Garcia and Lawrie the two for value for Open Championship
Finding an outsider to win this year’s Open Championship, going on the recent history of the competition, makes finding a needle in a hay-stack look like a relatively easy task.
The last seven Opens played at St Andrews have been won by Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus (two times each), Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros and just one so-called outsider in John Daly, even though was already a major winner.
It takes a special player to win the Open at St Andrews, and most backers will be looking to follow the recent trend of winners and search towards the head of the betting market for their selections, but players who have shown in the past that they possess exceptional golfing ability are lurking in the depths of the market.
They could give backers a good run for their money at the current odds being quoted.
Out of form, low on confidence and suffering severe technique problems are perfect ingredients for an outsider, so what better place to start than Sergio Garcia.
It’s hard to believe that as little as 18 months ago, the Spanish star was ranked No.2 in the world, with some people putting him in the same bracket as Tiger Woods. Since then, the incredible decline that Garcia has endured in such a short space of time has left him as one of the forgotten men in the betting for this year’s Open, which has resulted in his price lengthening to 90.0.
His form in the lead up to St Andrews has been pretty abysmal, with his putting, the aspect of his game which has probably cost him a major title, hitting an all-time low. He has only once shot a round under 70 in the last 29 attempts, and missed the cut at the BMW International Open and the Madrid Masters.
However, if there is one tournament where “El Nino” could bounce back to form it is the Open. With six top-10 finishes this century, including a fifth at St Andrews in 2005, this is certainly his best major.
His game is highly suited to links courses, where clever iron play from the fairways, and the tees, is a key attribute to possess. The wind factor is likely to play a huge part in proceedings over the next week, with reports of 50mph gusts hitting Fife, course records won’t be troubled, and accuracy, rather than gung-ho golf could be rewarded.
Another man that will be at home with the challenging conditions will be former Open champion Paul Lawrie, who can be backed at around the 600.0 mark currently. A genuine outsider if there ever was one.
Without a win on the European Tour since 2002, Lawrie has been plugging away on the tour without making too many headlines. He has, however, stepped his form up this year and merits the respect a former champion should expect.
Sterling performances in the PGA Championship (sixth), Open de España (sixth) and BMW International Open (17th) prove that, and the reports coming out of his camp have been extremely positive, suggesting that he may be playing the best golf of his career.
Lawrie has been given the honour of being the man to get the 150th Open underway on Thursday at 6.30am, and hopefully being the first man on the course, he can take advantage of the fresh greens and stiller conditions to post a competitive score.
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