The Open Championship 2015: Spieth favorite to win

Dates: Thursday, July 16th – Sunday, July 19th 2015

Course: The Old Course, St. Andrews Links in Scotland

TV: NBC, Golf Channel, TSN & BBC

THERE should be no surprise seeing Jordan Spieth listed as the favorite to win the Open Championship.

The 144th Open Championship will be played at St. Andrews for the first time since 2010 – the year Louis Oosthuizen won with an impressive score (-16). Despite the difficulty of the course – golfers will need a strong score to win.

The last five winners of the Open Championship at St. Andrews are as followed: Louis Oosthuizen -16 (2010), Tiger Woods -14 (2005), Tiger Woods -19 (2000), John Daly -6 (1995), Nick Faldo -18 (1990).

The Old Course, St. Andrews quick facts

Par: 72.
Length: 7305 Yards.
Bunker Count: 112.
Course Record: 62.
Open Championships: 28 (This is the 29th Open Championship at the Old Course).

Normally when the reigning champion (Rory McIlroy) is injured that’d be the biggest storyline leading up to the Open, but that’s not the case this year. Spieth is the #1 storyline, as he attempts to keep the “Grand Slam” alive.

Spieth has won the Masters and U.S. Open already in 2015, as I’m sure everyone here knows.

2015 PGA Open Championship bookmaker bonuses

The betting lines below are all taken from Bovada or 5Dimes – both US-friendly sportsbooks.

Bovada is US-only, while 5Dimes has zero country restrictions. Both bookies are offering great sign-up bonuses during the Open.

Bovada Sportsbook (USA): 100% cash bonus for up to $250 (5X Rollover).

5Dimes Sportsbook (ROW): Up to $520 in free plays (10X Rollover) or reduced juice. 5Dimes offers reduced juice, but if you don’t bet often, you’re likely better off with the free play bonus offer.

Will Jordan Spieth win the Open Championship in 2015?

Best Odds: Jordan Spieth (+595) at 5Dimes.eu

You’re looking at less than 6/1 on Spieth to win the Open Championship this week. I’m not willing to back the favorite. He has been dominant this season, but he hasn’t done well on the links in his career.

Spieth has played in the Open twice – finishing T44 (2013) and T36 (2014). I expect improvement from the young star, but there’s much better value in the outright market, especially with McIlroy out of the tournament.

If you insist on having some action on Spieth – I recommend betting on the “Big 4” prop at Bovada.

The odds on the prop are +185 and will cash if Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose or Rickie Fowler win.

2015 The Open Championship predictions

Best Bet: Rickie Fowler (+1600) at Bovada.lv

I’ll be betting on Fowler each-way this week, as there’s enough value with these odds. I’ll get 4/1 as long as Fowler is able to finish in the top 8. Fowler just won the Scottish Open this past week and is always a threat on the links.

It was great to see Fowler get the win and build some confidence after missing the cut in the U.S. Open and the Memorial in his last two tournaments on American soil. Fowler has yet to win the Open, but he has two T5 finishes.

Fowler has played in the Open Championship five times – he has finishes of T14, T5, T31, MC and T2.

Best Bet: Adam Scott (+2100) at 5Dimes.eu

Another each-way target with a ton of value at 21/1 odds – Adam Scott is my second pick.

Scott has been great in the Open Championship the last several years. He hasn’t won this major yet, but he has finishes of T2 (2012), T3 (2013) and T5 (2015). He seemingly found his form with a strong T4 finish in at the U.S. Open.

Scott isn’t having a good season by any stretch – he had a run of seven tournaments with zero finishes inside of the T20 before the U.S. Open, but Scott is streaky and he clearly knows how to play well on the links in the UK.

Best Bet: Franceso Molinari +11500 at 5Dimes.eu

My last each-way bet is on a long shot in Francesco Molinari. I believe Molinari is on the verge of completely breaking out and becoming a mainstream commodity in golf. He has put up some excellent results already in 2015.

Molinari has two T10 finishes, including a T3 at the Memorial. He finished T27 at the U.S. Open and he has four finishes inside of the top 6 on the European Tour in just five tournaments.

The Italian has also finished inside of the top 15 the last two years at the Open Championship.

First round leader betting market

Best Bets: Graeme McDowell +8000 & Adam Scott +2800 at Bovada.lv

Bovada has odds out for the first round leader betting market and I’m betting on McDowell and Scott.

Both players have consistently done well in the first round when playing in the Open Championship. McDowell is having a tough season, but he has two top 10 finishes in the last three years in the Open and he has led after round one twice.

Scott has often been in the mix after the first round. Scott has been in the top 5 after the first round three times in thirteen tournaments. This market is a bit of a crapshoot, but both players present potentially large payouts.

Top US golfer betting market

Best Bets: Dustin Johnson +600 & Rickie Fowler +750 at 5Dimes.eu

I’m betting on both, as I believe they’ll be the top two Americans in the Open Championship.

I’ve already discussed why I like Fowler to do well. Dustin Johnson is being tipped by just about everyone online and for good reason. The American has finished in the top 10 in 50% of his events this season (7 of 14).

