Open Championship Betting Odds at Royal Birkdale

(Royal Birkdale)

Dustin Johnson 9-1
Jordan Spieth 10-1
Jon Rahm 12-1
Rory Mcllroy 12-1
Sergio Garcia 16-1
Justin Rose 18-1
Rickie Fowler 18-1
Henrik Stenson 20-1
Jason Day 20-1
Hideki Matsuyama 20-1
Tommy Fleetwood 20-1
Adam Scott 25-1
Paul Casey 33-1
Brooks Koepka 33-1
Phil Mickelson 40-1

Complete list of Player Odds

Another almost for Mickelson at a Major

Phil Mickelson almost did it again. He almost posted an insane number in the final round of a major championship to win. In a round mixed with brilliance and mediocrity, Mickelson had American golf fans watching in awe during his front-nine and then saying "wtf" on the back-nine.

For anyone who missed it, Mickelson began with three birdies and an eagle through the first seven holes. He then lipped out a 10 footer for birdie at the 8th, and left another short birdie putt on the edge of the cup at the 9th. His score very easily could have been 28, but he settled for a 30, putting him in great position to win.

Finally looking like he had truly learned how to play links golf, Mickelson was hitting great shot after great shot with a variety of knockdowns. With a great approach shot at the 10th, he made another birdie, moving to six under for his round.

And then, out of nowhere, he missed a two foot par putt on the 12th, proceeded to make three more bogeys coming in, finished with a back-nine 38, and lost by three to Darren Clarke. It seems hard to explain other than golf is very difficult and it must be extremely hard to keep up that level of play for the entire round, especially during the final round of a major. But really, I don't know how he missed a dead straight two footer.

This isn't the first time Mickelson has done this. At the 2009 Masters, he made six birdies on the front-nine to post 30, but then dumped his tee shot into Rae's creek at the 12th, making the mistake of missing right, which everyone knows you should never do. From there, he shot 37 on the back for 67, and lost by three to Angel Cabrera.

Tiger Woods had a similar round going at this year's Masters in which he shot a front-nine 31, but missed a three footer for par at coincidentally, the 12th hole, which slowed all his momentum. From there, he shot 37 for a 67 and lost by four to Charl Schwartzel.

These are three perfect examples of how hard it is for a golfer, even for two of the top players of all time, to keep all the momentum going for an entire round during the final round of a major championship.

The Open Championship in Photos

The Open Championship returns to Kent

Press release issued on behalf of Visit Kent by Landmark Media International

(Canterbury, Kent – July 12, 2011) The Open returns to Kent and Royal St George’s Golf Club this week, the only venue in southern England for golf’s most prestigious major championship.

This is the 14th occasion the historic links at Sandwich has welcomed the Open – it was the first venue outside of Scotland to host an Open, in 1894 – placing Kent, known as The Garden of England, in the world golfing spotlight.

Royal St George’s Golf Club forms part of Kent’s ‘Regal Golf Coast,’ which includes Royal Cinque Ports (venue of the Open Championship in 1909 and 1920), Prince’s (the Open venue in 1932), Littlestone (a Final Qualifying course for the 2011 Open) and North Foreland.

Overall there are more than 100 golf courses in the county, which also features modern classics such as London Golf Club (a European Tour Destination and home of the 2009 European Open and where work will soon start on a five-star golf and spa hotel resort) and Chart Hills (designed by Sir Nick Faldo and ranked 82nd in Golf World Magazine’s Top 100 Courses in the UK and Ireland) plus landmark castle courses, including Leeds Castle.

#*%&# that! Pros to be fined at Open Championship

Warning to Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, or any other pros who curse or spit at this year's Open Championship. Players may be publicly fined for these actions if they don't mind their golf etiquette.

I was under the impression that players were already fined for these actions and according to rumors, Woods has been fined the most of any player in PGA Tour history. This warnings just adds that the fines will be made public.

"These guys are role models and we are looking for them to behave as well as possible on the course," said R & A chief Peter Dawson.

The 2011 Open Championship will feature several course changes

Royal St. Georges, the venue for the 2011 British Open, will see the course play slightly different than it did in 2003, the year Ben Curtis won.

During that tournament, Tiger Woods missed the first fairway, lost his ball, and ended up with a triple bogey. Jerry Kelly had a bigger problem with the hole, and finished with an 11. Overall, less than 30% of drives hit the first fairway that year. With that in mind, the first fairway will be given twelve additional yards in width for 2011.

The 17th and 18th fairways will be given extra width as well, making the finishing stretch a bit easier for the players. Overall, the course will be lengthened by 100 yards with the biggest change coming at the fourth hole, which will go from a 497 yard par-5 to a 495 yard par-4, making the course a par 70, not 71.

No word has been given on whether or not anything will be changed with the infamous fairway bunker at the fourth.

Cink Wins Open over Watson

In what could have been one of the biggest stories in sports history, Stewart Cink put an end to Tom Watson's stunning run by winning the Open Championship in a playoff. Cink made a great birdie at eighteen in regulation to post two under par and become the leader in the clubhouse, and then went on to defeat Watson by playing the four hole playoff in two under par.

Cink is a deserving champion, but his victory will be overshadowed by the great play of 59 year old Tom Watson, who going into the eighteenth hole in regulation was one par away from making history. Watson hit a perfect drive, and his second shot was directly at the pin but went too far and ended up in a difficult location for getting up and down. His first putt went eight feet past the hole and he missed the par putt for the victory. He would have become the oldest major champion of all time and won the British Open for a record tying sixth championship.


I'm sure this was a difficult tournament to watch for many people rooting so hard for Watson to pull it out. I could barely watch the last few holes and it was completely deflating when he bogeyed the last. Regardless, Watson is an all time great champion and earned even more respect all around the world with his performance at the Open. He will be playing next week at the Senior Open at Sunningdale and it will be interesting to see whether he has anything left after such a strenuous week.