The Claret Jug is up for grabs this week, as the 2016 British Open gets underway at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. The last time The Open was staged there, a heavy underdog by the name of Todd Hamilton beat Ernie Els in a playoff to win the event. Will a new Todd Hamilton rise to the occasion this time and pull the rug from under the rest of the PGA Tour field’s feet? Let’s find out some of the sleepers you can lay bets on.
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By finishing tied for seventh at the recently concluded WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Schwartzel was able to extend his streak of T25 finishes or better to four tournaments. a stretch that includes his solid T11 finish at the Memorial Tournament.
Schwartzel is 21st on the season in greens-in-regulation percentage (68.96 percent) and ninth in scoring average (69.855). His best finish at The Open was a T7 two years ago.
Louis Oosthuizen
Currently ranked 53rd in the FedEx Cup standings, Oosthuizen remains in search for his first win of the season. The 14-year pro is fresh off a decent T21 finish at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which succeeded his T3 placing at the CVS Healthy Charity Classic and a T23 at the U.S. Open.
These recent showings from Oosthuizen suggest that he’s trending in the right direction and that could mean a victory at The Open. He’s also won the tournament before, topping the rest of the field by seven strokes back in the 2010 installment of The Open.
Matt Kuchar
Kuchar hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2014, but we just can’t turn blind to the string of strong finishes from the Florida native. Kuchar has seven top-10 finishes in his past 10 tournaments, the latest being a T3 at the stacked WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. There’s also his T4 outing at the Memorial and a T3 at THE PLAYERS Championship.
Kuchar had a mediocre T46 at the U.S. Open, which came prior to the Bridgestone Invitational, but his overall body of work of late is impressive enough to catch our attention.
