It is certainly proving to be an exciting summer of sport across the globe and while the Copa America and Euros have now concluded, we have plenty of other top sports events to look forward to over the coming weeks. That starts this week in the UK with one of the signature sports events of the year, the British Open Golf Championship.
Came here looking for info on the 2022 Players Championship? We got you covered with an in-depth guide on golf’s 5th major.
This year’s tournament will be hosted by Royal St George’s in Sandwich, Kent, the southernmost of all the British Open rota courses. It is the first time since 2011 that the tournament has been played at the venue.
That year, Darren Clarke rolled back the years to produce a links golf masterclass to win the tournament in what was one of the most popular wins in the history of the tournament.
That event was played in some poor weather conditions, but with the weather prospects for the week looking very good, with sunny and relatively calm weather predicted, this does mean that while the greens will be firmer, it should mean players don’t have to contend too much with the prevailing weather conditions, which often make links courses so much more difficult.
After being postponed last year, the return of the British Open will be a huge boost for golf
fans in the UK and of course, interest in the event from the betting community will be huge. Bet365 Sport offers an excellent range of bets on the event, both pre-tournament and also extensive live in play betting too.
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So how is the British Open shaping up? Well to start, let’s take a look at how other Major tournaments have gone this season before we take a look at the tournament itself in a bit more detail.
Who Has Won The Majors In 2021?
There have been a number of firsts in the Majors this year and that started back in April at
Augusta National where Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese player to win The Masters. Matsuyama, who will miss the Open due to a positive Covid-19 test, also landed his first Major with the win back in Georgia.
A month later and we saw the first 50+ year old player win a Major Championship when Phil Mickelson landed victory at Kiawah Island in the USPGA Championship. Mickelson, who was just a month short of his 51st birthday, eclipsed Jack Nicklaus in the record books as the oldest ever Major winner.
A few weeks later the action turned to Torrey Pines and the US Open and here we saw another first time winner of a Major championship as Spaniard Jon Rahm fulfilled the predictions of many by landing his first ever Major title. The win not only secured him that coveted Major crown but also saw him move closer to Dustin Johnson at the top of the World Golf Rankings.
The Open 2021 – Royal St George’s
The British Open returns to Sandwich and the famous links at Royal St George’s this year after
ten years. The last event saw Darren Clarke land a famous and popular victory in testing conditions, with the Northern Irishman finishing two shots clear of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
This year is the 15th time that the venue has hosted The Open Championship and before Darren Clarke’s win, other players to have landed a victory here include Bill Rodgers, Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman and Ben Curtis in more recent times.
The course is a relatively short par 70 links course that features what is believed to be the largest and deepest bunker in professional golf. Nicknamed “Himalayas”, the bunker is 25-feet wide, but it is its 40 foot depth that has made it one of the most feared obstacles on the course.
Sir Ian Fleming was a former captain of the club and the course served as his inspiration for the Royal St Mark’s course that featured a golf game between James Bond and Goldfinger in the eponymous book.
As is the case with most links’ courses, the prevailing weather conditions play a huge role in how hard the course plays. If the wind picks up and the rain swirls in, then par is a great score on every hole. However, if as expected, the weather is relatively calm, sunny, and benign, then there is a real chance that players can shoot low scores.
With the latter being expected this week, it does look like players are going to have to shoot low if they want to be involved in the latter stages on Sunday afternoon when the tournament is decided.
The Field
As you would expect, the field competing at The Open is hugely competitive but there have
been a number of withdrawals from the event for a variety of reasons. With Tiger Woods still rehabilitating after his car crash, he has been joined by a number of players in sitting out the tournament including the Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama, former Masters Champion Bubba Watson, plus the likes of Matthew Wolff, Danny Lee, Kevin Na, Si Woo Kim, Sungjae Im and K.H.Lee.
Who Should I Back At The British Open This Week?
The first thing to note here is that Bet365 are offering each way payouts on the top eight players (and equals) in the tournament and as such, that does make an each way punt something very much worth considering.
As for who will likely be in contention, Jon Rahm’s excellent form culminating in that US Open win last month sees him as the 8/1 favourite to win the Open. He is comfortably clear of a group of players who are all rated as 18/1 chances that includes the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Justin Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka.
In truth, my gut feeling is that the winner of the tournament will come from this group, and I feel that Brooks Koepka is the pick to make here given that he is in excellent form, despite an injury earlier in the season, which has taken him a little while to recover from. I think now fully recovered; he should go very close this week.
For a couple of good solid each way betting options, then Tyrell Hatton at 33/1 is an attractive prospect with the player now ranked as the best English golfer in the world at tenth in the rankings. Another English player in good form is Ian Poulter who finished fourth at last week’s Scottish Open and Poulter is a great value 75/1 to win this event.
Both of these players offer great value on the each way markets.
