2012 was meant to be the sporting summer to beat all others for British fans but 2013 is fast beginning to rival it. We had Andy Murray’s Wimbledon win, if the first Ashes test is anything to go by the series could be a real classic, and Chris Froome has a vice like grip on the Tour De France’s yellow jersey heading into the Alps.
The Open is one of the key highlights of any sporting summer, and this year, coming from Muirfield, is one of the symbolic sporting highlights of the British Summer. Muirfield also means we’re back to that most challenging of sports, links golf. According to Jack Nicklaus, ‘the best course in Britain’, Muirfield has a long and prestigious history dating to 1891, much like the Open itself, having hosted the first ever 72 hole Open only a year after being finished originally. It’s been modified only four times since - with Harry Colt’s 14 new holes back in 1935 being the most significant of those barring a remodelling of the 13th hole by Tom Simpson in 1935 and slight changes made in 2010 and 2011 for 15 holes, leaving this course relatively unchanged from the original all those years ago.
For such a grand course, the roll of honour has been understandably impressive with Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson just three of the names to have won here in the 12 Open’s hosted on the famous course. For such a brutal major - I would personally rank it as second in difficulty only to the Masters- the Open is a relatively high scoring affair, and Muirfield in itself could see some sharp shooting.
The weather forecast has been for a dry week - note the unusually hot summer which Britain has had - which crucially also has little or no wind forecast, which in theory should open up the course to attacking play. There’s also no water to deal with, the course is actually relatively flat and open. The speed of the fairways should allow those who lack proper driving distance to gain an extra few yards.
In 2002 the winning score was six under despite some of the worst conditions in Open history leaving ten players to score over 80 on the Saturday, with just 4 breaking 70. It’s been suggested that driving accuracy will be crucial towards victory this week and with the rough having grown thick after heavy rainfall before the heatwave came that’s likely to be the case, but as with all major championships, the greens will decide who’s name is on the Claret jug. That’s an obvious statement, but 5 winners in this century have been lower than 30th for driving accuracy, which doesn’t make it the be all and end all even with some flat. When looking for an identikit winner’s playing style, we’d advise you to look at top class approach players who don’t miss the scoring chances.
Finding the winners of major tournaments is never an easy task but there is a new breed of player beginning to develop according to the last few winners and the last few Open winners share quite a bit in common. 9 of the last 10 winners had a top 10 during the year, 6 of the last 10 winners won during their winning year, 7 of the last 8 winners had a top 10 at a Major, 11 of the last 15 winners had a top 10 at the Open previously and since 1960, 51 of the 52 winners have ALL won a Tour event prior to their Open victory. (Ben Curtis won his first Tour event in the 2003 Open in what was his first major).
Matt Kuchar has been threatening to win a major for a good while now and has been on the horizon of making a bold winning challenge for three years. Since 2010, his major record i 24, 6, 27 10, 27, 14, cut, 19, 3, 27, 9 cut, 8 and 28. After threatening for the first two rounds of the Masters, he suffered a poor third day and could never get back into contention properly while he did even worse at the US Open, but that result didn’t do him full justice and shouldn’t be held against him here. Kuchar is a superb putter, excellent finder of fairways and above all one of the finest scramblers playing this week who is playing on a lighting fast course which is made to suit his game. Tied ninth last year on a tougher playing outfit, Kuchar was second in the Crowne Plaza invitational before winning the Memorial tournament, confirming the impression that he’s playing his best golf. Had he not gone to the US Open he’d be a lot shorter than 40/1 with Bet Victor, who will pay to eight each/way places in generosity that just can’t be missed.
Speaking of those playing their best golf, few in this field are in better form than Phil Mickelson, who has four top three finishes in his last 6 starts, chief amongst them his sixth runner up spot in the US Open this year to Justin Rose. Mickelson is generally seen as a player who struggles on links courses and has a poor recent Open record, but it pays attention to side with him on form and when in the right mindset links golf is no problem. He was runner up at St Georges the last time the Open went there, and can’t have asked for a better preparation than when winning the Scottish Open in a playoff, ending a 20 year drought in Europe. He’ll be well prepared for tougher conditions than are forecasted here but seems to have his game sorted out and more importantly, be in the best mental shape possible.
Back to the progressives, and Brandt Snedeker was leaving the field at 10 under and going brilliantly before the wind changed and he faded towards third behind Adam Scott and Ernie Els. A year older and wiser, Snedeker hasn’t won since Pebble Beach but tied for sixth at the Masters, eight at the Players and then seventh at the Nationals, so is playing a good game, and has a receptive course - by the sound of things at least - to tackle this year.
British Golf fans probably felt that they had their high point of the summer when Justin Rose won the US Open but Luke Donald has been threatening to land a major for a good while. Very much a similar player to Rose, in his last 10 major outings he has managed 7 top 32s, including 4 top 10s, and was closer to US Open glory than many would have suggested at Merion. Never far away last year when tied for fifth and has been presented with an ideal chance to use his scrambling game this weekend. In his links golf history, he has 9 top 10’s, plenty of strong Open showings, and is a phenomenal player of bunkers, greens, and a fine scrambler.
The Open is one of the key highlights of any sporting summer, and this year, coming from Muirfield, is one of the symbolic sporting highlights of the British Summer. Muirfield also means we’re back to that most challenging of sports, links golf. According to Jack Nicklaus, ‘the best course in Britain’, Muirfield has a long and prestigious history dating to 1891, much like the Open itself, having hosted the first ever 72 hole Open only a year after being finished originally. It’s been modified only four times since - with Harry Colt’s 14 new holes back in 1935 being the most significant of those barring a remodelling of the 13th hole by Tom Simpson in 1935 and slight changes made in 2010 and 2011 for 15 holes, leaving this course relatively unchanged from the original all those years ago.
