((((( " THE OPEN " ))))) Championship - St. Andrews.

On here with..........

FRASER 1000/1 + T10 & T20 markets.
LUKE at 80/1 6pls.
Top Am Oliver 7/2 Spoils (stealing money).
Ryan Palmer last week @ 150/1 was too big.

FYI

http://www.theopen.com/

Going to be a great weeks golf ahead,the biggest problem is not to end up backing too many golfers,ive broken my selection down to three main bets and four small e/w bets,
Il start off with Rickie Fowler who is one of the best links player in the world,he will be in great form after his super win last week,the worse the conditions the better for him,
Second selection is the great Tiger Woods,came back into form on his last outing,loves the course and has won here before,how could I not back him,
Third selection is Adam Scott,another previous winner of the open,showed some of his old sparkle in the Us open,and he will be at a great advantage having Williams back on the bag for him,
Outside bets are as follows,
Raf Cabera Bello,
Gary Woodland,
Thomas Aiken,
P Lazzaazabal,

Selections,

Rickie Fowler 28/1 e/w 6 places,bet was done last week,

Adam Scott 20/1 e/w 7 places,

Tiger Woods 33/1 e/w 6 places,bet was done a few weeks ago,


Raf Cabero Bello 150/1 e/w 7 places

Thomas Aiken 250/1 e/w 7 places,

Gary Woodland 150/1 e/w 7 places,

P Lazzazabal 200/1 7 e/w places,

Also done a Trixie,
Jimenez top senior player 11/8,
David Hearn top Candian player 11/8,
Richie Ramsey top Scottish player 11/4,

Adam Scott has never won the Open huddys, he handed it on a plate to Ernie Els though

Dustin Johnson @ 14
Victor Dubuisson @ 85
Charl Schwartzel @ 110

Correct sorry for the mistake,best of luck with your selection Premier,

i just hope to be on the right side of the weather, when i checked on the phone yesterday it seemed to be favouring the early starters Thursday / late starters Friday, now the forecast seems to have changed

gl as well

Dustin Johnson 12/1
Excellent links player who will be suited by the soft course conditions.

Hideki Matsuyama 35/1
Asian players invariably figure in The Open inc Matsuyama who finished T6 A FEW YEARS AGO.

Shane Lowry 45/1
Gritty battler who will be suited by poor weather and a real links test. Very impressive so far since joining PGA tour this year.

Ian Poulter 100/1
Hitting the ball well this year even though he hasn't got his head in front. Often goes well in the Open inc T3 in 2013.

Francesco Molinari 100/1
Striking the ball unbelievably last few weeks but suffering the usual struggles as regards getting over the winning line. T9 and T15 in this last 2 years and offers excellent e/w value.

Russell Knox 200/1
Another player whose chances will increase if the weather deteriorates. T10 last week @ Gullane and could figure @ a huge price.

Good luck.

Henrik Stenson is my main fancy @ 25/1.

My other fancys are Matt Kuchar & Charl Schwartzel.

In the Barbasol Championship I'm on Gonzo again @ 80/1 EW. A web.com event in disguise and Gonzo form figures continue to improve. Though 80s was overpriced.

Also have few quid at big prices.

Poultar 120
Mahan 280
Bjorn 320

John Daly 1995

Kidedech Aphibarnrat 2015

860s on here. Worth a couple of euro.

Some decent prices around this morning.

Weather bias for the draw.

Looking like late starters on Friday will be playing in winds > 30km/h

Late starters Thursday, early Friday look to have an advantage.

Yeah WH very competitive at the moment, top price on everyone.

Weather seems to be changing daily though Apple. By the sea it could change hourly. Probably just going to have to see what happens. Hopefully it doesn't scupper half the field like 2010.

Will back Gonzo in States myself. Was waiting for the Canadian to do him, but this week seems a decent opportunity.

