The Open / Paul Krishnamurty / 14 July 2010 /

There are plenty of good betting opportunities here beyond the winner market, starting with the opening day three-balls where a young gun and a former Major winner are amongst Paul Krishnamurty's picks.

Starting Time 08.20

Rory McIlroy @ [2.2] (vs Clark, Glover)

On what may well be his favourite course, Rory McIlroy can get the Open off to a flying start for favourite backers. Apparently, he has never shot higher than 69 around the Old Course, and if maintaining that record he would surely be heavily odds-on to win this 3-ball.

Both of his opponents are classy enough, but neither is particularly fancied this week. Clark has only made one top-50 from six cracks at the Open, and showed how important it is to his schedule by playing in the States last week, rather than the Scottish Open. Former US Open champion Glover did play at Loch Lomond, missing the cut, and has little Open pedigree with only one top-70 from four tries.

Starting Time 10.37

Jamie Abbott @ [4.6] (vs Scotland, Pernice)

Many an amateur has started well in the Open down the years, and Jamie Abbott could represent a bit of value at a big price, for a 3-ball that should take little winning. Champions Tour star Tom Pernice is odds-on favourite, despite missing all three previous Open cuts, and shooting an awful 78/79 when last at St Andrews in 2005.

Scotland is best known for winning a 'Search for the next Tiger' award aged 14, and becoming the youngest ever Open competitor in 1999. His career has been plagued with injuries, and his recent numbers on the Challenge Tour are terrible. So while I know little about Abbott, the fact he's qualified and is talking a good game going into this career pinnacle suggests he's capable of hitting around par. I suspect that would be enough.

Starting Time 12.25

Sandy Lyle @ [5.4] (vs Dredge, Oda)

Another regular feature of the Open's first day, and other majors for that matter, is a former champion turning back the clock to feature on the leaderboard. At the Masters, that man was Sandy Lyle, and I could see him repeating the trick. Sandy has plenty of St Andrews form throughout his career, and finished a respectable 32nd in the 2005 Open here.

Again, this 3-ball might not take much winning. Koumei Oda has missed his last four cuts on the low-grade Japanese Tour, and shot 76/78 on last year's Open debut. That leaves Bradley Dredge, who deserves to be hot favourite but is hardly one to rely upon. Apart from finishing runner-up in the 2006 Dunhill Links, he's never made a top-20 at St Andrews.

Starting Time 14.20

Retief Goosen @ [2.88] (vs Mickelson, Montgomerie)

The weather forecast for Thursday afternoon suggests strong winds and rain, and that must bode well for bad weather specialist Goosen. Even if that wasn't the case, there's nothing in their respective Open or St Andrews records to justify Phil Mickelson's hot favourite status.

Whereas Goose has nine top-15 finishes in this major, Mickelson has just two. In the 2005 Open at St Andrews, Goosen finished 5th, Mickelson was 60th. Furthermore, back in the early part of his career, Goosen held the all-time record for consecutive winning matches at the Dunhill Cup on this course, which was usually played in bad weather.

I suspect Colin Montgomerie will simply make up the numbers here, especially if the weather is indeed bad.

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