Two straight missed cuts have clearly impacted this line because Simpson ranks 15th on the Official World Golf Ranking, is second in scoring average in 2021 and is first in scrambling.
Robert MacIntyre +7000: The young Scotsman hasn’t missed a cut since the Players Championship in March and finished T12 at the Masters. Growing up in Scotland he’s no stranger to links-style golf and his T18 at the Scottish Open last week showed he’s in good form.
Emiliano Grillo +20000: Twelve of the 18 holes at this course are Par 4s and Grillo ranks first in Par 4 scoring average. Even though he has missed the cut in three consecutive outings, at 200-to-1 odds he may worth a flier.
All listed odds via Bodog as of Wednesday
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