Up to Golf Articles

in Golf Articles

PGA Insider - British Open Power Rankings

Bookmark and Share by D.S. Williamson

Tee-off: 7/16/2009

This week the PGA presents the third Major of 2009, the Alisa Course at Turnberry, is considered the top golf course in Britain by two golf publications.

Some golf experts have claimed that Turnberry is one of the easiest courses for pros to play and might be the easiest course to host the British Open in years. The fact that the course was lengthened by 247 yards and the promise of weather factoring into play no doubt will make Turnberry just as difficult as other British Open courses in the past.

Let’s take a look at the British Open Power Rankings.

** With current BetUS online sportsbook odds

1. Tiger Woods +175 - - El Tigre won the Brit Open in 2005 and 2006. He finished 12th in 2007 but due to injury missed the Open in 2008. Tiger had a terrible U.S. Open, having to play through the worst weather on both Thursday and Friday, and will be looking to win the third major of the year. He was fantastic in his warm-up tournament to the Open, the AT&T National where he held off Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan. He’s worth being the favorite but at +175 he might not be worth a wager.

2. The Field +600 - - The Field might be the best bet in the sportsbook right now because the golfers that gamblers get should probably be going off as single wagers. Lucas Glover, the U.S. Open winner, is one of the golfers in the field right now. So is Rory McIlroy. The young Irishman can hit the ball as far off the tee as anybody in the sport and if he gets his short game going, the British Open could be his coming out party.

3. Padraig Harrington +1200 – Harrington has won the British Open the last two times it has been played in both 2007 and 2008. This year hasn’t been kind to Padraig who was almost shameful in the U.S. Open and hasn’t really done anything on the PGA Tour yet, but Harrington always picks it up this time of year and at the odds, he has to be considered for a third victory in a row in this tournament.

4. Sergio Garcia +1200 – Garcia finally came to life on the PGA Tour in the last Major, the U.S. Open, by finishing 10th. He followed that up with a terrible Traveler’s Championship by finishing 43rd, but like most of the Europeans, he will know Turnberry better than the Americans and could be tough.

5. Paul Casey +2000 - - The Brit has the ability to play with the best in the world but he’s missed the cut in his last two PGA Events, the U.S. Open and the AT&T National. If he’s not suffering from an injury, and he can get his mental game together, he has a shot but the odds are actually too low on him in the sportsbook to warrant a wager at this point.

6. Ernie Els +2500 - - Ernie missed the cut in the U.S. Open which is okay because playing under the conditions couldn’t have been easy. Before that, he finished 8th in the Memorial Tournament won by Tiger Woods. If anybody understands how the lengthening of Turnberry will affect the course, it has to be Els.

7. Lee Westwood +2500 - - Westwood’s 23rd place finish in the U.S. Open was good enough for the BetUS Golf odds makers to make him a decent priced “favorite” at +2500. The man from Worksop, England could step up big time on a course he knows well.

8. Anthony Kim +2500 - - Kim has been turning it on lately finishing 16th in the U.S. Open, 11th in the Traveler’s Championship and 3rd in the AT&T National. Kim has the ability, but will his maturity get in the way of success at Turnberry?

9. Henrik Stenson +2500 - - The Swede was actually fantastic in the U.S. Open in his last PGA Event when finishing 9th. It’s been beaten to death about how the conditions were at Bethpage during that Major, but it’s important to note because some terrific golfers, like Padraig Harrington, couldn’t even get to Saturday in the U.S. Open.

10. Geoff Ogilvy +3000 - - Ogilvy is still 5th in the FedEx Cup Standings even though he has only 1 top 10 finish in his last 6 PGA Tournaments. His 47th can be forgiven, but unlike his American counterparts, the gifted Australian skipped the last two three PGA Events to go to the British Isles and familiarize himself with the time and weather on the islands. He could bounce back in the British Open.