The 2018 Open Championship is set to begin on Thursday at Carnoustie in Scotland. Jordan Spieth is the defending champion after holding off Matt Kuchar in the final round at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in 2017.
Online bookmaker novibet.co.uk lists Spieth at +2000 to defend the title while Dustin Johnson is the favorite at +1200. Other notable players are Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy at +1600; Rickie Fowler +1800; Jon Rahm and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka at +2000.
We recently added odds of Open Championship winners going as far back as 1979. Here are some notes from looking over the list of winners…
– Five of the last six champions have had odds of +4000 or less. Zach Johnson in 2015 was +8000.
– From 2009 to 2011 each winner was 125-1 or higher.
– The last time the Open was played at Carnoustie Padraig Harrington came in at +2500 and defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff. Carnoustie was also the venue for the famous Jean Van de Velde meltdown in 1999.
– Over a 10-year stretch from 1995 – 2004 there were four players who were not listed and considered part of the ‘Field.' It's safe to say that each of these players were 100-1 are higher to win in their respective years.
While picking a long shot is appetizing the safe money is on selecting a player who is less than 50-1 at this year's Open Championship.
