Will likely do a write up on the course later today or tomorrow, busy morning. Locked in one of the longer shots I really like this week at the open. There are some good deals further down the board and thought it’d be wise to put this in before odds are updated Monday
Akshay Bhatia (80-1) 1u
The open championship is held at Royal Troon this year. The last time we saw this course was in 2016 where mickelson and stenson elevated way above the rest of the field in a classic duel. Troon is a difficult test that is heavily bunkered around the fairways and greens, surrounded with thick rough (apparently has been thickened). The course has also been carefully lengthened since that 2016 tournament as well which does look to be significant. This course can be menacing particularly when missing fairways, and getting into these diabolical pot bunkers is not ideal to say the least. I believe Troon is very similar to royal Liverpool last year where we saw Brian harman plodding around there and winning by 6 strokes, as well as shorter more accurate off the tee players like Sepp straka and Tom kim in the mix. In my opinion this venue levels the playing field compared to other majors as guys who are extremely accurate off the tee can contend and win by avoiding the trouble that will plague many in the field. For that reason Liverpool is a great comp course as another links course that emphasizes accuracy over distance. Will be heavily weighting driving accuracy in my models this week. Many approaches on the course will come from 175+, but there are also a decent amount of wedges in so having a good all-around long iron/wedge game will be important. Particularly with these green side bunkers playing a big role this week on wayward iron shots into smaller than average greens. This will be a tough around the green test for these guys requiring some delicate touch around the green side bunkers and having a good short game will likely be essential to keep it together on some of these difficult holes on the back 9 in particular. Overall, I’m looking for guys that are very accurate off the tee, good recent long iron/wedge play, a very stout around the green player, as well as guys who seem to raise their baseline in windy, British open style conditions. Very good recent form also tends to be a pre requisite for open winners in the past. My early bets, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia, seem to fit the bill. Kim has proven to be an excellent links player and fits the mold as an accurate off the tee guy who has been hot on approach and has a good enough around the green game. Bhatia does not have links experience on the pga tour, but is a fantastic wind player who fits that same mold and playing the best golf of his life. Other guys that catch my eye this week include morikawa, Fleetwood, Lowry, Conners, straka, rai, Im, and Henley to name a handful. It feels like many guys further down the board have a shot to contend this week so keeping an open mind in that regard. Will be back with 1 or 2 more outrights and some finishing position plays. 
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