Every weather site is different as well, the earlies Thurs look to have a bit of an advantage but as Apple says the wind F/C for Fri afternoon(windy enough + wet in the morning as well) could be brutal with gusts over 40 mph,a possibility then is the ball starts moving on the green. Hard to know with it,i did my picks on the thurs earlies but unsure now.
That course badly needed the intervention of the weather to make it more of a spectacle imo.
Ended up with;
Bubba 35/1
Luiten 125/1
Fisher 175/1
Lingmerth 300/1
all 7 places.

Also a few euro on exch with Todd,M Jones,and Horshcel.
Without my own, hope Spieth does it for a crack off the 4 in the season,best of luck with your punts.

callit,
      could you work your magic for me again please?20e e/w on?

Adding Martin Kaymer to my team.

40/1 is too tempting.

best of luck apple, im not a golf punter ..although I have a small e/w interest in the big ones..callit won me a grand last year ...

Tony Callit in work,i texted him there for you,he said back Kaymer e/w

huddys your a gem..thank you..and callit..ive just had 25e e/w..betfair just offered me a 50% back if I don't make a profit?..so really the bet is 25e..

had 25 e/w..and just to cover 25 on a top 5 finnsh @8/1

Some big prices tempted me
Kaymer 46
Tiger 50
Snedeker 60
Casey 46
Bubba 50
Reed 85
R moore 360
Blixt 550
Berger 730
Tringale 920
Probably backed too many ....gl

Went with:
Scott
Kaymer
Oosthuizen
Grace

E/WAY
Fleetwood
Schwarzel
Howell
Weisbergner

First Round Leader
Dubission
Grace

A cracking week in store, with so many in with serious chances now that Rory McIlroy is unable to take up what seemed a superb chance of another major.

Ante Post:

Having backed Danny Willet a good while ago for the US Open due to his superb Links record, I felt it would be silly not to have a dabble on him then for this as well. Pretty much the same price now, I don't feel the need to top up, but certainly wont be surprised if this improved performer is on the premises again come Sunday.

.5pt e.w Danny Willet 125-1

Market Leaders:

In Rorys absence, the future world number one Jordan Spieth assumes the mantle of favourite, and deservedly so. Having been championing his talent for the last 3 years, its slightly galling that the only return I got from his two major wins was an in running bet at 3.4 in the US Open. I will run the risk of further self chastising this week, as I have left him out of my staking again. If he is in contention come Sunday though, and I have no financial interests left, I will cheer him on. He is an absolute class act on and off the course. A thoroughly likeable young man.

Ricky Fowler comes here with maybe the best possible preparation, having been successful in Scotland, but his price offers no juice now. In any case he is a player I seem to never get right, and I will leave him alone.

Justin Rose has drifted markedly over the past few days, and is tempting. Similar with Phil.

The one player though who I feel leaving out may prove costly is Louis Oosthuizen. I just cant bring myself to back him at the prices, even though nearly everything points to a championship challenge.

My Fancies:

I had planned on having everything from the betting balance to the childrens college fund on Rory, but unfortunately had to abort that plan!!

One player who I was really afraid of when planning the wedge, was Martin Kaymer.

Like Spieth, the German is a total class act, personally and professionally. Having read Steve Palmers article this morning, it felt like I had written it myself. I have been imploring plenty to get on the double major winner since Rorys withdrawal. When Kaymer was interviewed after his US Open win last year, and asked about his next target, which should obviously have been Hoylake, he was pretty adamant that his next big one was this week. When Germans set targets, they usually meet them!!

Kaymer loves this place, and has the course form to back it up. A Sunday 74 cost him the runners up berth here in 2010, and he ahs made birdies for sport in subsequent Alfred Dunhill appearances. He has been tinkering, but always seemed confident in interviews that he was heading in the right direction. France suggested that he is right in that assertion, and I think granted no bad break draw/weatherwise, he seems sure to close. There aren't many in the field who I would rather be on in the heat of major Sunday battle. There isn't anyone, bar Tiger, Shane or Pod that I would rather see win, form a non monetary viewpoint.

Henrik Stenson probably should have won a major by now, but you could say that about plenty of players. Its about time he took one by the scruff of the neck and put a W beside his name in one.

