Claret Jug destined for familar names?

The last two Open Championships have thrown up consecutive 750/1 shockers in Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton but many experts believe the famous Claret Jug is this year destined for a more familiar household name. The roll of honour at Opens played at St Andrews since 1970 reads like a who's who of golf with Jack Nicklaus, Severiano Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, John Daly and Tiger Woods - all exceptional talents - so it may well pay to look for a class name when it comes to picking the winner of this year's title. Unsurprisingly, VC Bet's golf traders report that 11/4 Woods, 28/1 Davis Love, 20/1 Sergio Garcia and 33/1 Adam Scott have been backed to win fortunes this week. All of the above have obvious chances this week but we are fully prepared to take them all on, in particular Woods, who we had previously laid at 9/2. He's now 11/4. My idea of this week's winner is a player many punters have just started to go cold on and who many believe simply doesn't have the game to win an Open Championship. At 18/1 Phil Mickelson rates as an outstanding bet and, as he proved by his third placed finish at Royal Troon last year, the maverick left hander certainly has the variety of shots you need to prosper on a links track. One of Mickelson's most common failings has been his inaccuracy off the tee but at St Andrews there is absolutely loads of room. I believe the winner this week will be the guy who putts and scrambles the best and there aren't many better players with the short game wizardry of the 2004 Augusta champion. At a far bigger price another short game master, Jose Maria Olazabal, will give investors an each-way run for their money. Olly is another player who has had his driving problems but, like Mickelson, is an absolute demon around the greens. Of the British hopes many are talking up the chances of young Luke Donald who has been proving his pedigree over in America for the past few years. Personally, I don't think he's a links player at all, as evidenced by his failure to ever make an Open cut. If you can get any 7/2 or better about him missing the cut make sure you snap it up!