S.P. Read Esq. The Open
Our daily columnist and pundit S.P.Read Esq. looks ahead to THE OPEN starting on Thursday at Hoylake and there are a whole host of markets available with Star Spreads, the home of sports spread betting.
The Great Summer Of Sport 2014 is the gift that keeps on giving and coming up next on the turntable is the Open from Hoylake starting on Thursday.
It’s the first Open that we are trading live on the new Starspreads.com web site so check out the full range of markets and don’t forget the special offer below for new account holders.
FREE €/£50 FOR EVERY SHOT THE WINNER WINS THE OPEN BY!
THE OPEN GOLF ON STAR SPREADS
Look out also for updates tweeted from Star Spreads. If you are not following Star Spreads on twitter then do so to get the very latest news direct from the trading team @starspreads_bet.
It could well prove to be an Open of two halves weather wise – glorious weather is predicted for the first two days but those making the cut will be faced with the prospect of thundery showers on Friday and then further rain forecast on Sunday. The course is very much susceptible to high winds too so keep an eye on that. Tickets ARE still available in the Gallery Restaurant from £690 per person if you are interested !!
Tiger Woods is back and Tiger Woods is back at Hoylake – which was the venue for his most recent Open success in 2006 when his 18 under par proved good enough and he only used his driver once during the tournament on the sun-baked course !! Woods is much bigger in the market than we’ve become accustomed too but lack of match fitness after back surgery will surely hold him back?
Since Woods’ win in 2006 the Open winners have been:
2007 Padraig Harrington (Carnoustie)
2008 Padraig Harrington (Royal Birkdale)
2009 Stewart Cink (Turnberry)
2010 Louis Oosthuizen (St Andrews)
2011 Darren Clarke (Royal St George’s)
2012 Ernie Els (Royal Lytham & St Annes)
2013 Phil Mickelson (Muirfield)
Disputing the top of the market is Justin Rose and it’s no surprise given he is very much the man in form and comes here looking for a hat-trick of tournament wins following successes in Maryland and in the Scottish Open last weekend.
Rose finished fourth in the Open as an amateur some 16 years ago and of course had a career highlight win in the US Open last year. It goes against the grain backing Rose as favourite but I do have a feeling that this is very much ‘his time’ and his confidence will be sky high. With plenty of question marks still to be answered about the current form of the likes of Woods, McIlroy and defending champion Phil Mickelson I will be including Rose as one of my three selections. I am SELLING their finishing position on Star Spreads (ie: expecting them to do well so the lower finishing position the better).
Graeme McDowell also goes on to the short list. He had his best Open finish two years ago at Lytham when finishing fifth and has played well this season including a win in the recent French Open where he came from eight shots off the lead.
He got off to a flyer in the 2006 Open when he was the first round leader and a bold show can be expected this year.
McDowell said on his BBC blog: “Hoylake is one of those Open venues where there is a real premium on accuracy off the tee. You have to put the ball in play; it’s a well-bunkered golf course and the greens are relatively flat so they give you the chance to putt well. It really appeals to my type of game. This is a good venue for me, especially as there aren’t lots of 280-290-yard carries. Links golf has always been in my blood because I grew up at Portrush and played most of my golf as an amateur on links courses.”
My third and final selection is a little more speculative, Thomas Bjorn.
Bjorn was joint runner-up to Tiger Woods at St Andrews in 2000 and then looked set to go one better when he leading the 2003 championship by three with four holes to play, but he dropped four strokes and lost by one to Ben Curtis.
You don’t generally get rich backing chokers but Bjorn’s odds look insultingly too big.
THREE FOR ME:
Justin Rose
Graeme McDowell
Thomas Bjorn
The other market that appeals on Star Spreads is the 72 hole match bet one and I’m definitely favouring Adam Scott over Rory McIlroy and buying shot supremacy at 1.5.