This could be his week. He has put in plenty of preparation on a track he has shown he can go low on, and handle whatever wind and rain may be thrown at them. He was out in the horrific conditions of the afternoon on the Friday here in 2010. Most others from this half disappeared without trace, Stenson rallied with 67 71 over the weekend. He played very well at the US Open, but holed absolutely nothing. If he can averagely this week, he will be in the hunt. If he putts well, he will take some stopping.

What players said years ago, might seem a strange way about picking players for this week, but its a route that has led me to perennial bridesmaid Sergio Garcia.

When Garcia won the 2008 Players Championship, the nearest thing to a major, the first person he thanked in his ceremony speech was the absent Tiger Woods. Sergio has a mental problem, he doesn't believe he can beat the best, and could never down the Tiger. Last summer he consistently came up short in all the big ones against a rampant Rory. Rorys absence may give the frail Spaniard that belief that he needs, the belief to get him over the line on Sunday. Its suggested St Andrews may not be the best Open venue for Sergio, and results back it up to some extent. I would be prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I would love to see Shane Lowry win. And if like Sergio he believes he can, then he might just do it.

Its taken Shane a while to feel like he belongs in the worlds elite, but I feel his stint on the PGA Tour is helping him in that regard. If the wind blows from Friday through Sunday as promised he will licking his lips at the challenge. Most wont be of a similar frame of mind. Like Stenson, Shane didn't hole his fair share at Chambers, and that will be a problem most weeks. But his distance putting was superb, and if he can improve his 10ft and in performance this week, we could be in for a day to savour as a nation. A 75 on Sunday in 2010 deprived him of a potential top 10 here, he is much more the finished article now. The dream should live til Sunday afternoon this year too.

Brandon Grace went mighty close at Chambers Bay, and to my eye was more unlucky than Dustin Johnson.

Grace had one bad swing which maybe cost him the win, having done everything right all weekend when in contention for the first time in a major. His performance was highly creditable. Having overcome that disappointment, his thoughts would have immediately have turned to this week, at a venue he has had success at before. He wont mind any wind that is thrown their way, and he looks set for another fine week. 

A player who I believe just has to be backed on value grounds is the mercurial Jonas Blixt.

I have long been a fan of this fairway avoiding, putting machine. Well missing the fairways wont punish as much here as anywhere stateside, and his putting will be a huge asset. I believe his game is as made for this venue as it is for Augusta. He nearly netted me a massive payday there at similar odds there two years ago, and at the odds this week, he is a cheap dream of a big payout.

Yes he isn't in great form, and is wildly inconsistent. That wouldn't bother me. Its just made the price. He strikes me as a jack the lad, who enjoys life, and probably doesn't give golf the attention that some of his opponents do. But Augusta certainly got his juices flowing, and I feel he will rise to the challenge here too.

Another player who will be relishing the week ahead is Victor Dubuisson.

Along with Kaymer, he was one of my first bets this week. After going through a rough patch he has turned things around in recent weeks. He lit the place up here with 11 birdies in a first round 62 here in the 2012 Alfred Dunhill, and banged in 7 more on Sunday for good measure. Since his Lazarus style near win in the WGC Matchplay two years ago against Jason Day, he has looked the type to win a British Open in his career. With his game face now on, early quotes of 90-1 were well wide of the mark, and he has quite rightly been widely tipped up.

I threw a few quid on Blixt, David Howell, Soren Kjeldsen and POD on here for trading purposes at massive prices.

Howell has enjoyed success here. Conditions over the weekend could be very similar to what Kjeldsen triumphed in in the Irish Open.

Top Player Markets:

I usually try to find a false, or dodgy short priced favourite in these sections, but three that stand out to me as bankers are Kaymer Top German, Garcia Top Spaniard and Dubuisson Top French.
Not only do I obviously expect all 3 to have good weeks, I see very little danger form many of their compatriots. Only Rafa Cabrera Bello and Alexander Levy worry me, so have had a good go at the treble. Strangely, and probably contradictory I was close to sticking a few quid on Levy on here at 310. But though I think that price may be too big, like Bello, I wouldn't want to be with either in short priced markets where their temperament can prove very costly when they can very easily go form top 5 to 60th in one foul day. When Levy controls his emotions he will be some player.

