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Scotland hosts The Open on Thursday, Jul. 14
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 7/13/2016  at  7:26:00 AM
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The Open Championship

Tees Off: Thursday, July 14th
Royal Troon Golf Club – South Ayrshire, Scotland

Odds to Win Tournament

(For the latest Odds, connect to Sportsbook.ag)

The world’s top golfers will head to Scotland for The Open Championship on Thursday, Jul. 14. Last year, Zach Johnson emerged as the winner of the oldest of the four major championships. He shot a 15-under in that tournament, defeating both Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen in a four-hole playoff. The last time Royal Troon hosted this tournament, Todd Hamilton was the golfer that ultimately won. He shot a 10-under that year, but that number may not be good enough to win it in 2016. One major absence on the 7,175-yard course will be Tiger Woods. Woods is still recovering from a back injury that has taken him away from a majority of the past two seasons worth of golf. It’s a shame that he won’t be out there, as he holds the tournament record with a score of 19-under back in 2000. Fortunately, the field will still have guys like Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and Justin Rose. Johnson is the hot hand coming in, having won the U.S. Open in the middle of June and following that performance up with a win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational later in the month. With that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the best value plays heading into the British Open:

Dustin Johnson (8-to-1) - It’s not always fun to choose chalk, but it’d just be irresponsible to leave Johnson off of this list. Heading into The Open Championship, Johnson has come away with victories in each of the past two tournaments he has played in. One of those tourneys was the U.S. Open back in mid-June, when Johnson shot a four-under to win his first ever major. He is putting better than ever and that has always been the part of his game that has been missing. Johnson is a monster off the tee and has the in between game as well. As long as he can make some putts then he’ll be in the hunt on championship Sunday. He’s worth putting a few units on at 8-to-1 in this tournament and will likely be a force for the remainder of the season, as his confidence is sky high right now.

Rickie Fowler (30-to-1) - Fowler has really been miserable in the biggest tournaments this year, failing to make the cut at The Masters, the PLAYERS and the U.S. Open. That type of play certainly isn’t encouraging, but he is still one of the most talented players on the TOUR and that is why he is seventh in the OWGR. Fowler has the total package on the golf course, but he is a headcase of sorts. He is capable of taking himself out of any tournament when the going gets tough, so it’s important that he remains cool on the opening day of this tournament. If he can get off to a hot start then it’s very likely that he’ll be a threat to win come Sunday. He’s worth taking a shot on at 30-to-1, as he is not the type of player to get favorable odds like these often.

Justin Rose (30-to-1) - Justin Rose is yet another golfer that has had a bit of a disappointing season, but he is still the 11th ranked golfer in the OWGR. Rose has also been competitive at the bigger tournaments this year, tying for 10th at The Masters and tying for 19th at the PLAYERS. Rose did, however, get cut at the U.S. Open and followed that performance up with a 10-over tournament at Bridgestone. Rose will be looking to right the ship in this tournament and he’ll certainly have enough reasons to do be hungry heading into this one. Rose is an English player, so the British Open is something he has always wanted to win, and he also is in search of his first victory of the year. Rose was once one of the top-five golfers in the world, so he’s worth taking a shot on at 30-to-1.

Hideki Matsuyama (50-to-1) - When looking for a dark horse that could pay off in this tournament, it’s tough to avoid putting a half-unit or so on somebody like Matsuyama. Matsuyama has struggled a bit this season, but he is still one of the most promising young golfers on the TOUR. Matsuyama is 17th in the OWGR and while this season hasn’t been as good as last year, it hasn’t been all bad either. Matsuyama won the Phoenix Open in early February and has a total of five top-10 finishes on the season. Two of those happened to have come at The Masters and the PLAYERS as well. He is a big time player and it’s hard to imagine him not finding a way to get things done in this tournament.


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