The Open used to be a longshot haven.
From 2003-11, four of the nine winners were huge numbers. Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis, Louis Oosthuizen and Darren Clarke were all at least 200-1.
Since then, the Open has been a spot where more established players grabbed a major title. There may have been a 100-1 lurking on Zach Johnson when he won in 2015, but for the most part, he was in the +8000 range. Everyone else since 2011 has been below +5000.
So while I'm not loading up my card with longshots, I have bet one guy in the triple digits to win at Royal Portrush.
Perry's British Open Longshots Betting Guide
I'll keep this part of the card limited to one guy: I bet Haotong Li awhile back at 150-1. Li was a player I expected to take a leap in Europe this year, and while he's been solid, he hasn't really put together any great results.
Li has done fine in strong fields, making the cut in all three majors this year, but didn't do a whole lot on the weekends. The Open is the one place he's popped up before with a third-place finish in 2017.
His number is still in this range at 125-1 on a lot of books and I don't mind him at that number. With a lot of these type of longshots, a good weather draw will be important. Most players in this range won't have the ability to overcome an unlucky tee time.
The Card: Longshots
- Haotong Li +15000 (.22 units)