At 1-2, 5-6 and 6-4 the treble pays just under 6-1. Cant see it beat myself!!

David Howell and Danny Willet look sporting selections for Top Englishman. Its a group where anyone could prevail, and those at the head of the market don't inspire huge confidence. At 22-1 and 14-1 e.w on two Links experts, there are certainly worse bets to be had.

2pts e.w Martin Kaymer 40-1
2pts e.w Henrik Stenson 25-1
1pt e.w Shane Lowry 50-1
1pt e.w Brandon Grace 50-1
1.25pt e.w Sergio Garcia 40-1
.65pt e.w Victor Dubuisson 80-1
.3pt e.w Jonas Blixt 300-1

4pt Treble Kaymer, Garcia Dubuisson Top Markets 5.875-1

1pt e.w David Howell 22-1 Top English
1pt e.w Danny Willet 14-1 Top English

.5pt e.w Victor Dubuisson First Round Leader.

Best of Luck all.....its nearly tee off time!!

Had a stab at  9 players in 3 ball multiples for tomorrows entertainment.

Lowry, Kjeldsen, Darren Clarke, Pod, Garcia, Dubuisson, Howell, Blixt, Willet.

Late money for Sergio .  Has had too many chances and failed though for me .

Luke Donald might come back to form , the course does not need overpowering .

Pity Rory is missing , has skewed the market .

Shane not off to a good start .  Course is as easy as I have ever seen it , pending a bit of wind later maybe .

Bit of 30s offered on Louis there. For peace of mind, I added him!!

1.5pt e.w Louis Oosthuizen 30-1

Jordan picks up where he left off!

great write up callit..and great thread to read from you golf nuts..its appreciated.

16 years ago , Tiger and David ( Duval) were 1 and 2 in the world , by a long way .

Yesterday one was described by a friend at the course as looking like a lost soul , and the other was hitting stingers on the practice ground . Not working for Tiger , out with a wood now on the 4th , hits a fairway .

Things change .  Need to for Tiger , only plus so far has been leaving the ball pin high , albeit wide of the pin .

Shocking game plan from Tiger. Course there to be attacked this morning, and he hiding from it.

Great recovery from Shane after a horror start. If he could find two more coming in he might not be too far off the lead by days end. Though the way Jordan playing.....

This is a scoring day, need to be -4 at least imo ,leader probably -8 by end of day

a lovely start, DJ on the lead and Charl only 2 back (pity he bogeyed 17)

17 some brute though Premier. No birds all day there, playing 4.8, and that will rise.

Cracking afternoon rounds from Willet and Zach. Must be playing 3 shots harder than this morning.

Superb round from Willet.

Tough out there in the afternoon.

It could transpire that Willet gets the best of it today. Wind and rain seem worse from 17.00-21.00 than in the 12.00-17.00 slot.

Anything beaing par today and tomorrow will probably be pretty decent rounds.

Another 66 from Willett would be nice. I'm on at 170/1!

Callit will be worried nearer the finish as Willet seems to find it hard to do the business,you'd have to be happy with the way hes playing atm though.

WILLET matched as low as 8.0 is going to drop out of the running soon

Not a golfing man myself, and rarely if ever have a bet on it. Dont know anything about it,thats the reality of it,but i do like to watch it.
What has always amazed me about people betting on golf is that they seem to put up about 20 bets per tournament each, and very rarely hit a winner. Is there any such thing as putting up one selection and leaving it at that, i know if somebody asked me what i fancied in the  Grand National, id hardly tip the person 10 horses,and all of them ew.
Each to their own, but to me golf betting is for mugs, that is unless you are in possession of information thats not in the public domain.

Tricky this morning .  Reckon Willett will be the leader after they have all braved the wind .

Reckon its a bit of fun ,jimeen , putting up a posse of selections . Golf punting / laying can be lucrative , but I know for myself my activity is largely based on observation in running .  If you can read body language you can see those comfortable with their game , and likewise those not .

tricky this morning ?? It's a joke, the wind is blowing balls from 2 foot away to 0 foot away on green when they take away their markers, it's a farce and they never should have started - the R&A do seem like a bunch of absolute simpletons to be fair

Suspended again, an absolute farce they where made go out at all this morning, Westwood and DJ are spot on in asking them why they where made start

Agree with Spieth , overheard him saying they should not have started play in such windy conditions . Tough on those who backed the leaders at pretty short prices , they have largely got the worst of it over the last 5 or 6 holes they have had to play in bad light and windy weather .

Reminds me a bit of Carnoustie some years ago when the markets were completely skewed by one windy Saturday .

No more play until 10 o'clock , even then it might be unlikely unless the wind abates .

Monday finish looking a definite possibility . Those still tucked up in their beds the happy ones .

If the third round gets underway today and it probably will,looks like the leaders will have a big advantage as the more you have left tomorrow the better. The fairest option would be to complete 2nd round today and not start the 3rd til tomorrow and finish Monday.

I for one won't miss BBC coverage when Open goes to Sky.

Dan Walker, Rishi Persad, Hazel Irvine, Phil Parkin...

Ye Apple your right the coverage has been very poor,

Main complaint I would have about the coverage so far was the attention given to Nick Faldo over the course of an 11 over par first round . Doubt Nick wanted that coverage , maybe someone at the BBC doesn't like him and wanted to show the great man as fallible ( which all followers of Ryder Cups in particular know about) . Faldo plays about twice a year now , brave of him to turn up , luckily he rescued himself with a very good second round . The sweater thing though ....

And oh , he beat Tom Watson in the match bet on here , someone took 1.03 Tom to win that as he started the second round 7 ahead of Nick .

fallible in Ryder Cups Kelly?? was he not the all-time points leader in that comp.?

great respect for him..even though he caused me a lot of pain, as a Greg Norman fan.

remember the 1992 Open at Muirfield? somehow he managed to compose himself down the stretch and win it despite playing an awful final round

Not as a player freddiek .  Talking about his "exploits" as captain .  Bit like the sweater thing yesterday .

sure even Jack was beat as Captain, on his own turf too. wouldn't hold that against him

The Ryder Cup that year of Nick's captaincy was well documented . Twas not a happy camp . How much of that was down to the captain is open to debate , but the same players essentially won before and after that in previous and subsequent matches . Put it this way , in my opinion Paul McGinley would have won  that Ryder Cup had he been in charge .

Great admiration for Nick Faldo as a player , on the course etc .  But there is more to life than winning on the course . Was talking to Nick's former caddie at the Irish Open  , we go back a long way . Lots of water under the bridge .

Anyone who paid the £80 for todays play is going to be wondering what sort of value they are going to get . And if they were there at 7 a.m . they will have had a long day with nothing happening so far .

Presumably they will be offered free entry on Monday .

REFUND and tenner in Monday.

TWENTY, yes 20 PLAYERS including SUPERMAN Spieth at only 5 back from Dustbin.

Only 2 players have won an Open at St Andrews when 5+ back thru 36 holes - and they were in 1895 & 1933.

Jimeen is quite wrong about them not hitting winners,they are generally very good.

Huddys has weighed in with many a huge long priced winner,Pa Lapsy has come up with some gems ( he is the forums Richard Hadlee )
Callitasucit has given long detailed posts and kept a running total which I think is still marginally in profit.

I wouldn't be in favour of all these bets but considering the huge fields and huge prices I understand it.

I have backed Paul Lawrie to win a nice few quid and still think he is a value bet now.
He is a good links player ( has won at Carnoustie and has won the Alfred Dunhill played on links with two rounds around St Andrews ) the break will suit him as he is at the end of his career so fatigue shouldn't be a problem.

