Capelle On Golf

British Open Coverage

Ladbrokes, the London based gambling house, offered very enticing odds for a bevy of top players not named Tiger Woods at the US Open. As an example, you could have gotten 33/1 on former major winners Jim Furyk, Geoff Ogilvy, and Vijay Singh. With Tiger babysitting Sam in Florida, the odds on this trio for the British Open have fallen to 25/1, 20/1, and 20/1 respectively.

The most prominent upgrade is for Sergio Garcia, whose odds have dropped from 20/1 to 10/1. This makes him the pretourney favorite in the eyes of the folks at Ladbrokes. Phil Mickelson’s odds have been boosted from 8/1 to 16/1 largely because he has only one top 10 in 14 starts in the Open as a pro. If you feel this is Phil’s year to exorcise his Open demons, those are some attractive odds.

A not so surprising pick for the second spot is Ernie Els, who is available at 12/1. Els won this championship in 2002, and without the specter of Woods to haunt him, perhaps will unleash his A Game on Royal Birkdale. His record in this event since 2000 is second only to Tiger’s. His line from 2000-2007 (Tiger’s winning years in bold): 2t, 3t, W, 18t, 2, 34t, 3, 4t.

The tables below show the players with odds of 50/1 or less. The date for the US Open odds was June 10, two days before the start of play. The odds for the British Open are for July 10. Thirteen players at listed at 50/1 or less for both events. Seventeen players (including Woods) were at 50/1 for the US Open while 22 players are at 50/1 for the British Open.

The No Tiger Effect is responsible for the increase in players at the shorter odds. Newcomers to the 50/1 or less club include Lee Westwood, Andres Romero, Richard Karlsson, Martin Kaymer, and Anthony Kim, who are strong candidates for a breakthrough major victory.

Westwood finished third at the US Open, one shot out of a playoff, and is currently third in the European Tour Order of Merit. Romero captured his first PGA Tour title in late March at New Orleans and missed a playoff by a shot at last year’s Open.

Karlsson could be the sleeper in the group. He finished 8t at the Masters, 4t at the US Open (3 back), and is second on the Order of Merit. Kaymer won the BMW International in June and at the Abu Dhabi in January. Kim, the new media darling, has won twice in his last five starts.

NOTE: The table shows the odds as a single number. For example, 10/1 is shown as 10.

Members of the 50/1 or Less Club, Both Opens
B–US
X—3 Tiger Woods
10–20 Sergio Garcia
12–40 Ernie Els
16–8 Phil Mickelson
16–25 Padraig Harrington
20–33 Geoff Ogilvy
20–33 Vijay Singh
20–40 Justin Rose
25–33 Jim Furyk
25–40 Adam Scott
25–40 Retief Goosen
33–33 Luke Donald
40–40 Stewart Cink
40–40 Trevor Immelman

New Members of the 50/1 or Less Club
BO
16 – Lee Westwood
33—Andres Romero
33—Richard Karlsson
40—Martin Kaymer
40—Paul Casey
50—Angel Cabrera
50—Anthony Kim
50—Henrik Stenson
50—Robert Allenby

Bounced from the 50/1 Club for the British Open
B–US
66–50 Justin Leonard
80–50 Mike Weir
66–50 Stephen Ames