Sports Blog 14/07/2015: Golf Preview – The Open Championship, Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th July 2015

With last year’s champion Rory McIlroy out of the Open through injury, golf’s current golden boy Jordan Spieth could be on track for another milestone in his fledgling career.

It’s a crowded field at this year’s Open Championship, and Spreadex has you covered with a host of different fixed odds and spread betting opportunities, the premier of which being the Tournament Winner Betting spreads i.e. the Leaderboard 80-40-30-25-20-15-10-5 Index. This Index sees the winner receive 80 points, the runner-up 40 points, 3rd place 30, 4th place 25, 5th place 20, 6th place 15, 7th place 10, 8th place 5 and, of course, everyone else a big fat zero.



After becoming the first player to win the Masters and the US Open in a calendar year since Tiger Woods completed the feat back in 2002, Jordan Spieth is now aiming for the even more impressive accomplishment of winning 3 majors in a calendar year, something not completed since Woods himself managed to win the US Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship in 2000. Considering he is only 21 years old, Spieth is having a phenomenal year and understandably sits atop the Leaderboard Index with a spread of 16-19, with fixed odds of 6/1.

Just behind Spieth on the Leaderboard Index is Dustin Johnson, with a spread of 11-14 and fixed odds of 9/1, the man (well, one of two men) who was thwarted by a single stroke at this year’s US Open back in June after he crumbled in the face of a 3 foot putt to seal the title. Of course, the man who bested him was the superb Spieth and it looks like his fellow, younger, American will be Johnson’s main rival once again, as the 31 year old aims to beat his 2011 runner-up record finish.



Outside of the 2 clear frontrunners things get a lot tighter as one looks down the list of those competing. Top of the Australian Index with a spread of 24-27, alongside a Leaderboard Index spread of 7.5-9.5 and fixed odds of 22/1, sits Adam Scott. Runner-up in 2012, Scott has slipped from 3 in the world at the end of 2014 (after hitting the no. 1 spot in May of that year) to 11th, following a dismal 38th place finish in the Master before mitigating that slightly with a 4th place finish in the US Open.

Next up is Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson, both at a Leaderboard Index spread of 7-9. Fowler was one of the runners-up at the Open Championship in 2014 and has a fixed odds price of 16/1. Stenson, meanwhile, is unsurprisingly comfortable atop the Scandinavian Index with a 31-34 spread, and was, like Fowler, a runner-up at the Open, back in 2013. Fowler’s fellow 2014 runner-up Sergio Garcia is then at a Leaderboard Index spread of 5.5-7.5, with fixed odds of 25/1, but has failed to make much of an impression in the year’s 2 majors so far.



Beyond this top 6 lie a few more players of intrigue, first amongst those being Louis Oosthuizen. Atop the South African Index with a spread of 22-25, alongside a Leaderboard Index spread of 5-7 and fixed odds 20/1, Oosthuizen was the joint runner-up at this year’s US Open, and has won the Open Championship before back in 2010. 2013 Open Championship winner Phil Mickelson is then at a Leaderboard Index spread of 3.5-5.5 with fixed odds 40/1, even if his form has been wildly inconsistent in 2015.

Finally we come to Tiger Woods. 3 time winner of the Open Championship, Woods is chasing his 15th major title, but more importantly, his first in 7 years. He has a respectable Leaderboard Index spread of 3-5 with a fixed odds price of 28/1, but has failed to impress in 2015, especially after being cut at the US Open. Yet he is the sport’s most recognisable name for a reason, and even with his faltering form there is still a chance the old magic could come back.