This sounds like an outrageous bit of aftertiming but I backed Lawrie after his first round of 66,my prices ranged from a small bit of 65 and most at 44 and 46 but as I'm going in again it should be forgiven.

Hardly outrageous aftertiming WM. It is only half time after all, and he is still available at 34. Best of luck with it. He's a likeable sort.

Dusty will be desperate to put this one to bed. That desperation would help him or hinder him, depending how he fuels it. He looks to be only in second gear. Hopefully Willet can keep tabs on him tomorrow.

Moving day today, so have added Day @ 13.5 to my team, Dustin due a implosion ,Adam due to have issues with his putting, it opens the door for Day to prove himself a champion. He played much better than I expected yesterday in terrible conditions and if staying healthy issure to be there at the finish on Monday.

Pod bang in this.

Jul 17, 2015 -- 3:42PM, roadrunner46 wrote:

WILLET matched as low as 8.0 is going to drop out of the running soon

about time WILLET screwed up and matched as low as 5.40

C'mon Paul Dunne for champion golfer of the year.

Wow what a composed round from paul dunne, anyone take the 1000. . 6/1 for top amatuer @start ,should be good tomorrow

Any idea what the weather going to be like tomorrow,

Huddys haven't got the weather right earlier in the week but this should be near enough right according to the met office anyway.
12.00-2.00 wind 15mph with gusts to 23mph.
2.00-4.00 wind 16mph with gusts to 26mph, Very high possibilty of rain from 2.00 to finish.
4.00-6.00 wind 18mph with gusts to 28mph.

Tough enough and hopefully will suit Pod though very classy in front of him. Love to see Paul Dunne do it as well but surely the bubble will burst.
Haven't been a big fan of St Andrews but the cream has risen and could be a terrific end to this yet.

Brilliant day for Padraig and Paul . Lets hope they can carry on in similar fashion tomorrow .

Overall there are about 20 who could win given the concertina effect on the leaderboard . Think it might be great viewing .

Thanks Pa,

Catch Me ifyoucan  • June 30, 2015 1:21 PM BST 

The Silver Medal awarded to the leading amateur of an Open Championship on a Sunday is one of the most coveted and treasured of trophies.
The medal has been played for since 1949 and was won four times in the first five years by Frank Stranahan, of the United States. Since then only three players have won it twice: Joe Carr, Sir Michael Bonallack and Peter McEvoy.
Interestingly, only two of the 42 players to have won the Silver Medal later captured the Open Championship itself: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Since 1981, however, five have gone on to become Major Champions. In order:  Hal Sutton, Jose Maria Olazabal, Woods, Justin Rose and McIlroy.

This year’s Open marks the 30th anniversary of Olazabal’s Silver Medal winning performance at Royal St George’s in 1985. At just 19, Olazabal looked every inch the next great thing from Spain.  And so it proved.  A year earlier, he had won the Amateur Championship at Formby, beating Colin Montgomerie 5&4 in the final, and brought to the table a supreme long-iron game and a form of wizardry around the greens that seemed to come straight out of the Severiano Ballesteros training manual. 
Olazabal, widely regarded as one of the game’s true gentlemen, turned professional in 1986 and promptly finished second on the European Tour’s Order of Merit. He won the Masters in 1994 and again in 1999 after returning from a debilitating foot injury that had threatened to end his career. He played in seven Ryder Cup matches, formed the most successful pairing in the history of the competition with Ballesteros, and went on to captain the winning Europe team at Medinah, Chicago, in 2012. Best Open finish: 3, 1992; T3, 2005.

WHEN PAUL wins tomorrow - he turns pro IMMEDIATELY ?


HOPE HE RIPS UP THIS OLD Stat.....
'The last Amateur to win The OPEN Championship was Bobby Jones at Royal Liverpool in 1930'.


