The fourth and final major championship of 2022 starts on Thursday at the hallowed, St. Andrews. The spiritual home of golf will host the best in the world who’ll try to win the famous claret jug.
Craig Edwards looks at how to bet the Open Championship for Bookmakers Review.
The Open Championship 2022
Thursday, July 14 to Sunday, July 17, 2022 – Old Course at St. Andrews
Par 72, 7305 yards
In recent Open Championships, St. Andrews has been overpowered by the modern player. Tiger Woods illustrated this in 2000 and 2005, making the Old Course’s only defense, like many golf links being the elements that can be harsh from the nearby coast.
On a sunny fair-weather week, we can expect the winning score to be close to twenty under par while inclement weather would knock that winning score down by approximately six shots.
For this reason, I will try and spread our risk by picking at least one or two poor-weather specialists.
Jordan Spieth Could Be the Punters’ Fair-Weather Friend
I remember how well Jordan Spieth played at St. Andrews in 2015 when finishing 4th to Zach Johnson. That year, the weather was something of a mixed bag, not bright calm and sunny every day but equally gusty and rainy at times without being brutal.
I reckon that will be the perfect experience for Spieth and one that could prove pivotal for the twenty-eight-year-old Texan who is chasing a fourth major championship and a second claret jug.
Perfect Suit for Jordan Spieth
2022 has been something of a mixed bag for Spieth who won the Heritage Classic while being runner-up at Pebble Beach and the Byron Nelson. I think that shows, that the new father plays better, and his focus becomes stronger when he gets in contention.
Of all the major championships, I believe it’s the Open Championship that suits Jordan Spieth better than the others given the natural creativity in his brilliant short game.
Any driving issues will be negated by the wide expanse that is St. Andrews so take Jordan Spieth to win the Open Championship at Bovada (visit our Bovada Review) amongst your best bets this week.
Golf Pick: Jordan Spieth to Win (+2500) at Bovada
Golf Pick: Jordan Spieth to Finish Top 10 (+220) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
Danny Willett to Be the Big-Time Guy
Englishman, Danny Willett has been my idea of the Open Championship winner for several years now. The Sheffield man fits the criteria required rather neatly on several fronts.
Firstly, he is a former Masters Champion and the four previous St. Andrews winners have strong Masters records. Tiger Woods obviously from 2000 and 2005 while the last St. Andrews winner, Zach Johnson also won the Green Jacket. For good measure the 2010 champion, Louis Oosthuizen was runner-up in the 2012 Masters.
Willett Shines Here During the European Tour
At the first glance, Augusta National bears no correlation with St. Andrews but undoubtedly, they are the two most iconic courses in world golf and their results have an eerie symmetry.
Over on the European Tour, the Dunhill Links is held on a course rotation, taking in two of the four rounds at St. Andrews and Danny Willett has an exceptional record in the event. He won last year’s renewal and, has the experience to handle any poor weather if necessary.
Getting Out of the Woods
Winning big golf tournaments when getting himself in the thick of the action has become Willett’s modus operandi, given he has long periods of average form. He is that rare breed of professional golfer whose play appears to improve from being under the pressure.
Those factors make Danny Willett a viable longshot winner of the Open Championship amongst your golf picks this week.
Golf Pick: Danny Willett to Win (+15000) at BetOnline
Golf Pick: Danny Willett to Finish Top 10 (+1400) at BetOnline
Make Tommy Fleetwood Your Open Banker
I mentioned earlier, that the Dunhill Links Championship is played at St. Andrews and one perennial contender is Tommy Fleetwood. From the West Coast of England, Fleetwood grew up playing links golf so it’s little wonder that he has accumulated eight top 20 finishes in this event with six of them being top 10.
Fleetwood, unlike Willett, is notoriously difficult to win with, but he has a consistent Open record, finishing runner-up to Shane Lowry in 2019.
Bad Weather Help
I think for Fleetwood to win the Open Championship we need bad weather to eliminate the event from becoming a putting contest which is Tommy’s Achilles heel. Regardless, his consistency, course knowledge and big-time temperament which were illustrated recently in the PGA Championship when finishing 5th, mark him down as a place market banker this week on the Scottish Coast.
Add Tommy Fleetwood as a top 20 banker while adding a more modest stake for a top 5 finish given the current betting odds.
Golf Pick: Tommy Fleetwood to Finish Top 20 (+200) at BetOnline
Golf Pick: Tommy Fleetwood to Finish Top 5 (+800) at GTbets (visit our GTbets Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
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