Odds To Win 2012 British Open

The 2012 British Open begins on Thursday morning, and it’s Tiger Woods who headlines the field coming in. The question of whether or not he will finally end his Major drought is that top storyline, and likely will be until he finally does it.

If he is to do it this week, Woods will have to contend with the difficult weather conditions, and the 205 bunkers that occupy the grounds at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

Oddsmakers are siding with Woods to break through and win his 15th Major Championship, and his first since the 2008 U.S Open. British Open Betting Odds available at Bovada Sportsbook have set Woods with odds at 8/1 to win his fourth career Open championship.

Woods has been set at nearly twice the favorite of his closest competition. That would be No.1 player in the world Luke Donald, and No.3 player in the world Lee Westwood. The key fact here though is that these two players have a combined zero Major championship wins between then in their careers. It’s quie surprising, especially when it comes to Westwood. Westwood has had numerous chances to win a Major, but has yet to close it out. Both he and Donald are going off at 14/1 to win their first Major championship. It would be fitting if either did win, both from England where Royal Lytham & St. Annes is located.

But we can’t forget about Rory McIlroy. McIlroy hasn’t been on top of his game of late, that included a missed cut at the U.S Open, but he still has all-world talent can has the ability to turn it on at any moment. He also has experience leading the British Open, and getting off to fast starts. But it will be the weekend rounds that are important for the No.2 ranked player in the world. McIlroy comes in at 16/1 to win the British Open this week.

Padraig Harrington has a British Open win under his belt, and rounds out the top-five favorites coming into the week. The odds are clearly siding with the majority of European players, believing that links style golf gives them the advantage over other players from around the world.

Below, we have the full PGA betting odds to win the British Open, so if we didn’t mention your favorite golfer, be sure to check out where they may be on the betting line.

Coverage of the 2012 British Open begin at 4:30am ET on Thursday morning on ESPN.