British Open Betting

The golf world turns it's attention this week to the home of The Beatles, Liverpool, England, for the 135th playing of The British Open at the Royal Liverpool course at Hoylake.

This season’s third major tournament returns to a venue that hasn’t hosted The Open since 1967, when the Beatles were still cranking out music.

Tiger Woods comes into this Open Championship as the defending champion and the betting favorite. Woods won his second Claret Jug last year at St. Andrews by five strokes over Colin Montgomerie. Woods has also played in just two tournaments since The Masters in April; he missed the cut at the U.S. Open in June and placed second in the Western Open two weeks ago.

Woods, ranked #1 in the world, is listed at right around 5/1 at most sportsbooks to win The Open this weekend. He is followed on the betting boards by the remaining members of The Big Four; American Phil Mickelson at around 10/1 and Vijay Singh of Fiji and Ernie Els of South Africa at 12/1.

Mickelson, ranked #2 in the world, won The Masters in April and could have (should have?) won the U.S. Open in June. But Lefty has just one Top 10 finish in 13 appearances at The British Open in his career.

Singh, #3 in the world, has three Top 10s, including a tie for second place in 2003, in 17 careers Opens.

Els, the 2002 Open champion (he also has two second-place finishes), is ranked #8 in the world.

Following the Big Four on the betting boards are; Padraig Harrington (Ireland) and Retief Goosen (South Africa) at 18/1; Luke Donald (England) at 23/1; American Jim Furyk at 25/1; and European Order of Merit leader David Howell (England), Adam Scott (Australia), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland) and Montgomerie (Scotland), all at right around 33/1.

The Royal Liverpool course, built in 1869, will not play long this week, and is definitely of the links variety. Out-of-bounds stakes and stripes line parts of 10 holes, but much of it shouldn’t come into play for the professionals.The recent weather has been warm and dry with 10 mph breezes, and that’s the forecast for the next few days there.

The out nine at Royal Liverpool is a par-35, but the in nine includes three par-fives and is a par-37. The regular course layout has been altered a bit for The Open; what is usually hole #16, a 560-yard par-5, will become the closing hole this weekend, for a little added drama.

Others in this weekend’s field include world #15 Trevor Immelman (South Africa), Paul Casey (England) and Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) at 40/1, U.S. Open winner and world #7 Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) and 2005 PGA Champion Michael Campbell (New Zealand) at 45/1, and Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) at 50/1.

Past British Open champions in the field include ’96 winner Tom Lehman (200/1) ‘95 champ John Daly (150/1), ’03 champ Ben Curtis 150/1, ’99 winner Paul Lawrie (150/1) and three-time champion Nick Faldo (400/1).

North American television coverage of this weekend’s British Open will be provided by TNT from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Eastern Thursday and Friday, and by TNT from 7-9 a.m. Saturday and 6-8 a.m. Sunday. ABC will pick up the later coverage on the weekend, beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday.