Over the past couple of weeks I have done a good few betting guide posts on The 2014 Open Championship. So, due to popular demand, on the ...
Over the past couple of weeks I have done a good few betting guide posts on The 2014 Open Championship.
So, due to popular demand, on the eve of the tournament here is a compilation of all those posts, to give you all a good preview on who to watch out for at Hoylake. It includes
1. 2014 Open Championship Betting Preview And Tips
2. Must Know Player Stats From The Last 8 Open Championships
3. Five Long Odds Shots To Watch Out At The 2014 Open Championship
4. One Line On Each Of The Favourites For The Open Championship
I'm also including links to other golf betting experts posts at the bottom of the piece.
GCD's 2014 Open Championship coverage is brought to in conjunction with Speedgolf International, combining running with golf in a new fun, fast, fitness-oriented game.
Make sure to check Speedgolf out on Facebook and Twitter and check out their website here.
Join the GolfCentralDaily community on Twitter for loads more comment on and off the course. Follow @golfcentraldoc
GolfPredictor are the king of golf stats and every week produce wickedly accurate tournament predictions based a whole plethora of mathematical equations I couldn't even begin to decipher.
I asked Aidan in GolfPredictor to provide some useful stats heading into The Open Championship that could help punters settle on who to back at Hoylake. We looked only at the last eight Opens, to make it fair and representative to today's field.
The first column to look at is the Rounds completed on the far right. Woods, Scott, Stricker, Sergio and Stenson are the standout solid performers.
Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia have made most cuts and played the most rounds which is significant.
Of the newbies Keegan Bradley has played twice, made the cut twice and finished on average 24.5th and Hideki Matsuyama, winner at Memorial already this year was a big hit on his debut last year.
With bookies always having a "to finish in the top 10" option, here's a really useful table that shows just who are the usual suspects in this category.
Again it's Els, Woods, Scott, Garcia and Stenson occupying the top five positions.
Noteworth too is the "all or nothing" results from Ian Poulter. From the last eight Opens, he has missed three cuts and finished in the top-10 three times. Interesting!
This is the stat that always tells a tale. It's a real indicator at an event like the Masters which is always staged on the same course, but arguably even more so at The Open which has a whole rota of different courses. Simply put, it tells you who scores best on average at The Open.
After Fabrizio Zanotti won the BMW International Open for us at odds of 80/1, who's to say we cant bag a "long odds glory" win at Hoylake!
The big American makes his Open Championship debut at Hoylake but in the form he is in this season, he's a danger anywhere. Todd has done something very rare on the PGA Tour this year and that's to keep his form line hot after a big win. That came at the HP Byron Nelson from where the former Georgia grad went on T5 at Colonial, T8 at Muirfield Village, T17 at Pinehurst (US Open), then T5 at Congressional. Sits 33rd in drving accuracy on the PGA Tour stats. The Open Championship always throws up a surprise, but I wont be shocked in the least to see Todd contend.
The bookies are still applying burn cream to their fingers after Hideki's T6 at Muirfield at astronomical odds last year but he's no longer a surprise package. I have to admit that even as a fan I'm finding hard to track Hideki around the world but I did manage to track him down to the2014 Nagashima Shigeo INVITATIONAL SEGA SAMMY Cup on the Japan Golf Tour a couple of weeks ago where he finished 17th. Surprised a little that he let a good position slip with a pair of 74's at the weekend to tie 35th at Pinehurst, but the US Open is a lottery of sorts and I'm looking more towards Hideki's win at The Memorial for this tip. A very good course course strategist, I expect him to have a great Open Championship.
Ever since Jamie won the 2012 Irish Open at Royal Portrush he went into a recess of my brain marked "watch out for on links courses." Now in the upper echelon with golf's elite Jamie is slowly but surely coming to terms with a new schedule. I was mightily impressed by his performance at the brutally tough and newly renovated TPC Blue Monster at Doral where he finished T2 alongside Bubba and behind Patrick Reed. Returned to form after missing the cut in Pinehurst with a T5 at the BMW International in Cologne and repeated the feat on the links Golf National the following week. Okay it didn't happen in Aberdeen last week but in only his fourth Open start, I expect this to be his best.
Darren Clarke at St Georges, Ernie Els at Royal Lytham, Tommy Bjorn at Hoylake? If there really is a golfing God, surely Bjorn deserves his Open. Let's not dwell too much on 2003, but instead note that that was one of two T2 finishes at the Open for the Dane who also finished fourth when his mate Darren won in 2011. I've been impressed with Tommy this season especially his T8 at Augusta, T3 at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and returning after missing the Irish Open through injury with a T8 in Cologne. Missed the cut in France and didn't start well at Royal Aberdeen but his 68, 69 at the weekend for a T24 finish will have given him great confidence. Nobody will grind harder, I think Thomas is close to a "W", why not this week.
Annually in the last few tee times the Sunday of the Open Championship, Miguel always gives value for money. His warm up routine on the practice ground might now be the stuff of legend, but on the course The Mechanic is no joke. Recorded his best ever finish at Augusta with a solo fourth and went on to win an emotional victory on home soil at the Open de Espana. With five consecutive top 30 finishes in the last five stagings, a top 10 (at odds of 7/1) or better is a realistic prospect for Miguel.
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Looking down through the odds for the 2014 Open Championship, you can make a case for several players.
The way the odds are generated nowadays leaves no room for error. Here's my one line of analysis on all the favourites. I've chosen PaddyPowers odds as he seems representative.
GCD's 2014 Open Championship coverage is brought to in conjunction with Speedgolf International, combining running with golf in a new fun, fast, fitness-oriented game.
Olympic medallist Bernard Lagat took part in the last Speedgolf World Championships; you could be in the next!
So, due to popular demand, on the eve of the tournament here is a compilation of all those posts, to give you all a good preview on who to watch out for at Hoylake. It includes
1. 2014 Open Championship Betting Preview And Tips
2. Must Know Player Stats From The Last 8 Open Championships
3. Five Long Odds Shots To Watch Out At The 2014 Open Championship
4. One Line On Each Of The Favourites For The Open Championship
I'm also including links to other golf betting experts posts at the bottom of the piece.
The Open Championship 2014 Betting Preview And Tips
Doc's Top Five To Watch
Henrik Stenson 16/1
If there was ever a time that Henrik Stenson would be primed to become The Open Champion now would be it. Having been on the podium in 2008 (T3), 2010 (T3) and 2013 (2nd) Stenson has all the experience needed to take the next step.
The Swede's form line is excellent too since a T7 at Wenworth, a solo fifth back home in Sweden a T4 at Pinehurst and T2 in Cologne at The BMW International. I think he can win this.
Adam Scott 16/1
It’s now over two years since Adam Scott missed a cut (at a PGA or European Tour event) and he remains a huge favourite for this test. Comes into The Open Championship like a lightly raced thoroughbred having won at Colonial and T4’d at Muirfield Village before a T9 at the US Open.
Critics will point to his near miss at Royal Lytham in 2012 but I think that combined with a another T3 at Muirfield last year, make him an even stronger bet to deliver this time around.
Graeme McDowell 25/1
Coming off a win on the linksy Golf National at the Open De France GMac will be full of confidence as he jets in to Liverpool from Florida on Sunday.
The Portrush man was brought up eating sand for breakfast and has already been to Hoylake for practice. His comments that this course, over any other, really suits his straight driving game were very interesting. Tied fifth in Royal Lytham when Ernie won in 2012.
Dustin Johnson 40/1
Dustin played really well up to March and then walked out of Houston, bombed out of Augusta and didn’t fare much better at Sawgrass.
Since the Byron Nelson though, DJ has improved steadily and that T4 at Pinehurst when opening with a pair of 69’s was very impressive. Couldn’t keep a great start going the following week at The Travelers (T31) but rested and refreshed I think he will love Hoylake.
Recent Open bests of T2 in 2011 when just losing out to Darren Clarke, and T9 in 2012 at Royal Lytham, Dustin remains a big threat this time around.
Sergio Garcia 28/1
Let’s face it Garcia has entered the past number of Open Championships under more pressure than a Formula One tyre. Whether it was from the media or himself, it has only served to scupper his every attempt at winning the Claret Jug.
This time nobody really expects and the subplots with Tiger and Rory McIlroy will allow Garcia go under the radar somewhat. Seven top-10’s at The Open include a T5 at Hoylake in 2006.
Started the season with a win in Qatar and brought great form into the Masters where he really did poorly by his standards. A third at Sawgrass was followed by more mediocre form before he remerged recently with a T2 at The Travelers and T12 in Germany. A ball striker for a ball strikers course, don’t write Sergio off.
GCD's 2014 Open Championship coverage is brought to in conjunction with Speedgolf International, combining running with golf in a new fun, fast, fitness-oriented game. Make sure to check Speedgolf out on Facebook and Twitter and check out their website here.
Best Of The Rest
Martin Kaymer 20/1
Has a best Open performance of T7 in 2010 at St. Andrews but is a different animal this year. Winner of The Players Championship, solid at the BMW PGA in Wentworth then winner of The US Open at Pinehurst. Martin has slipped off the boil a little since in Germany and France but nobody would be surprised by a big Hoylake performance.
Brandt Snedeker 50/1
Kind of got the hang of links golf over the past two years with a T3 at Royal Lytham and T11 at Muirfield. Dug deep with apparently hurting to score a T9 at Pinehurst but played the following two weeks at TPC River Highlands (T11) and Congressional (T21). Straight hitter and on these big flat greens if Sneds can get that putter popping he could really contend.
Join the GolfCentralDaily community on Twitter for loads more comment on and off the course. Follow @golfcentraldoc
Must Know Player Stats From GolfPredictor For The Last 8 Opens
I asked Aidan in GolfPredictor to provide some useful stats heading into The Open Championship that could help punters settle on who to back at Hoylake. We looked only at the last eight Opens, to make it fair and representative to today's field.
Best Average Finishing Position
Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia have made most cuts and played the most rounds which is significant.
Of the newbies Keegan Bradley has played twice, made the cut twice and finished on average 24.5th and Hideki Matsuyama, winner at Memorial already this year was a big hit on his debut last year.
Most Top 10 Finishes
Again it's Els, Woods, Scott, Garcia and Stenson occupying the top five positions.
Noteworth too is the "all or nothing" results from Ian Poulter. From the last eight Opens, he has missed three cuts and finished in the top-10 three times. Interesting!
Lowest Stroke Average
Tiger Woods didn't play the Opens of 2008 and 2011 and missed one cut at Turnberry in 2009 but finished 0.78 strokes on average better than next best Ernie Els. What a mind blowing stat!
The top 5 are Woods, Els, Scott, Oosthuizen and Garcia.
Long Odds Glory Betting Tips
1. Brendon Todd 80/1
2. Hideki Matsuyama 50/1
3. Jamie Donaldson 80/1
4. Thomas Bjorn 50/1
5. Miguel Angel Jimenez 80/1
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One Line On Each Of The Open Championship Bookies Favourites
Looking down through the odds for the 2014 Open Championship, you can make a case for several players.
Olympic medallist Bernard Lagat took part in the last Speedgolf World Championships; you could be in the next!
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