FIRST DAY TEE TIMES
(USA unless stated, all times BST):
(x) denotes amateurs
0625 David Duval, David Howell (Eng), Robert Karlsson (Swe)
0636 Dawie Van Der Walt (Rsa), Cameron Tringale, Masanori Kobayashi (Jpn)
0647 Chris Wood (Eng), Matthew Jones (Aus), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut)
0658 Hyung-sung Kim (Kor), Erik Compton, Marc Leishman (Aus)
0709 Koumei Oda (Jpn), Ben Martin, Anirban Lahiri (Ind)
0720 Brooks Koepka, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Edoardo Molinari (Ita)
0731 Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Branden Grace (Rsa), Ashley Chesters (Eng)
0742 Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis, Paul Lawrie (Sco)
0753 Ryan Moore, Francesco Molinari (Ita), Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)
0804 Matteo Manassero (Ita), Bradley Neil (Sco), Mikko Ilonen (Fin)
0815 Thomas Bjorn (Den), Patrick Reed, Stewart Cink
0826 Tom Watson, Jim Furyk, Darren Clarke (Nirl)
0837 Luke Donald (Eng), Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia (Spa)
0853 Paul Casey (Eng), Harris English, Matthew Every
0904 Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Henrik Stenson (Swe)
0915 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Padraig Harrington (Irl), K J Choi (Kor)
0926 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Rory McIlroy (Nirl), Jordan Spieth
0937 Ian Poulter (Eng), Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker
0948 Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell (Nirl), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)
0959 Hunter Mahan, Stephen Gallacher (Sco), Victor Dubuisson (Fra)
1010 Sir Nick Faldo (Eng), Todd Hamilton, Mark Calcavecchia
1021 Brett Rumford (Aus), Ryan Palmer, Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn)
1032 John Singleton (Eng), Peter Uihlein, Marc Warren (Sco)
1043 Paul Mckechnie (Sco), Kristoffer Broberg (Swe), Juvic Pagunsan (Phi)
1054 Rhein Gibson (Aus), Brian Harman, Hyung-tae Kim (Jpn)
1105 Oscar Floren (Swe), Chris Hanson (Eng), Yoshinobu Tsukada (Jpn)
1126 Matthew Southgate (Eng), James Mcleary (Sco), Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn)
1137 Roberto Castro, Victor Riu (Fra), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
1148 Dong-kyu Jang (Kor), Nick Watney, Shawn Stefani
1159 Y.E. Yang (Kor), D.A. Points, Brendan Steele
1210 Scott Stallings, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Bryden Macpherson (Aus)
1221 Charley Hoffman, George Coetzee (Rsa), Michael Hoey (Nirl)
1232 Brendon De Jonge (Zim), Kevin Streelman, Brendon Todd
1243 Gary Woodland, Sandy Lyle (Sco), Kevin Stadler
1254 Graham Delaet (Can), Brandt Snedeker, Cheng-tsung Pan (Chn)
1305 Boo Weekley, Danny Willett (Eng), Ashun Wu (Chn)
1316 J.B. Holmes, Jonas Blixt (Swe), Chris Kirk
1327 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Bill Haas, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
1338 Jason Day (Aus), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Zach Johnson
1354 Jamie Donaldson (Wal), Webb Simpson, Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn)
1405 Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els (Rsa), Bubba Watson
1416 Russell Henley, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Billy Horschel
1427 Adam Scott (Aus), Justin Rose (Eng), Jason Dufner
1438 Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Lee Westwood (Eng), Keegan Bradley
1449 Kevin Na, Joost Luiten (Ned), John Senden (Aus)
1500 John Daly, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Ross Fisher (Eng)
1511 Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Mark Wiebe, Paul Dunne (Irl)
1522 Oliver Fisher (Eng), Chesson Hadley, Shane Lowry (Irl)
1533 Richard Sterne (Rsa), George McNeill, Chris Stroud
1544 Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Jin Jeong (Kor), Matthew Baldwin (Eng)
1555 Justin Walters (Rsa), Rhys Enoch (Wal), Billy Hurley III
1606 Chris Rodgers (Eng), Scott Jamieson (Sco), Byeong-Hun An (Kor)
CLICK HERE FOR THE OPEN GOLF MARKETS ON STAR SPREADS
RECOMMENDED BET (scale 1-100 points)
SELL JUSTIN ROSE FINISHING POSITION (max make up 70) at around 26 with Star Spreads for 2 points
SELL GRAHAM MCDOWELL FINISHING POSITION (max make up 70) at around 35 with Star Spreads for 2 points
SELL THOMAS BJORN FINISHING POSITION (max make up 70) at around 43 with Star Spreads for 2 points
BUY ADAM SCOTT/RORY MCILROY 72 HOLE MATCH BET at around 1.5 with Star Spreads for 20 points
Since World Cup: -171.25
- Any spread prices quoted are indicative and as always prices are subject to fluctuation.
- Please note the opinion, views and forecasts above are of the author and not of Star Spreads.
