World No.1 Jason Day will be leading the Australian charge at the British Open next week, along with the eighth-ranked Adam Scott.
Both will be attempting to win the second ‘major’ of their careers, with Scott becoming the first Australian to win the US Masters at Augusta in 2013. Day is the reigning US PGA champion.
This year’s British Open returns to Royal Troon in Scotland for the first time in 12 years. The tournament currently rotates between ten different host venues each year – five in Scotland, four in England and one in Northern Ireland.
American Zach Johnson is the defending champion, having carted 15 under to win at St Andrew’s in Scotland last year.
Day has had solid results in the two majors held so far this year. He finished one over at the US Masters, tying for 10th, six shots behind Danny Willett from England who broke through to win his first major.
At the US Open, he finished two over to tie for eighth, six shots behind American Dustin Johnson (who also recorded his first victory in a major).
Scott’s results haven’t been as good in the 2016 majors, finishing at 11 over to tie for 42nd at the US Masters, and six over at the US Open where he tied for 18th.
Australia does have a proud history at the tournament, with four of our players having lifted the prestigious “claret jug” – Peter Thomson (five times), Greg Norman (twice), Kel Nagle and Ian Baker-Finch. The most recent was Norman in 1993, when he shot 13 under at Royal St George’s in England.
No Australian has ever won the tournament at Royal Troon, where it has been held eight times.
The bookmakers have rated the leading contenders for this year’s British Open as follows:
Jason Day $8.50
Dustin Johnson (world No.3) $9
Jordan Spieth (USA, world No.2) $10
Rory McIlroy (Ireland, world No.4) $10
Adam Scott $21
Everyone else in the field is currently at 25-1 or more, including defending champion Zach Johnson (51-1).
Who do you think will win the Open this year?
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