The Open: Players to follow (2)

When it comes to improvement Niclas Fasth has certainly been living up to his name. Over the last two years he has taken his tally of European Tour wins from one to six, the last of which came in June, when he held off home favourite Bernard Langer's late charge to take the BMW International Open in Germany. Fasth has been a slow developer but his ability to grind out results, coupled with his sensational form this year make him a real contender.

The 35-year-old lies second in the European Rankings after finishing in the top ten in seven of the 12 tournaments has played in 2007, proving that he can compete with esteemed company by finishing fourth in the US Open and following that up by coming first and second in the only two tournaments he has subsequently played. He has sparingly skipped the Scottish Open with Carnoustie in mind and can reflect on having already been runner-up in the Open in 2001. He is stand-out at 40/1.

Despite his poor US Open offering Colin Montgomerie cannot be ignored at Carnoustie. The enigmatic Scot relishes returning to his homeland and has been buoyed by ending his 19-month wait for a 31st title at the K Club earlier this month which made him the most successful British golfer in European tour history.

Justin Leonard is a funny sort of player. You don't hear a peep out of him for ages and then he crawls out of the woodwork to give the Majors a run for his money. Leonard has had an indifferent run of results this year but has again come into his own over the last month, finishing second in the Buick Open last month and 25th at the AT&T.

Leonard won the Open ten years ago at Royal Troon and seems to take particularly well to Scotland, only losing out in a play-off to Paul Lawrie, along with Jean Van der Velde, two years later. At Muirfield in 2002 and Royal Troon in 2004 he came 14th and 16th respectively and might well be worth an outside squeak at 125-1.

Current prices: Fasth 40/1; Montgomerie 33/1; Leonard 125/1 (all Sporting Odds)