The Open Betting 2008
The third golf major of the year, The Open Championship, begins on 17 July and the Golf Betting world will be relishing what must be one of the most ‘open’ opens in years. The absence of the Tiger opens the way for a number of top players to vie for the title of Open Champion without feeling the sneaking suspicion that they are actually only competing for second place. Many regret the absence of the great man but feel that the Open Championship, especially at Royal Birkdale, is bigger than any single player and recall that there have been many other players vying for top of the leader board in recent years.
Betting on the Open Championship
There are a few players in peak form at the moment and Englishman Lee Westwood, priced by online bookies at 14/1, is one of them. Only one shot short of the playoff between Woods and Rocco Mediate in the US Open, Westwood is in a confident mood right now and likely to feature high on the leader board for the four days of the contest. South African, Ernie Els, my own personal hero, is currently favourite at 12/1 and showing encouraging signs of shaking off his poor form of recent months. He has nerves of steel and will give his all to win this tournament. Fellow countryman and US Masters winner, Trevor Immelman must be worth a look at 35/1. He didn’t really try in the US Open and will be looking to make his mark here.
Spaniard, Sergio Garcia, bookies joint favourite, will be wanting to join fellow countryman and Euro 2008 Final goal scorer, Fernando Torres as a national hero and there will be no stopping him. And will Justin Rose finally deliver the goods on home ground? Online bookies seem to think so with odds of 20/1. Padraig Harrington represents the Irish particularly strongly at the moment and is in with a shout at 16/1. Phil Mickelson is also priced at 16/1, and the steady American will surely be lurking somewhere near the top of the board.
How the course affects Open Championship betting
Royal Birkdale is a links course situated on the Lancashire coast. When the course was designed, the tradition was to have the fairways traversing the dunes, resulting in players often having to make blind shots. At Birkdale the holes were placed in the valleys, which gives the players a clearer idea of their next shot along flat fairways, lends an air of seclusion to each hole and enables spectators to have a fine view of proceedings from the top of the dunes. The course is very popular among players.
The difficulty inherent in a links course is usually defined by the weather. There’s usually a stiff breeze blowing on coastal links courses and the holes are designed to take this into account. When there is no wind the holes can seem deceptively easy and can vary from day to day in the demands they place upon competitors. Our American cousins are less familiar with such courses and the best of them have had to make a special effort over the years to learn their secrets.
All in all it’s going to be a great tournament with lots of ups and downs. Follow the action online with laptop in hand and you can be in there with new bets as events unfold. There are loads of free bets available for new customers of #Open Championship betting# sites plus stacks of up-to-the-minute stats and information, gossip and inside stories to help you on your way. It’s all on the telly so get your feet up, invite your mates round for a few bevies and dig in for four days of top rate excitement at this fantastic event.