For such a grand course, the roll of honour has been understandably impressive with Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson just three of the names to have won here in the 12 Open’s hosted on the famous course. For such a brutal major - I would personally rank it as second in difficulty only to the Masters- the Open is a relatively high scoring affair, and Muirfield in itself could see some sharp shooting.
The weather forecast has been for a dry week - note the unusually hot summer which Britain has had - which crucially also has little or no wind forecast, which in theory should open up the course to attacking play. There’s also no water to deal with, the course is actually relatively flat and open. The speed of the fairways should allow those who lack proper driving distance to gain an extra few yards.
In 2002 the winning score was six under despite some of the worst conditions in Open history leaving ten players to score over 80 on the Saturday, with just 4 breaking 70. It’s been suggested that driving accuracy will be crucial towards victory this week and with the rough having grown thick after heavy rainfall before the heatwave came that’s likely to be the case, but as with all major championships, the greens will decide who’s name is on the Claret jug. That’s an obvious statement, but 5 winners in this century have been lower than 30th for driving accuracy, which doesn’t make it the be all and end all even with some flat. When looking for an identikit winner’s playing style, we’d advise you to look at top class approach players who don’t miss the scoring chances.
Finding the winners of major tournaments is never an easy task but there is a new breed of player beginning to develop according to the last few winners and the last few Open winners share quite a bit in common. 9 of the last 10 winners had a top 10 during the year, 6 of the last 10 winners won during their winning year, 7 of the last 8 winners had a top 10 at a Major, 11 of the last 15 winners had a top 10 at the Open previously and since 1960, 51 of the 52 winners have ALL won a Tour event prior to their Open victory. (Ben Curtis won his first Tour event in the 2003 Open in what was his first major).
Matt Kuchar has been threatening to win a major for a good while now and has been on the horizon of making a bold winning challenge for three years. Since 2010, his major record i 24, 6, 27 10, 27, 14, cut, 19, 3, 27, 9 cut, 8 and 28. After threatening for the first two rounds of the Masters, he suffered a poor third day and could never get back into contention properly while he did even worse at the US Open, but that result didn’t do him full justice and shouldn’t be held against him here. Kuchar is a superb putter, excellent finder of fairways and above all one of the finest scramblers playing this week who is playing on a lighting fast course which is made to suit his game. Tied ninth last year on a tougher playing outfit, Kuchar was second in the Crowne Plaza invitational before winning the Memorial tournament, confirming the impression that he’s playing his best golf. Had he not gone to the US Open he’d be a lot shorter than 40/1 with Bet Victor, who will pay to eight each/way places in generosity that just can’t be missed.
Speaking of those playing their best golf, few in this field are in better form than Phil Mickelson, who has four top three finishes in his last 6 starts, chief amongst them his sixth runner up spot in the US Open this year to Justin Rose. Mickelson is generally seen as a player who struggles on links courses and has a poor recent Open record, but it pays attention to side with him on form and when in the right mindset links golf is no problem. He was runner up at St Georges the last time the Open went there, and can’t have asked for a better preparation than when winning the Scottish Open in a playoff, ending a 20 year drought in Europe. He’ll be well prepared for tougher conditions than are forecasted here but seems to have his game sorted out and more importantly, be in the best mental shape possible. Back to the progressives, and Brandt Snedeker was leaving the field at 10 under and going brilliantly before the wind changed and he faded towards third behind Adam Scott and Ernie Els. A year older and wiser, Snedeker hasn’t won since Pebble Beach but tied for sixth at the Masters, eight at the Players and then seventh at the Nationals, so is playing a good game, and has a receptive course - by the sound of things at least - to tackle this year.
British Golf fans probably felt that they had their high point of the summer when Justin Rose won the US Open but Luke Donald has been threatening to land a major for a good while. Very much a similar player to Rose, in his last 10 major outings he has managed 7 top 32s, including 4 top 10s, and was closer to US Open glory than many would have suggested at Merion. Never far away last year when tied for fifth and has been presented with an ideal chance to use his scrambling game this weekend. In his links golf history, he has 9 top 10’s, plenty of strong Open showings, and is a phenomenal player of bunkers, greens, and a fine scrambler.
With a great links record, good open history and three wins this season, Graeme McDowell has been all the rage and been tipped by plenty so far this week but is worth adding. A challenger for 63 holes last year, McDowell can be all or nothing - he has 6 missed cuts to those wins - but if in the form that saw him land the French Open - leading the field for GIR and lying in 15th for driving accuracy, and has made 7 cuts this season, only finishing outside the top 10 in one of those tournaments.
And last but not least, we couldn’t leave out Ernie Els. The most consistent Open player, he last missed the cut in 1989 on debut and has finished inside the top-10 on 13 occasions, inside the top-five nine times and winning twice, including last year with a steady hand guiding him to victory over Adam Scott as he faltered late. He missed the cut in Scotland but his last two tournaments were a BMW Invitational win and a US Open fourth, the form that would ee a younger player close to favourite. He must be backed. During the Masters I felt Woods as showing signs he could win a major again and the US Open didn’t do too much to shake me off that impression, but this isn’t his best major and he’ll need things to be super settled to make an impact. 10/1 is tempting each/way value but the stats point to him going closer elsewhere and I’d rather back him for the USPGA.
Advice
1 pt each/way Matt Kuchar (40/1 Bet Victor)
1 pt each/way Phil Mickleson (16/1 Bet Victor)
1 pt each/way Luke Donald (28/1 Bet Victor)
1 pt each/way Brandt Snedeker (33/1 Bet Victor)
1 pt each/way Graeme McDowell (20/1 Bet Victor)
1 pt each/way Ernie Els (28/1 Bet Victor)
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