Johnson has finishes of T2, T9, T32 and T12 in the Open the last four years. He’s in great form, can play on this type of course extremely well and there’s no reason not to expect Johnson near the top of the leaderboard.

Brandt Snedeker (+1800) has four top 10 finishes in a row, including a T8 in the U.S. Open. These are great odds on Snedeker to be the top American, but Fowler and Johnson are both in too good of form right now.

2015 Open Championship betting odds

Jordan Spieth +595
Dustin Johnson +1095
Rickie Fowler +1600
Henrik Stenson +1960
Justin Rose +1960
Louis Oosthuizen +1960
Adam Scott +2120
Bubba Watson +3000
Tiger Woods +3025
Jason Day +3400
Paul Casey +3500
Sergio Garcia +3500
Hideki Matsuyama +3800
Martin Kaymer +4000
Phil Mickelson +4000
Shane Lowry +4200
Branden Grace +4500
Brandt Snedeker +4500
Matt Kuchar +5500
Brooks Koepka +6000
Patrick Reed +7000
Victor Dubuisson +8000
Jimmy Walker +8500
Tommy Fleetwood +8500
Bernd Wiesberger +9000
Charl Schwartzel +9000
Ian Poulter +9500
J.B. Holmes +9500
Lee Westwood +9500
Luke Donald +9500
Francesco Molinari +11500
Kevin Kisner +11500
Jim Furyk +12500
Zach Johnson +12500
Byeong-Hun An +14000
Joost Luiten +14000
Danny Willett +14500
Graeme McDowell +15000
Billy Horschel +16000
Danny Lee +16500
Marc Warren +16500
Ryan Palmer +16500
Ross Fisher +20000
Keegan Bradley +21500
David Howell +22500
Eddie Pepperell +22500
Ernie Els +22500
Jamie Donaldson +22500
Jason Dufner +22500
Rafa Cabrera Bello +22500
Miguel Angel Jimenez +24500
Hunter Mahan +25500
Padraig Harrington +26500
Russell Knox +26500
Geoff Ogilvy +28500
Thomas Bjorn +28500
Alexander Levy +31500
Gary Woodland +31500
Retief Goosen +32500
Ryan Moore +32500
Thongchai Jaidee +32500
Andy Sullivan +35000
Bill Haas +35000
Marc Leishman +35000
Graham DeLaet +36500
George Coetzee +37500
Russell Henley +37500
Stephen Gallacher +37500
Webb Simpson +37500
Ben Martin +38500
Harris English +39500
Kevin Na +41500
Charley Hoffman +42500
James Morrison +42500
John Senden +42500
David Lingmerth +45000
Brendon Todd +47500
Raphael Jacquelin +47500
Robert Streb +47500
Pablo Larrazabal +48500
Tyrell Hatton +50000
Jonas Blixt +52500
Soren Kjeldsen +54500
Brian Harman +55000
Mikko Ilonen +56500
Richie Ramsay +56500
Thomas Aiken +57500
Steven Bowditch +58500
Kevin Streelman +60000
Paul Lawrie +65000
Matt Jones +66500
Carl Pettersson +70000
Daniel Berger +70000
Matteo Manassero +76500
James Hahn +77500
Cameron Tringale +78500
Kiradech Aphibarnrat +80000
Morgan Hoffmann +80000
Marcel Siem +82500
David Hearn +84500
Jaco Van Zyl +84500
Greg Owen +85000
Stewart Cink +85000
Anirban Lahiri +88500
Matt Every +90000
Darren Clarke +91500
Adam Bland +100000
Alister Balcombe +100000
Anthony Wall +100000
Ashley Chesters +100000
Ben Curtis +100000
Ben Taylor +100000
Bernhard Langer +100000
Brett Rumford +100000
Daniel Brooks +100000
David Duval +100000
David Lipsky +100000
Edoardo Molinari +100000
Gary Boyd +100000
Greg Chalmers +100000
Gunn Yang +100000
Hiroshi Iwata +100000
Hiroyuki Fujita +100000
John Daly +100000
Jonathan Moore +100000
Jordan Niebrugge +100000
Justin Leonard +100000
Kouemi Oda +100000
Marcus Fraser +100000
Mark Calcavecchia +100000
Mark O’Meara +100000
Mark Young +100000
Oliver Schniederjans +100000
Paul Dunne +100000
Paul Kinnear +100000
Pelle Edberg +100000
Rikard Karlberg +100000
Robert Dinwiddie +100000
Rod Pampling +100000
Romain Langasque +100000
Romain Wattel +100000
Ryan Fox +100000
Sandy Lyle +100000
Scott Arnold +100000
Scott Hend +100000
Scott Strange +100000
Shinji Tomimura +100000
Sir Nick Faldo +100000
Tadahiro Takayama +100000
Taichi Teshima +100000
Todd Hamilton +100000
Tom Gillis +100000
Tom Lehman +100000
Tom Watson +100000
Wen-Chong Liang +100000
Yuta Ikeda +100000