2015 British Open Preview

2015 British Open Preview

The Open Championship, also known as the British Open, will return to St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland this year for the 144th outing of this great tournament. The 2015 Open Championship begins on July 16 and WAS led by deserved favorites Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. McIlroy won this tournament last year before completing the 2014 season with a PGA Championship victory, while Spieth has won both the Masters and US Open this year. However, Rory McIlroy recently tore a ligament in his left ankle and will miss out on defending his Open Championship.

As for Tiger Woods, he appeared to have little chance of competing for another title judging by his play a couple weeks ago, but his past success at the British Open always put him near the top of the favorites. Below shows recent winners of the British Open along with Woods’ odds to win (market consensus odds):

Despite not winning a major since the US Open in 2008, Tiger still attracts plenty of attention knowing what he was once capable of. His past success at the Open even had books listing him with the third best odds to win this year at +1600, but his play in June led that to fall a bit.  Below shows the odds for each golfer to win the 2015 British Open from 5Dimes:

Spieth was listed at +1600 just a couple months ago but has propelled to +620 after taking the first two majors this year. Spieth is the sixth golfer to win both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year and the first since Tiger Woods in 2002. He’s also the youngest to win the US Open since Bobby Jones in 1923, so the hype surrounding Spieth is certainly warranted. After his first major victory this year at the Masters, Spieth was listed at 20:1 to win exactly 3 majors this year and 200:1 to win all 4 majors. He’s now just +275 to win exactly 3 majors and +2500 to win them all.

Sportsbooks have also begun posting prop bets for the Open Championship (via BetOnline):

Will there be a Hole-in-One?   Yes +200  |  No -250

Will there be a Wire-to-Wire winner?   Yes +1400  |  No -4000

Will Tiger Woods make the cut?   Yes -195  |  No +160

Winning Margin: 1 shot +250  |  2 shots +400  |  3 shots +500  |  4 shots or more +350  |  Playoff +300