Most Recent Amateur Winners on PGA TOUR

•Phil Mickelson, 1991 Northern Telecom Open
•Scott Verplank, 1985 Western Open
•Doug Sanders, 1956 Canadian Open
•Gene Littler, 1954 San Diego Open

Mickelson was on the Arizona State University golf team in 1991, and at the Northern Telecom Open he beat runner-up Tom Purtzer by one stroke.
He turned pro in 1992, and Mickelson's first victory as a member of the tour was the 1993 Buick Invitational of California.

Amateur Winners on the European Tour

•Shane Lowry, 2009 Irish Open
•Danny Lee, 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic
•Pablo Martin, 2007 Estoril Portuguese Open. (Note: Martin was the first-ever amateur winner on the Euro Tour.)

Wow what a composed round from paul dunne, anyone take the 1000. . 6/1 for top amatuer @start ,should be good tomorrow


  it was said on tv some lads on course have bets on at 2500/1 .....

Expect lots of absenteeism today.

Has there ever been a more exciting or eclectic leaderboard,it has everything.
Jordan Speith chasing a Grand Slam and favourite.
Paul Dunne an Irish amateur leading and as cool as a mountain stream.
Padraig Harrington returning to Major form and one we probably want to win the most.
Jason Day a recent vertigo sufferer who seems to challenge in all Majors without winning.

Ricky Fowler is a bit back,has played the best golf but just can't get it going on the greens,I can see that changing today hope a 64 can do it for him for purely financial reasons.

Early days but Scoring looks similar to yesterday.

Be surprised if anyone below -9 gets into contention. One of the top 3 will surely shoot a 68/69.

Have oosty, Willety and Schwartzely in the mix and if not them then obv. harry or Dunny will get my backing.

I thought Willet was looking very good until that missed short bird putt on the 11th I think it was. Fell apart after that. If is driving can be restored to what it was for the first half of yesterdays round, he might yet nick a place. And hopefully top English.

Wind looks set to pick up from 2 bells though Apple, them early scores will no doubt be the best of the day.

It would be superb if Dunne was to win, but from financial perspective POD, Oosty, Willet, Sergio will do fine.

Pod has to have every chance, though its asking a lot for Spieth, Oosty and Day to all have poor ones. Its a joy to watch the way Spieth competes, hauling himself back into contention after any mistake.

Gmac obviously cant play the last 3 holes .  5 over for 16 , 17 , and 18 in total .

Come on our other 2 , both have a chance although I would prefer it if the conditions got a bit tougher .

Nah -Harrington just couldn't get through the birdie-fest without the trademark doublebogey!

4 Hole aggregate play-off (Holes 1,2 17& 18)

TODAY SCORES ON THESE HOLES..

Zach Johnson -1
Marc Leishman -1
Louis Oosthuizen -2

Leishman's 64,66 ties the lowest 36 hole finish at The OPEN.

Come on louis.

That one was tough to take.

How far would Rory have won by ?
I reckon he would have gobbled up that course under the pitch & putt conditions
we saw for most of the play.

Vubiant, I think Zach proved you don't have to be long , his skill in placing himself and his magical putting won it for him, Rory's putting would have let him down imo..

Zach and Louis are two of the tidiest golfers around .  The bombers bombed out largely , proves that a course can defend itself without resorting to increased length . Mind you I dont like quirky greens myself , most of the good golf courses I have played all had "fair " greens , but one of the trends nowadays is to try to make greens unputtable in fast conditions .

St Andrews I dont rate highly , despite its history , if it was in Gullane there would be no queue to play it . The only really good hole on it is the 17th . Virtually nobody could play it this week , very few birdies .

Our lads were disappointing yesterday , Paul Dunne looked like a frightened rabbit at the start , complete contrast with his assurance over the first 3 days .  Proves that golf is largely a mental game  , and expectation and pressure to perform weigh heavier on some than on others .  You can see why Jack always reckoned it was easier to win a major than most other tournaments , only a select few can stand the heat in the kitchen .

