Major winners can hold sway in Open

THE 138th Open Championship gets under way at Turnberry tomorrow with world No. 1 Tiger Woods the hot favourite to lift the claret jug for a fourth time.

Woods is 13-5 to win in Ayrshire and that’s not a bad price when you consider that his main rivals are either missing or out of form. Amazingly, it’s 33-1 bar the Tiger.

Phil Mickelson, whose wife is suffering from breast cancer, has elected to stay at home, while the likes of Ernie Els (50-1), Vijay Singh (110-1) and Retief Goosen (55-1), so long considered serious contenders for the Majors, seem to be in steady decline.

Sergio Garcia (33-1), whose Open record contains a couple of near misses, continues to have problems with his putting and when you consider that England’s Lee Westwood is the 33-1 co-second favourite despite his inability to cross the winning line, you have to conclude that this Open might just fall into Woods’ lap without him having to produce anything special.

The 20-year-old Rory McIlroy has been heavily backed in recent days and has been reduced to a best-priced 40-1.

But mercurial talent is not always enough and this championship might come too soon for Northern Ireland’s rising star.

Turnberry is a course which players must plot their way around and experience of links golf and its vagaries are vital.

The first cut of rough has been extended, much to the relief of the players, but wayward drives will be punished by penal rough.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington is going for his third successive Open title and his current price of 40-1 would have been unthinkable a few months ago.

But Pod has been in terrible form in 2009 and even victory in a low-quality Irish PGA Championship at the weekend will not have given his supporters much confidence of a hat-trick of Open Championships.

Woods apart, the American challenge is not as strong as in previous years.

Hunter Mahan, who played well at the US Open, is 33-1, but fellow countryman Jim Furyk looks better value at the same price.

Recent US Open winner Lucas Glover can be backed at 125-1, but I would be surprised if he were able to translate his home form to a links course in Britain.

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, runaway winner of the TPC at Sawgrass and a proven big-tournament player, is tempting at 40-1, while Germany’s Martin Kaymer - winner of the last two European Tour events - has a chance and is also a realistic price at 40s.

The same can be said of the consistent and improving Ross Fisher (55-1), but this column is all about securing value and the three golfers I have selected at big prices boast a proven track record at major level and, in my view, have better chances than their odds suggest.

The first is Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy, winner of the 2006 US Open and two World Matchplay titles.

Admittedly, he has not been at his best since beating Paul Casey in the world final in February, but his ability to get the job done in the heat of battle makes him an attractive bet at 55-1.

Ben Curtis won the Open at Royal St Georges in 2003 after which his career took a downturn.

However, the American has been much more consistent during the last couple of seasons and his straight driving and smooth putting style will stand him in good stead this weekend. He looks a possible winner and 66-1 is a fair price.

The third selection - and most speculative - is David Duval, the 2001 champion at Royal Lytham.

The former World No. 1 suffered a depressing decline in his career not long after winning the Open, but has shown signs of a recovery in the last year, culminating in a superb performance to be joint second to Glover in last month’s US Open.

With that effort under his belt and links form to his name, Duval could figure, so odds of 150-1 with Ladbrokes could be way off the mark.

Finally, in punting on the Open, be sure to check out the various offers made by the bookies.

For instance, Boylesports and Paddy Power are going each-way the first eight and seven respectively, while other firms are only paying out on the first five but may offer better win odds.


ENGLAND’S cricketers were awful in the first Ashes Test, so the fact that they were able to secure a dramatic draw is a huge bonus going into game two at Lord’s tomorrow.

Andrew Strauss’s men must improve dramatically against an Australian outfit whose performance in Cardiff came as a huge surprise to this observer.

That said, I can’t believe there is such a gulf between the teams, but the prospect of indifferent weather has prompted the bookies to make the draw favourite at 11-10.

The Aussies are 7-4 to win, with England at 5-1, but the bet I like is Kevin Pietersen to be top home batsman for this Test at 100-30.

KP took some serious flak for his two dismissals in Cardiff and will be fired up to make amends.



AMIR Khan is 1-2 to win the WBA welterweight title with victory over Ukrainian Andreas Kotelnik in Manchester on Saturday.

But with the memory of last September’s one-round knock-out at the hands of Breidis Prescott still fresh, I feel he could be vulnerable against a champion who has made two successful defences of his title.

Khan’s chin is suspect, so the 6-1 about Kotelnik winning inside the distance looks a knock-out bet.


RECOMMENDATIONS: Open Golf, Geoff Ogilvy, e.w., first five, 55-1 (William Hill), Ben Curtis, e.w, first five, 66-1 (general), David Duval, e.w, first eight, 110-1 (Boylesports); Kevin Pietersen to be top England run scorer in second Test, 100-30 (Stan James, Betfred, Boylesports, William Hill); Andrea Kotelnik to stop Amir Khan, 6-1 (William Hill).