Golf betting: The British Open preview
By MATT FARGO
We hit our third Major of the season with the 144th edition of The Open Championship taking place from St. Andrews - The Old Course in Fife, Scotland. This is the 29th time St. Andrews has hosted The Open Championship with the last coming in 2010 as it is in the rotation every five years. That year it Louis Oosthuizen who was not challenged as he defeated Lee Westwood by seven shots. Since 1990, players have been able to tame The Old Course as the five winning scores have been -18, -6, -19, -14, and -16.
Links golf is like no other and in Scotland, it is surely like no other. St. Andrews sets the precedent and shows that the gameplan is to actually play the holes from pin to tee in order to set up the approach shots. The targets are small despite the greens being mammoth in size so precision is a must. There is just one water hazard on the entire track but that is made up with 112 bunkers, some so deep that players cannot even see out of them. And then of course there is the weather, which can always reek havoc.
Of the last 26 Majors, there have been 19 different winners with Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Martin Kaymer, Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth being the only two-time or more Major winners. Not since 2008 had there been a repeat major winner when Padraig Harrington won The Open Championship and PGA Championship back-to-back. But we have now seen it twice since last year as Rory McIlroy won The Open Championship and PGA Championship and Jordan Spieth has taken the Masters and the U.S. Open this season.
American players had won three straight Majors after Webb Simpson's victory at the 2012 U.S. Open but the American's went 0-4 in the next four. Since then though, U.S. players have captured five of the last eight. History could be on their side as since 1995 at St. Andrews, Americans have won 12 of the 20 Open Championships. However, just two of the last eight winner have been Americans, Stewart Cink in 2009 and Phil Mickelson in 2013.
Course history always plays a big role in tournaments but we have limited history here. Since 2000, there are just 24 players that have played all three Open Championships that are also playing this week. Of those, nine players made the cut all three times so that is something to keep an eye on although some of those such as Tom Lehman, Darren Clarke and Mark Calcavecchia can be tossed out. Tiger Woods has the best finishing average thanks to a pair of wins and over the last two editions, Retief Goosen has the best finishes with a solo 6th in 2010 and a T5 in 2005.
While The Open Championship is here just every five years, it is worth noting that the European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is played at St. Andrews every year which gives us some more numbers to look at. Only two of the four rounds of that event are played here though so those need to be weeded out. Additionally, four of the last five Open Championship winners at St. Andrews were already major winners which is also something to take into consideration.
By MATT FARGO
We hit our third Major of the season with the 144th edition of The Open Championship taking place from St. Andrews - The Old Course in Fife, Scotland. This is the 29th time St. Andrews has hosted The Open Championship with the last coming in 2010 as it is in the rotation every five years. That year it Louis Oosthuizen who was not challenged as he defeated Lee Westwood by seven shots. Since 1990, players have been able to tame The Old Course as the five winning scores have been -18, -6, -19, -14, and -16.
Links golf is like no other and in Scotland, it is surely like no other. St. Andrews sets the precedent and shows that the gameplan is to actually play the holes from pin to tee in order to set up the approach shots. The targets are small despite the greens being mammoth in size so precision is a must. There is just one water hazard on the entire track but that is made up with 112 bunkers, some so deep that players cannot even see out of them. And then of course there is the weather, which can always reek havoc.
Of the last 26 Majors, there have been 19 different winners with Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Martin Kaymer, Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth being the only two-time or more Major winners. Not since 2008 had there been a repeat major winner when Padraig Harrington won The Open Championship and PGA Championship back-to-back. But we have now seen it twice since last year as Rory McIlroy won The Open Championship and PGA Championship and Jordan Spieth has taken the Masters and the U.S. Open this season.
American players had won three straight Majors after Webb Simpson's victory at the 2012 U.S. Open but the American's went 0-4 in the next four. Since then though, U.S. players have captured five of the last eight. History could be on their side as since 1995 at St. Andrews, Americans have won 12 of the 20 Open Championships. However, just two of the last eight winner have been Americans, Stewart Cink in 2009 and Phil Mickelson in 2013.
Course history always plays a big role in tournaments but we have limited history here. Since 2000, there are just 24 players that have played all three Open Championships that are also playing this week. Of those, nine players made the cut all three times so that is something to keep an eye on although some of those such as Tom Lehman, Darren Clarke and Mark Calcavecchia can be tossed out. Tiger Woods has the best finishing average thanks to a pair of wins and over the last two editions, Retief Goosen has the best finishes with a solo 6th in 2010 and a T5 in 2005.
While The Open Championship is here just every five years, it is worth noting that the European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is played at St. Andrews every year which gives us some more numbers to look at. Only two of the four rounds of that event are played here though so those need to be weeded out. Additionally, four of the last five Open Championship winners at St. Andrews were already major winners which is also something to take into consideration.
