2010 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP DAY ONE ODDS AND PREDICTIONS

We're just a few hours away from the opening tee-offs of the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews and there are plenty of very interesting selections available on what is easily one of the biggest betting events of the summer. We've been offering up plenty of coverage on the Open already so be sure to check out our top ten predictions available in the box to your left. 

Unsurprisingly, Tiger Woods is the outright favourite by some distance and you can find him (and his new putter) listed at a 7.0 price with popular UK bookmaker Ladbrokes. 
Justin Rose is the target of much speculation about this one and it seems as though he's perpetually being referred to as in-form Justin Rose. You can't argue with his recent results and that's likely why we've seen a last minute price clip on him as Ladbrokes now price him alongside co-second favourites Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy. They're all priced at an enticing 17.0. 
Lee Westwood and Ernie Els can both be backed at 21.0 and Els was getting a lot of support from members of the sporting press in recent articles so some folks will likely be taking advantage of the prices on offer. My advice on Els would be to wait until after his first day performance. 
I think the weather is the major variable here and players with acumen in tough conditions are obviously ones to have picked out. Padraig Harrington knows a thing or two about testy conditions and you'll find him well-priced at 26.0. The first day conditions don't look particularly nasty compared to what we've seen earlier this week so that will open things up on day one. 
There are plenty of big names available to be backed here at some very sizable prices so you should definitely click on over to Ladbrokes and give the odds a proper inspection as there's dozens and dozens of different contenders. 
Match betting is also available and you can put together some incredible parlay bets on this market. Ladbrokes has taken several top contenders and placed them in groups of four- if you can predict which player finishes higher you're looking at a 4.0 payout at least. Put two of them together and you're looking at 19.5, three correct selections on an accumulator is 78.0. These are tricky puzzles to solve, but it's very rewarding if you can pull it off. 
Each-way odds are available at Ladbrokes on the top 5 places and, while some other sites are paying out on more places, Ladbrokes is offering up some first rate odds and one of the best live betting interfaces for golf anywhere. I think that this is one that could favour the in-play punters as we're not 100% sure how the weather is going to affect certain holes- this is what's going to shift the first day advantage and perceptive bettors will be capitalizing on the in-play odds.