2018 British Open Predictions: The Open PGA Betting Odds
British Open Golf Odds And Predictions
The most unpredictable of golf’s four major championships is usually the British Open and this week’s tournament is held at one of the toughest courses in the world.
147th British Open
The British Open is the oldest of golf’s major championships as this week’s tournament is the 147th staging with the winner taking home the Claret Jug. It’s also the end of an era in one regard because the British Open won’t be third on the annual PGA Tour/European Tour schedules among the majors. The PGA Championship will move from August to May in 2019, meaning the British Open will be the last of the quartet.
No golf tournament is more affected by the weather than the British Open – if you’ve ever been to England or especially Scotland, then you are well aware of what the conditions can be there even in summer. This year’s tournament is held at Carnoustie in Scotland, which is referred to by many as “Car-Nasty” because it can be so tough. This year has been unusually dry in Scotland so the course reportedly is baked brown. Guys are hitting balls more than 400 yards during practice because they are rolling forever on what is basically pavement. Good luck getting one to stop on a green.
The most memorable British Open held at Carnoustie was in 1999 when Frenchman Jean van de Velde became famous for all the wrong reasons. He was in control of the tournament through three rounds and needed no worse than a double-bogey at No. 18 on Sunday to win his first major. Van Velde had a triple in one of the great meltdowns in sports history and would lose in a playoff to Paul Lawrie (Justin Leonard also in the playoff). All three finished 72 holes at 6 over par. At the British, a playoff is four-hole aggregate and sudden death if still tied after that.
British Open Odds
The usual suspects are favoured on the Sports Interaction odds. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson leads the way at +1200. The American is looking for his first British Open title. He was a runner-up in 2011. When Carnoustie last hosted in 2007, Johnson wasn’t a qualified professional yet.
Justin Rose (+1400), Rory McIlroy (+1500), Rickie Fowler (+1600) and Jordan Spieth (+1800) round out the favourites. No Englishman, as Rose is, has won this tournament since 1992. That’s shocking. McIlroy won in 2014 and was fourth last year and fifth in 2016. Fowler is probably the best player going yet to win a major. He was a runner-up in 2014. Spieth is the defending champion, winning a very intriguing final-round duel last year at Royal Birkdale over Matt Kuchar. Spieth hasn’t won anywhere since.
Tiger Woods plays the British Open for the first time since 2015 and is +2200. He’s a three-time champion, last in 2006. Woods was T12 in 2007 at Carnoustie. Phil Mickelson is +4900 for his second Claret Jug.
No Canadian has won the British Open and the lone entrant this year is Adam Hadwin, who is +17800. Hadwin missed the cut in his British Open debut a year ago and has been struggling of late with no Top 25s since early May.
British Open Predictions
We like McIlroy and England’s Tommy Fleetwood for Top 10s, but the winner at a terrific price of +8500 is Zach Johnson. He won the 2015 British Open at St Andrews, fared relatively well in 2007 at Carnoustie (T20) and has been worse than 16th just once in this tournament since 2011.