Accurate Italian has the beating of Brandt

The targets off the tee are narrow at Royal Birkdale – tiny fairways lined with an army of bunkers – and only the straightest of drivers can be confident of finding the cut and prepared at the windswept Southport venue.

Francesco Molinari has built a successful career out of his relentless accuracy and the Italian can be fancied to spend plenty of time on the leaderboard throughout the Open Championship. The four-time European Tour champion has finished in the top 40 in the last five Opens and he can outscore the more erratic Brandt Snedeker over 72 holes at Birkdale.

Molinari won the Italian Open in September and has played rock-solid golf for the vast majority of the ten months since, finishing sixth in the WGC-HSBC Champions, fourth in the Shriners Open, fourth in the DP World Tour Championship, seventh in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, sixth at Sawgrass and second at Wentworth.

Molinari is certainly worth a second glance at 125-1 in the Open outright betting, but is preferred as an even-money outsider against Snedeker, who missed the cut by two shots at Birkdale in 2008.

Snedeker shone in the 2012 Open at Lytham, finishing third, but he has four Open missed cuts on his record and has been troubled by a wrist injury this season. Birkdale is a beast of a layout which demands pure ball-striking and Snedeker has never been world-class in this department.

Two other match-bet options stand out at a shade of odds-on. Branden Grace is an extremely comfortable links exponent who can see off Patrick Reed, while Rickie Fowler should outscore Rory McIlroy in the battle of two big guns.

Grace has won two European Tour titles on links courses – the Volvo Golf Champions and the Dunhill Links Championship – and he has also showcased his ability to handle windy conditions with back-to-back Qatar Masters triumphs in 2015 and 2016.

Grace has made the cut in all six of his previous Open spins and he has become a Major contender over the last three years, finishing fourth and fifth in the US Open, and third and fourth in the USPGA. A bright warm-up in the Scottish Open last week suggests the South African could be challenging for the Claret Jug on Sunday.

Grace shared 15th place in Scotland, where Reed missed the cut by a shot. That failure at Dundonald Links does not bode well for the much more difficult Birkdale, where Reed's often wild driving will come under great pressure.

Fowler tied for ninth spot in the Scottish Open and has been playing consistently well all season. He loves links golf and seems a surefire title contender. It is difficult to be so bullish about the chances of McIlroy, who has missed three of his last four cuts.

Recommendations
F Molinari to beat B Snedeker
3pts Evens Betfred
B Grace to beat P Reed
3pts 10-11 Betfred
R Fowler to beat R McIlroy
3pts 5-6 Betway