This week on the PGA Tour we head to Hoylake, England for The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club! In my opinion, it is THE most iconic tournament of the year, as I witnessed in person last year at the 150th Open @ St. Andrews!
Royal Liverpool GC is a par 71, tipping out at just a hair over 7300 yards. RLGC is riddled with pot bunkers and horrifying fescue that demands accuracy off the tee and precise iron play. Many players have eliminated their fairway woods and replaced them with a 2-iron and 3-iron. This change will allow them the opportunity to hit the stinger shot to keep the ball below the swirling wind gusts!
This week, as mentioned above, we will be targeting key golfers who have consistent success finding fairways off the tee. We will also be looking into players with strong “Greens in Regulation” because of the amount of fairway run-off, deep bunkers and tall fescue around the greens.
SammyStats10k Best Bets
This week, we are going with 5 outright winners along with their top 20’s.
Viktor Hovland Top 20 (+100) Outright Winner (+2500)
Viktor has had a very solid year thus far but in specifically, he has played the majors very well. This number is far too juicy for us to not take a stab. Hovland is also a tremendous iron player and has taken a liking to links style courses where he has had much success. Vik was in the final group at St. Andrews just a year ago and can see him having a similar week.
Cameron Smith Top 20 (-120) Outright Winner (+2000)
We are backing Cam again as we did in the US Open. Not only is he The Open defending champ, but with a top 10 finish at the US Open, we see no signs in fading him anytime soon. Another reason I really enjoy Cam Smith this week is his putter. In my opinion, he’s got the smoothest stroke in professional golf and can always depend on his putting to get him into contention. Smith’s Irons are also no joke, if he can consistently find the short grass off the tee, he’ll be in good shape.
Dustin Johnson Top 20 (+150) Outright Winner (+3300)
DJ is another guy I have backed come Major time. Dustin has incredible length and some of the best iron game in the world week in and week out. His putting is hit or miss in many events but when its on, he’s a hard player to slow down. We saw this player when he dominated the Masters tournament a few years back. DJ has plenty of experience in these type of high intensity tournaments and for the value, we cannot pass up on it.
Jon Rahm Top 20 (-145) Outright Winner (+1400)
Another golfer we are backing this week is Jon Rahm. This in my opinion is a perfect spot for Rahm as Scottie and Rory are in the spotlight. There’s no secret that JR is one of the best golfers in the world. Rahm’s ball striking and ability to find fairways may be the best part of his game which is critical this week at Royal Liverpool. I think Rahm, who struggled in the US Open, bounces back this week and gets himself into contention.
Tyrell Hatton Top 20 (+100) Outright Winner (+2800)
Last but not least, we are going with a local boy who’s recently played some really great golf. Hatton is known for his blow ups on the course but he’s actually a very consistent ball striker and has put up some really good scores. Hatton is no stranger to the links style courses and is coming off a top 10 finish at the Scottish Open last week. In terms of strokes gained off the field this year, he sits 6th best. Similar to last week, I find Tyrell getting off to a good start and sticking with it throughout the tournament.
Enjoy the 151st Open Championship & Always Wager Responsibly.