Three winners from five at the US Open kept up a fine run for our major expert picks. Now the panel tackle this week's Open Championship.
Padraig Harrington to be the top senior
Martin Mathews writes a regular PGA Tour tipping column on his own website and is a regular Paddy Power contributor.
Two-time Open champion PADRAIG HARRINGTON has been undergoing something of a resurgence this year to the extent that his name is being seriously put forward as a contender for a Ryder Cup place.
Six top-seven finishes, including a win, in nine starts on the Champions Tour this year is superb form, however what really catches the eye is how the 51-year-old has competed on the regular tour this season with a fourth place out in Abu Dhabi in January and a 10th on the PGA Tour in Texas among several strong efforts.
His main rival in this market on paper is Phil Mickelson, however with Lefty’s form having tailed off over recent months it may be that the biggest challenge comes from 2009 champion Stewart Cink.
With Cink having jetted in from the US this week though and fourth favourite Richard Bland producing nothing of great note on the LIV Tour, links specialist Harrington, who was also 27th in last month's US Open, looks a cut above the rest.
Brian Harman to be the top left-hander
Former Sky Sports Golf editor Dave Tindall is a regular contributor to betting.betfair.com and various other publications.
The first thing to notice in this market is that there are only three runners. That somehow seems a shame given the aesthetic pleasure in watching lefties play sport but it certainly helps us with a betting opportunity.
I'll start by ruling out Phil Mickelson. Yes, he was second at the Masters but not being any sort of factor in the other two suggests although he's still capable of supernova moments in majors, the norm these days is to see him struggle at this level.
His last seven major finishes show 62-MC-MC-MC-2-58-MC. He didn't make the top 20 at Hoylake in either 2006 or 2014.
That leaves BRIAN HARMAN and Robert MacIntyre. The Scot experienced a real thrill ride in his home Scottish Open last week when somehow pipped by Rory McIlroy but I wonder if that will have drained him.
If there is a weakness, the steady Harman has the credentials to get the better of him. The American was 26th at Hoylake in 2014, 19th and 6th in the last two Opens while 12th place at the Scottish Open added to form of 9-2 in his two most recent starts on US soil.
Adam Scott to be the top Australian
Tom Jacobs is the creator and host of golf podcast Lost Fore Words, which features interviews with coaches and players, plus weekly previews of the biggest events in golf. CLICK HERE for their Open preview show.
The obvious worry about backing ADAM SCOTT in the top Australian market is that Cameron Smith is the defending champion and in good form, but like many others, I have my doubts about his suitability to this course.
I feel the same about Min Woo Lee, and alongside Smith he is the biggest challenger to Scott in this market, so I am happy to take a chance on the veteran of the party.
Scott has been relatively disappointing by his own standards in the majors this year, but he's played well recently enough at the Memorial (T9) and the Travelers (T19) and he's one of only 11 players in this field who has played this course twice in an Open Championship.
Not only is Scott among the most experienced when it comes to this venue and indeed this event, but he also finished inside the top eight in both those starts at Royal Liverpool, and he notably overcame a difficult draw bias to finish fifth in 2014.
Jason Day has gone off the boil and has been surprisingly average in this event over the years, outside of St Andrews in 2015 – a very different venue. He finished just 58th here in 2014, in a season where he had won the WGC Match Play and shortly after he'd finished fourth at the US Open, so I am comfortable opposing him as well.
With Lucas Herbert the next biggest threat I'm happy to side with Scott, who I'm pretty confident would win this marker with another top 10, if Smith's driver behaves as it generally has so far this season.
Adam Scott to finish in the top 40
Matt Cooper is a long-time Sporting Life contributor who previews the women's majors for the website and provides tips for multiple tours for betting.betfair.com and others.
I've been keen on ADAM SCOTT ever since I read what he said after finishing fifth in 2014. "Look, I'm going to give myself a little bit of a break because it was such a lopsided draw this week," he started. "But I played exceptionally well this week. I really did. Tee to green has been very, very good. I hit the ball beautifully. Controlled my shots. I felt I had the game ready to win."
His links savvy is revealed in his results: he's finished top 40 in 13 of his last 17 Open appearances and also in 11 of his 15 starts this year. That's good enough for me.
Tom Kim to be the top Korean
Ben Coley is Sporting Life's deputy head of content and long-serving golf columnist and tipster. Read his outright preview here.
Seven Korean players are in the field but only one stands out as a realistic title winner, 21-year-old TOM KIM.
I suspect Kim will need a few more tries before he cracks the code but his links record is already impressive, having twice contended in the Scottish Open and played well at times at St Andrews a year ago.
Bang in-form and with the tools for this test, he's far better prepared than an out-of-sorts Sungjae Im, while Si Woo Kim's best Open came at the Old Course and I'd be far from convinced this challenge will suit him like that one did.
Ben An deserves respect following a good effort here in 2014, but he's a long way behind Tom Kim in the world rankings and the latter should take all the beating.
Open Championship links
- Ben Coley's in-depth outright betting preview
- Specials and prop bets for the Open
- Outright Open Championship tips at-a-glance
- Expert Picks: Panellist predictions for the Open
- Player profiles: Our guide to the entire field
- Royal Liverpool hole-by-hole course guide
- Tee times for rounds one and two
- Five memorable moments from Royal Liverpool
- Matthew Jordan on home course advantage
