Odds on the British Open - Taking home the Claret Jug

Tee-off: 7/16/2009

Only two players in the past four years have won the British Open. In 2005 and 2006, Tiger Woods took home the trophy at both St. Andrews and Hoylake. In 2006 and 2007, the winner was Padraig Harrington who scored victories at Carnoustie and Birkdale.

Both Woods and Harrington will tee it up this Thursday for the 2009 British Open at Turnberry. Woods is a big favorite in the BetUS online sportsbook but Harrington has proven to be dominant in this tournament the past two years. 2009 could set up as a nice duel between the pair.

Let’s take a look at some of the golfers with a chance in the 2009 British Open.

Golf: British Open To Win

When: Thursday-Sunday, July 16-19
Where: Turnberry's Ailsa Course, Scotland
Yardage/Par: 7,204 yards; par 70
2008 champion: Padraig Harrington
TV: Thu., Fri. 7 a.m.-7 p.m. ET on TNT;
Sat. 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET on ABC;
Sun. 8 a.m. ET-1:30 p.m. ET on ABC

1. Tiger Woods +225 – Wins in 2005 and 2006 means that Tiger knows how to traverse the tough weather and long distances of the British Open courses. In all, Woods has won 3 British Opens, but two of them were at St. Andrews. Will his game translate to Turnberry? It should and his victory in the AT&T National two weeks ago says that he didn’t let the U.S. Open loss affect him. He’ll be a tough guy to beat this week.

2. Padraig Harrington +2500 - - Harrington doesn’t have a single top ten to his credit this year and has just been downright awful in 2009, but Paddy has pride and because of that, the British Open figures to be his best performance of 2009. A big issue is that Harrington has missed the cut in his last five events where he would have earned world ranking points. Still, I can’t help but think he’s on his game for this.

3. Sergio Garcia +2000 - - Garcia actually has stepped it up some lately with a 10th place finish at the U.S. Open and a top 5 finish in 3 of the last 4 British Opens. That’s enough to get him on the list at relatively low odds.

4. Rory McIlroy +2000 - - Like Garcia, McIlroy finished tied for 10th at the U.S. Open. McIlroy is fantastic off the tee as evidenced by his average of 300 plus yards off the tee at Bethpage. The golf savant needs to start proving his mettle and the 2009 British Open could be the perfect place to do it.

5. Steve Stricker +3500 - - His victory in the John Deere Classic was nice, as he had to come back from a terrible first round to score a 10 under in the second round. Stricker is really striking the ball well and could be one of those tough Americans in this very world event.

6. Ian Poulter +2800 - - Poulter finished 2nd in 2008 to Padraig Harrington at Birkdale in this event. He’s a definite player as he’s 10th in scrambling and 2nd in sand save percentage. If he can keep himself from twittering before teeing off at every hole, Poulter loves the technology; he could have a shot at the trophy.

Intriguing Longshot
Rafa Enrique +25000 - - I’m not sure if Enrique is the best long shot but he might be the most intriguing. He was terrible in 2009 until qualifying for this via the IFD-Europe. After that he finished 2nd in Munich and held the lead in Paris until shooting a final round 77. In his last tournament he shot an 82 in the opening round and missed the cut. 250 to 1? Stranger things have happened in gambling.