Open 2009: Woods the red-hot favourite to make the Open his 15th major

Published on Wednesday 15 July 2009 22:55

THE 138th Open Championship tees off today at Turnberry with Tiger Woods backed as an extraordinary heavy favourite to clinch his 15th major title.

Woods is a short-priced 5-2 with one bookmaker, with a clutch of second favourites offered at a remarkable 33-1 – one of the biggest gulfs in golf major history.

Peter Dawson, chief executive of Open organisers the R&A, has echoed widespread feeling that Turnberry could become another successful hunting ground for Woods.

"The three winners we've had in the past were arguably the number one player in the world each time," he said. "Whether that will be repeated this week remains to be seen but he (Woods) is the man to beat."

Defending champion Padraig Harrington is bidding for a rare hat-trick of consecutive Open titles, but he is rated at 40-1 because of a dismal run of form this season.

Meanwhile the R&A has predicted a higher attendance in South Ayrshire this week than watched Nick Price lift the Claret Jug in 1994.

According to Dawson, the rise in last-minute ticket sales can probably be attributed to a late promotion. "We did embark on a television and web-based advertising campaign in the weeks running up to the Open," he said, "and maybe that is having some impact now."

David Hill, the R&A's director of championships, added: "Contrary to what you might be thinking, the numbers look as though they will be up on Turnberry in 1994. We've had a huge number of last-minute ticket requests through the internet, and it's looking very good. We had 114,000 people here in 1994. And sitting here today, given fair weather and a good leaderboard, I think we'll be well over 120,000 by the end of the week, which is pretty good given the current economic climate.

"Obviously it's not as high as other venues, and financially the bottom line for the R&A is never as good at Turnberry as it would be at certain other venues, but we take a sort of ten- to 15-year view on this. As Peter Dawson and Michael Brown (the chairman of the championship committee] have said, it's a fabulous venue and must be kept on the Open rota."

One of the reasons the R&A can afford to adopt a judicious stance on attracting smaller crowds to the Ailsa is because the scenic venue is hugely popular with American television. Earlier this year, the R&A agreed a new deal, thought to be worth around $25 million a year, to continue screening the Open in the States.

"Despite the economic downturn, there is still a lot of interest in holding the rights to show the Open," explained Hill, who stated that at least 60 per cent of income now comes from television revenues.

While the uptake of tickets from the golfing public in Scotland is better than was at first expected, the shortfall on the corporate side is in line with that which the R&A expected in a financial downturn.

Asked if corporate sales were down by 60 per cent, Hill countered: "No, it's not as much as that. It depends on what you compare it with, because in England corporate sales are always stronger, just because it's a much bigger (population] area. The best comparison would probably be with Carnoustie in Scotland, and on that basis they're about 20 per cent down."

TEE TIMES

Today and Tomorrow (Gbr & Irl unless stated; *amateurs)

Starting at hole 1

0630 & 1141: Michael Campbell (NZ), Paul Broadhurst, Mark Calcavecchia (US)

0641 & 1152: Jeff Overton (US), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Gary Orr

0652 & 1203: Anthony Wall, Rory Sabbatini (SA), John Senden (Aus)

0703 & 1214: Nick Watney (US), Graeme Storm, Charl Schwartzel (SA)

0714 & 1225: Rafael Echenique (Arg), Richard Finch, Mark O'Meara (US)

0725 & 1236: Nick Dougherty, David Duval (US), Adam Scott (Aus)

0736 & 1247: Kenny Perry (US), Greg Norman (Aus), Oliver Wilson

0747 & 1258: Henrik Stenson (Swe), Steve Stricker (US), Wen-chong Liang (Chn)

0758 & 1309: Tom Watson (US), Sergio Garcia (Spa), *Metteo Manassero (Ita)

0809 & 1320: Peter Hanson (Swe), Dustin Johnson (US), Louis Oosthuizen (SA)

0820 & 1331: Vijay Singh (Fij), Bubba Watson (US), Graeme McDowell

0831 & 1342: Camilo Villegas (Col), Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Sean O'Hair (US)

0842 & 1353: Azuma Yano (Jpn), Luke Donald, Darren Clarke

0858 & 1409: Justin Leonard (US), Robert Allenby (Aus), Anders Hansen (Den)

0909 & 1420: Tiger Woods (US), Lee Westwood, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn)

0920 & 1431: Richard Green (Aus), Chad Campbell (US), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa)

0931 & 1442: David Howell, Stewart Cink (US), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)

0942 & 1453: Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Ken Duke (US), Mathew Goggin (Aus)

0953 & 1504: Briny Baird (US), Mark Brown (NZ), Johan Edfors (Swe)

1004 & 1515: D J Trahan (US), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Markus Brier (Aut)

1015 & 1526: Chris Wood, Boo Weekley (US), Rodney Pampling (Aus)

1026 & 1537: Jaco Ahlers (SA), Bryce Molder (US), Richie Ramsay

1037 & 1548: Billy Mayfair (US), Marc Cayeux (Zim), Lloyd Saltman

1048 & 1559: Robert Rock, Martin Laird, Ben Crane (US)

1059 & 1610: Branden Grace (SA), Thomas Haylock, Brandt Snedeker (US)

1110 & 1621: Michael Wright (Aus), Daniel Wardrop, Peter Ellebye (Den)

1141 & 0630: Tim Stewart (Aus), Damien McGrane, Matt Kuchar (US)

1152 & 0641: David Higgins, Jeremy Kavanagh, Daniel Gaunt (Aus)

1203 & 0652: Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind), Rhys Davies, James Driscoll (US)

1214 & 0703: Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Sandy Lyle, Steve Marino (US)

1225 & 0714: Nick Faldo, Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Brian Gay (US)

1236 & 0725: Ben Curtis (US), Mike Weir (Can), Ross Fisher

1247 & 0736: Stephen Ames (Can), Tim Clark (SA), Charles Howell III (US)

1258 & 0747: Ernie Els (SA), Lucas Glover (US), Martin Kaymer (Ger)

1309 & 0758: Justin Rose, Hunter Mahan (US), Andres Romero (Arg)

1320 & 0809: Colin Montgomerie, Zach Johnson (US), K J Choi (Kor)

1331 & 0820: Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim (US), Retief Goosen (SA)

1342 & 0831: Todd Hamilton (US), Soren Hansen (Den), Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn)

1353 & 0842: Ian Poulter, J B Holmes (US), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa)

1409 & 0858: Paul Casey, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Angel Cabrera (Arg)

1420 & 0909: Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk (US), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)

1431 & 0920: Paul Lawrie, Davis Love III (US), Stuart Appleby (Aus)

1442 & 0931: Paul McGinley, Carl Pettersson (Swe), John Daly (US)

1453 & 0942: *Stephan Gross (Ger), David Toms (US), Tom Lehman (US)

1504 & 0953: James Kingston (SA), Charley Hoffman (US), Fredrik Jacobson (Swe)

1515 & 1004: Paul Goydos (US), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Richard Sterne (SA)

1526 & 1015: Thomas Levet (Fra), Richard S Johnson (Swe), Kevin Sutherland (US)

1537 & 1026: Thomas Aiken (SA), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Peter Baker

1548 & 1037: Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Josh Geary (NZ), David Drysdale

1559 & 1048: Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn), Bruce Vaughan (US), Elliot Saltman

1610 & 1059: Timothy Wood (Aus), David Smail (NZ), Oliver Fisher

1621 & 1110: Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Steve Surry, Koumei Oda (Jpn)

THE OPEN ON SCOTSMAN.COM

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