Best bets
1pt each-way Neal Shipley @ 33/1
1pt each-way Nick Dunlap @ 40/1
1pt each-way Sam Bairstow @ 60/1
1pt each-way Jake Knapp @ 50/1
0.5pt each-way Alejandro Tosti @ 80/1
0.5pt each-way Chan Kim @ 25/1
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If wall-to-wall coverage of the Open from 6.30am on Sky leaves you wanting more golf, addicts can tune into the Barracuda Championship from Tahoe Mountain, California, from 10pm to top up the day.
Using a modified Stableford format, where eagles get you five points, birdies two, pars nothing, bogeys minus one, and double bogeys or worse minus three, the Barracuda produces a volatile leaderboard and plenty of excitement as players fire at flags and chase low numbers.
Last year Akshay Bhatia and Patrick Rodgers played off after dead-heating with 40 points with Rodgers, as ever, playing the bridesmaid. In his tenth year on tour and teeing it up for the 271st time, the 32-year-old returns to Truckee hoping for that elusive first win. Loaded with ability but without the nerve to match, he will probably find someone to beat him again. It’s almost as if he expects to lose.
‘Barracuda produces a volatile leaderboard and plenty of excitement.’
There are plenty of eager young bucks with a more positive approach. Jake Knapp would be a snip on early-year form when he won in Mexico, placed third at Torrey Pines and fourth at Cognizant but apart from a top-ten at the Byron Nelson there has been little since.
At this level where Fitzdares go 16/1 the field and there’s no standout, it’s worth risking that this fearless big hitter can rekindle the flame.
Nick Dunlap, the 20-year-old who won the American Express as an amateur in January, then turned pro immediately rather than continue at college, is potentially better than most of these. It has been hard living up to such an explosive start but we know he has a big heart from the way he got the job done at the AmEx and his 12th at Memorial, 11th at Houston and tenth in Detroit were achieved at a higher level than this.
I put up Neal Shipley, who was low amateur in the Masters and US Open, last week and he gave us a great run to share sixth place. That followed a top 20 in Detroit, a sharp start to the pro career of this long-haired 23-year-old from Pittsburgh who was runner-up at the US Amateur. He might look a mess but don’t be put off. This lad can play.
The excitable Alejandro Tosti gives it an almighty hit-it-anywhere lash and if this fiery Argentinian can put it all together as he did when tying the mighty Scottie Scheffler when runner-up to Stephan Jaeger in Houston, he will be a threat. That was in March and has not been repeated but he will relish this chance to play attacking golf.
Plenty of Europeans who have not made the Troon line-up have gone across to take advantage of a week’s gainful employment and the $4m on the table.
Europe provided the two joint-thirds last year in Julien Guerrier and Jens Dantorp. Sam Bairstow from Sheffield looks the pick this year. He shot a 62 in the third round of the ISCO on the way to sharing sixth place with Shipley which is just what’s required in a low-scoring week on this 7480-yard par 71 tree-lined track far above sea level that’s set up to encourage fiireworks.
Classy Keith Mitchell probably doesn’t putt well enough to justify his place at the top of the market but Korean veteran Chan Kim, an eight-time winner on the Japan Tour and twice successful on the Korn Ferry circuit, caught the eye with top-12 efforts on his two latest outings at the John Deere and Keene Trace. He gets the final spot in the staking plan.
For all your bets on the golf, visit our dedicated golf betting page.
