The GM Tipster picks out his top Asian, top Aussie and three players to make the cut at Royal St George's
Open Championship Special Bets 2021
Takumi Kanaya Top Asian 1pt at 11/2 with Betfair
Japan’s best could be 23-year-old Takumi Kanaya, for 55 weeks world’s top amateur and already a triple winner on the Japan Tour, the first coming before turning pro.
Marc Leishman Top Aussie 1pt at 4/1 with Bet365 + 1pt at 9/2 in Bet365’s Group D
I fancy Marc Leishman, almost an Open champion at St Andrews in 2015, to have a good week and like him as the 9/2 outsider in Bet365’s Group D against Casey, Westwood, Reed and Scheffler and for Top Aussie at 4/1.
1pt each Harding 6/5, Kanaya 5/4 and Dahmen 5/4 to make the cut with Bet365
Bet365’s 5/4 for Kanaya to make the cut appeals. Other odds-against players to back in the cuts market are Justin Harding at 5/4 and Joel Dahmen at 5/4.
Open Championship Special Bets 2021
It’s a real shame that Japan’s first Major champion Hideki Matsuyama has pulled out of the Open just to be safe after testing positive for Covid on July 2.
He had no symptoms but for safety and travel reasons he is saving himself for the Olympics in Tokyo where he is a sporting god for winning the Masters.
There is still a large Japanese contingent for a championship they have a decent record in although their main claim to a piece of Open history was the Road Hole disaster that befell poor Tommy Nakajima at St Andrews in 1978 when he lay just one off the lead.
Safely on the dreaded 17th in two, a feat in itself, he then watched as his first putt rolled off into the frightening deep bunker guarding the green. Four to get out and two putts – it all added up to a quintuple-bogey nine and he finished 17th.
Three Japanese players have made top-five in the Open, Massy Kuramoto in 1982, Shigeki Maruyama in 2002 and Hideto Tanihara in 2006.
Matsuyama’s best was sixth at Muirfield in 2013. He will surely better that in the next few years but for now Japan’s best could be 23-year-old Takumi Kanaya, for 55 weeks world’s top amateur and already a triple winner on the Japan Tour, the first coming before turning pro.
He has made a good start to his European Tour career with ninth in Dubai and 17th in Munich and could be worth a bet at 4/1 for Top Asian.
PGA Tour regulars Benny An and CT Pan rate the main dangers in the absence of Matsuyama, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim.
Bet365’s 5/4 for Kanaya to make the cut also appeals. Other odds-against players to back in the cuts market are Justin Harding at 5/4 and Joel Dahmen at 5/4.
Both are winners this year, Harding doubly so, and the quick, short swing of the South African should be a help if the wind gets up.
Related: Open Championship Golf Betting Tips 2021
I fancy Marc Leishman, almost an Open champion at St Andrews in 2015, to have a good week and like him as the 9/2 outsider in Bet365’s Group D against Casey, Westwood, Reed and Scheffler and for Top Aussie at 4/1.
Check out how the GM Tipster is getting on this year on our Golf Betting Tips homepage.
Open Championship Special Bets 2021 – advised bets
Takumi Kanaya Top Asian 1pt at 11/2 with Betfair
Japan’s best could be 23-year-old Takumi Kanaya, for 55 weeks world’s top amateur and already a triple winner on the Japan Tour, the first coming before turning pro.
Marc Leishman Top Aussie 1pt at 4/1 with Bet365 + 1pt at 9/2 in Bet365’s Group D
I fancy Marc Leishman, almost an Open champion at St Andrews in 2015, to have a good week and like him as the 9/2 outsider in Bet365’s Group D against Casey, Westwood, Reed and Scheffler and for Top Aussie at 4/1.
1pt each Harding 6/5, Kanaya 5/4 and Dahmen 5/4 to make the cut with Bet365
Bet365’s 5/4 for Kanaya to make the cut appeals. Other odds-against players to back in the cuts market are Justin Harding at 5/4 and Joel Dahmen at 5/4.