British Open Betting – Surprise Leader After Round 2 Might be Unbeatable
The weather continued to wreck havoc at St. Andrews on Friday as those who found success on Thursday found the going tough on Friday. Almost every single golfer who shot well on Thursday fell back to the pack on Friday.
Almost. The biggest surprise on Friday turned out to have been the biggest surprise on Thursday. After shooting a 7 under on Thursday to finish 2 strokes behind Rory McIlroy, the South African Louis Oosthuizen shot a fantastic 5 under on Friday to take a 5 stroke lead in the British Open. Oosthuizen, who credits fellow South African Ernie Els for his incredible progress as a golfer, stole the thunder from Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood and the aforementioned McIlroy.
[Off topic: by the way, do you want to get a 60% bonus on your first deposit here at BetUS? Find out more exciting details HERE.]
Both Rory and Tiger couldn’t get anything going during their Friday rounds. McIlroy shot an 8 over 80, 17 strokes worse than his first round 63 on Thursday. Woods shot a 1 over 73, 6 strokes worse than his 67 on Thursday. Out of the two, it’s obvious that Woods is the one that still has a shot, albeit an outside shot, at grabbing British Open glory.
Making up 8 strokes on Oosthuizen won’t be easy to do as it will require two significant things to happen. First, Oosthuizen has to make serious mistakes out there on the course. He hasn’t shown a willingness to do that in two straight days. Second, Woods will have to find a way to shoot two 67’s in a row. Considering the way the weather has been at St. Andrews, that may be close to impossible.
Most golfing fans, and golf betting sports gamblers, have probably put the proverbial fork into McIlroy. A 17 stroke difference at the British Open is just too many for a young golfer like McIlroy to overcome. He may not shoot another 80 on Saturday, but he’s probably not going to touch the 63 he shot on Thursday either.
As for the other big name that made a move on Thursday, Lee Westwood, Friday proved to be a missed opportunity. Bridies were to be had on Friday and Westwood knows it. By his own admission, he should be at least “10 under” going into Saturday’s third round. Although suffering from an injured calf, Westwood appeared collected on the course for the second straight day. He has the ability to make a run, but faces the same uphill battle that Tiger does although at -6 Westwood doesn’t have to be as perfect as El Tigre will have to be in order to catch Oosthuizen.
Another golfer that could conceivably make a run is Graeme McDowell. The U.S. Open winner shot a terrific 68 on Friday, 3 strokes better than his 71 round on Thursday. McDowell would need a lot of things to fall his way in order to pull off a British Open victory but he’s been so good this year that anything appears possible when it comes to him.
Here’s a run-down on some of the more notable golfers going into the weekend.
- Mark Calcavecchia -7 = It’s doubtful that the American PGA Tour vet can sustain the energy he showed on both Thursday and Friday.
- Paul Casey -6 = He’s in the same boat as Westwood but he doesn’t have the same killer instinct that Lee has.
- Miguel Angel Jimenez -5 = If Jimenez is within 4 strokes by Sunday, then watch out.
- Phil Mickelson Even – He’ll make the cut, but he’s got no shot at the comeback.
- Ernie Els +4 = It’s been a disappointing 2 days for one of the world’s best golfers.
- Padraig Harrington +6 = So much for that 64 fourth round in the Travelers Championship leading to a good British Open run.
Oosthuizen doesn’t have the 2010 British Open in the bag, but it’s looking more and more like an amazing confluence of events will have to occur in order for him to win. I’m going to say that Tiger, Jimenez, Westwood, McDowell and possibly Casey are the only ones capable of catching the South African.
But even though I’ve just written that, I’m not sold on any of those guys. In fact, I’d give anybody all 4 of those golfers against Oosthuizen hanging on for the victory.
Any takers?
Comments
Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Best SportBook
