The Europeans are still sulking from their embarrassing loss in the Ryder Cup, but the show must go on and many of the losing team members are on hand this week in Scotland for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Martin Kaymer +1900, Lee Westwood +2100, Danny Willett +1800, Matthew Fitzpatrick +3000, Thomas Pieters +1600 and Rafa Cabrera-Bello +1500 are all scheduled to tee it up this week. You throw in South African stars Louis Oosthuizen +1500 and Branden Grace +1200 and you have a star studded field.
Other notables scheduled to play are Shane Lowry +2550, Alex Noren +2000, Joost Luiten +2750, Bernd Wiesberger +1700, Graeme McDowell +5250 and Alexander Levy +3750.
Three courses are used this week; The Old Course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns will be used the first three days of competition. The format this week is similar to the one on the PGA Tour at Pebble Beach where celebrities and amateurs play with the professionals the first three days. The Old Course is the host course and will be used for the final round. KingsBarns is where the scores will be the lowest - Branden Grace shot 60 at KingsBarns in 2012 and Carnoustie is the toughest of the three.
Celebrities playing this week include Andy Garcia, Huey Lewis, Hugh Grant, Jamie Dornan, Greg Kinnear, Kyle MacLachlan, Tico Torres and Luis Figo.
The weather could play a huge role this week. The temperature is for the low fifties with 15-20 m.p.h. Winds. It’s going to be cold and windy and the players that can control their ball flight in the blustery conditions, will have the best shot to be holding the trophy at the end of the week.
Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Golf Odds courtesy of BookMaker Sportsbook:
Branden Grace +1200
Louis Oosthuizen +1500
Thomas Pieters +1600
Bernd Wiesberger +1700
Danny Willett +1800
Martin Kaymer +1900
Alex Noren +2000
Rafa Cabrera-Bello +2100
Tommy Fleetwood +2300
Shane Lowry +2550
Joost Luiten +2750
Matthew Fitzpatrick +3000
Lee Westwood +3250
Ross Fisher +3300
Alexander Levy +3750
Andrew Johnston +4000
Soren Kjeldsen +4400
Tyrrell Hatton +4850
Nicolas Colsaerts +5000
Graeme McDowell +5250
Richard Bland +5500
Robert Karlsson +8500
Sean O’Hair +6000
Bradley Dredge +6500
David Horsey +7000
Thorbjorn Olesen +7500
Richie Ramsay +8000
Alejandro Canizares +8500
David Howell +9000
David Lipsky +9500
Brandon Stone +9900
Fabrizio Zanotti +10000
Gregory Bourdy +10100
Paul Dunne +10500
Matthew Southgate +11750
Peter Hanson +12000
Peter Uihlein +12500
Romain Wattel +12500
Jamie Donaldson +12900
Padraig Harrington +13000
Chris Stroud +15000
Pablo Larrazabal +15500
Soomin Lee +15000
Paul Lawrie +17500
Robert Rock +17500
Victor Dubuisson +20000
Troy Merritt +20000
FIELD - Any other player +175
ODDS ANALYSIS
Louis Oosthuizen +1500 has fond memories of the Old Course at St. Andrews. The South African star romped to a seven-shot victory in the 2010 Open Championship and returned five years later to finish runner-up after losing a play-off to Zach Johnson. His current form is good with a T17 at the BMW Championship and T8 at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Louis O is a play on all formats this week!
I’m sticking with South Africans this week. Branden Grace +1200 loves links style golf and after taking a long break, should be fresh heading down the stretch. He won this event in 2012 and is a big time talent and big time player. He will thrive if the weather is bad. He hits it long and straight, has a great iron game and if he warms up the putter, look out!
One to FADE - look no further than Danny Willett +1800. He has not played worth beans since his epic win in April at Augusta. He lost every match last week at the Ryder Cup and now is making excuses. Time for Willett to shut up and start playing golf. His form is bad, his confidence is suspect and his attitude is poor. That all adds up to lackluster play.
Sleeper - Shane Lowry +2550 loves links style golf and really should play quite well this week. He has no pressure, comes in under the radar and has to be motivated to play well after watching the Euros stink it up at the Ryder Cup. His season started out well, then fizzled and now he can save his year by playing well the last two months. Lowry is worth a play this week. Lowry loves Links!
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