Padraig just faded unfortunately , double bogey syndrome  . Scott & Garcia passed up a good opportunity to win , not for the first time .  Monday finish diminishes the occasion too , not the same . Spieth nearly won , despite playing at about 85% . Disgree about Rory comments , Rory putts well on good greens , which St Andrews always has .  Rory and Spieth are undoubtedly the two best around , look forward to their duels in the foreseeable , provided both stay healthy .

And stay away from 5 a sides ..

You were very probably right Wildman in that Speith should have been in Gullane and if he had in hindsight he would definitely have done. Winning the John Deere has likely cost him of a place in history.

Bet Zach wishes he gave John Deere a miss as well ..... not !

I don't know about that Pa.

It was a sign of his class as an individual that he lined up in the John Deere. I don't think any amount of hindsight will have changed what his perception as to what was the right thing to do.

And where did Zach Johnson play the week before winning the Open??

As was predicted , about 200 selections and nobody finds the winner. If there's not better betting mediums than golf then I'm a Dutch man

It was a dream result for the bookies in every way.

An outsider wins it and comes from way off the pace to do so,they got a lot of short priced golfers beaten in running.

Jordan Speith was in an incredible position in going for his third straight Major and a possible Grand Slam,I think extra measures should have been taken.
He has little experience of links golf so should have been better prepared.

Zach Johnson always plays in The Open,has plenty of experience of Links golf and St Andrews and wasn't going into the tournament as favourite.

Two further observations Speiths four putt on the eight was what done him and Dunnes implosion was costly for Oosthuizen.

Valid point about Zach's links experience, and the differing circumstances.

Louis may have benefitted from playing with a serious contender, though he only has himself to blame for a series of missed short putts. That is what he does though, so I couldn't complain too much about it.

It was a cracking climax to the tournament, and the only shame was Jordan didn't make the playoff. I imagine that if anyone wasn't a Spieth fan before this week, they probably are now.

Stellar/Callit you have me there with Zach,i said the same thing Callit to Wildman regarding the John Deere and Speiths understandable loyalty to it, i'd still acknowledge Wildmans point a week before that he thought Spieth should have been in Gullane. It is conjecture but tend to think that the hullaboo of winning there and just a few days in the UK MAY well have cost him. I presume you had no problem getting your stakes back with Rory Callit?
Mincer you have potentially 4 days for a bet to run its course,given the size of the fields you won't get a winner for at times weeks or months at an end though the price can migate that. With decent liquidity not at all hard imo to "trade" on golf.

You can trade out of anything Pa, that's a rubbish argument . People put up 8 and 10 golfers ew , none of them are even sighted and you think they traded out .
My argument is that it's too open, it's a load of horses pisss betting on golf, as regards making it pay long term. Ok it's great to sit down and watch it with a monetary interest , that certainly heightens the drama, but anybody who tells me they make money on golf is deluded.
Put it this way Pa, if I backed people like mickelson, bubba, Ricky fowler , them kind of guys, at what stage could I trade ?

I,m not saying they traded out at all Mincer, in my case i much prefer in running ie after R1,2 or 3. As a rough guide half the field goes each round but that way the interest is still there. I,m not slating pre tourny either as a price could well be long gone as it progresses.Your examples are the worst of them,you could have used Leishman for the final round as 55,s on the day to go to near evens. Regular posters on the golf threads are very good Mincer,funnily enough they are very shrewd on horses and other sports i find as well.

I hadn't backed Rory yet Pa, as was waiting for the enhanced place terms.

Greg Owen looks an excellent bet at 125-1 in Canada this week.

Do any of you know what the best price on Zach was during the playoff? Thanks.

Don't know for sure. Louis was 2.4 before playoff started, so assume Zach was about the 3.5 mark. Wouldn't have gone any bigger than that in playoff as Leish was in trouble straight away.

Thanks callit. As Oosthuizen holed his birdie putt first I thought that Zach's price might have lengthened at that stage. Leishman only missed his short putt afterwards.

True enough Clerk. Though Leish had a missable putt, yeah Zach would have edged out a bit. I thought Oosty would win the playoff, but also thought he a bit short for it.