Odds to Win the 2008 British Open (Updated July 16)

Odds to win the 2008 British Open have been updated heading into Thursday's first day of the event with only Sergio Garcia having single digit odds.  Everyone from Ernie Els on down have 12/1 or longer odds at SBG Global, which lists odds in the American format (i.e. +800 is equivalent to 8/1).

A Mickelson-Els showdown on Sunday would be ideal, writes Colin Anthony of Business Day:

For me the dream final-ball pairing on Sunday would be Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson. Had Woods been born this century, they probably would have been battling each other for the top-dog ranking throughout their careers.

And of course it would be a replay of that scintillating Masters shoot-out four years ago when Mickelson, revved up by tens of thousands of screaming US idiots in the galleries, rolled in an 18-footer at the 18th to make Els’s 67, which included two eagles, irrelevant.

How Ernie would love revenge, spurred on by Royal Birkdale’s more genteel spectators.

For a lot of people perhaps.  Mickelson is listed with +1250 odds at SBG Global, just slightly longer than Els

Can Padraig Harrington do it again? 

The Ireland born golfer caused quite a run at the Irish bookmakers last year.  It was the worst case scenario.  This year, those same bookies are hoping to recoup some of that money back.

Bets will come in on Harrington at +1250 odds (12.5 to 1) despite news that the reigning champ has a wrist injury.

Antoni Jakubowski, a chiropractor who works with Retief Goosen, David Howell, Ian Woosnam and Nick Faldo among others, expressed his concern over the injury:

Harrington's injury, Jakubowksi believes, is a case in point. "The wrist is one of the most overlooked areas, which is weird considering how often it is used in golf. It is a very tricky area as they are the most irregularly shaped bones ever.

"It sounds like Padraig may have had this injury for a period of time. He could have got it practising a particularly violent shot from the rough or simply because he had a latent weakness there which only came out after thousands of strikes."

Lee Westwood's odds have been slashed somewhat.  He now sits with +1400 odds.  Justin Rose was at +1500.  Everyone else had odds longer than +2000 with the payout potential of US$2000 plus for every US$100 bet.  Even Garcia has value at +800, paying US$800 for every US$100 bet.

Here were all your odds courtesy of SBG Global

1 Ernie Els NA NA +1200
2 Sergio Garcia NA NA +800
3 Phil Mickelson NA NA +1250
4 Padraig Harrington NA NA +1250
5 Justin Rose NA NA +1500
6 Lee Westwood NA NA +1400
7 Adam Scott NA NA +2500
8 Retief Goosen NA NA +2500
9 Vijay Singh NA NA +2500
10 Robert Karlsson NA NA +3000
11 Jim Furyk NA NA +2000
12 Geoff Ogilvy NA NA +2000
13 Andres Romero NA NA +3300
15 Trevor Immelman NA NA +3500
16 Paul Casey NA NA +4000
17 Angel Cabrera NA NA +3500
18 Henrik Stenson NA NA +3500
20 Miguel Angel Jimenez NA NA +4000
21 Anthony Kim NA NA +4000
22 Justin Leonard NA NA +4000
23 Stewart Cink NA NA +3500
24 Robert Allenby NA NA +4500
25 Mike Weir NA NA +5000
26 Stuart Appleby NA NA +5000
27 Stephen Ames NA NA +5000
28 Ian Poulter NA NA +5000
29 Graeme McDowell NA NA +3500
30 Tim Clark NA NA +6500
32 KJ Choi NA NA +6000
33 Martin Kaymer NA NA +3500
34 Hunter Mahan NA NA +5000
35 Steve Stricker NA NA +6000
36 Ryuji Imada NA NA +6500
37 Brandt Snedeker NA NA +6500
39 Rory Sabbatini NA NA +8500
41 Colin Montgomerie NA NA +5000
43 JB Holmes NA NA +7500
44 Zach Johnson NA NA +7500
46 Nick Dougherty NA NA +7500
47 David Howell NA NA +8500
48 Scott Verplank NA NA +8500
49 Niclas Fasth NA NA +7000
50 Aaron Baddeley NA NA +7500
51 Oliver Wilson NA NA +8500
53 Boo Weekley NA NA +8500
54 Soren Kjeldsen NA NA +10000
56 Sean O'Hair NA NA +8500
57 Richard Green NA NA +10000
58 Nick O'Hern NA NA +10000
59 Rod Pampling NA NA +7000
60 Richard Sterne NA NA +10000
62 Peter Hanson NA NA +10000
63 Anders Hansen NA NA +10000
64 Soren Hanson NA NA +10000
65 Graeme Storm NA NA +10000
66 Woody Austin NA NA +12500
69 Lucas Glover NA NA +15000
71 Gregory Havret NA NA +12500
72 Jeff Quinney NA NA +12500
73 Johan Edfors NA NA +12500
75 Mark Calcavecchia NA NA +12500
76 Charles Howell III NA NA +13500
77 Ben Curtis NA NA +15000
78 Richard Finch NA NA +15000
80 Damien McGrane NA NA +17500
81 John Daly NA NA +17500
82 Paul Lawrie NA NA +17500
83 Field (Any Other) NA NA +125

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Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com

Originally published July 16, 2008 8:39 pm EST