Spieth threatening McIlroy for USPGA favouritism

Jordan Spieth recovered from an early wobble to win his first Open Championship on Sunday, the pre-tournament 16-1 co-favourite carding a dramatic eagle at the 15th hole to swing the tournament back his way.

Bet365 make the tough Texan 20-1 to break the Majors record of 18-time champion Jack Nicklaus, Spieth having added the Open title to his 2015 Masters and US Open victories.

The 23-year-old has won only three Majors, so there is unlikely to be a rush for the 20-1, but this fierce competitor will surely go on to much future success.

Spieth is challenging Rory McIlroy for USPGA Championship favouritism, with 9-1 the best offer as the new Open champion went to sign his scorecard. The final Major of the season will be staged at Quail Hollow in the second week of next month.

Spieth got off to a horror start in his bid to defend a three-shot overnight advantage at Royal Birkdale, bogeying three of the first four holes to drop into a tie with his playing partner Matt Kuchar.

Having been 2-7 at the start of the day, Spieth had drifted to 4-5, but a birdie at the fifth hole restored his lead and settled him down. After Kuchar dropped a shot at the sixth, Spieth was two ahead and back to 2-7 in the betting.

That was just the start of a topsy-turvy day on the links, though, as ante-post 55-1 chance Kuchar worked his way back into the thick of things and a gripping duel resulted.

Spieth's chief pursuer spurned short-range birdie chances approaching the turn, but finally drained one from five feet at the ninth to move within a shot of his fellow American.

Spieth missed a par putt from two feet at the same hole, dropping back into a tie with his compatriot at eight under and drifting back to 4-5. The pressure of potentially getting his hands on the Claret Jug for the first time appeared to be getting to him.

Spieth hooked his approach to the 11th hole and was saved by the enormous gallery who were following his group. His ball clattered into spectators and stopped it from possibly bounding into a serious strife. A brilliant chip followed to salvage par and he stayed tied at the top.

Spieth looked like he might suffer a serious setback at the 13th hole when he pulled his drive into an unplayable lie on a dune, and he took several minutes to work out where to drop his ball, eventually opting for a long way back on the practice ground. Spieth salvaged a bogey with some smart short-game work, but had fallen one shot behind. Kuchar was 5-6 favourite and Spieth avaialble at 11-8 with five holes to play.

From that moment on, Spieth took full control. He nearly holed in one at the par-three 14th hole and went 4-7 favourite once he had converted his birdie putt. Two solid shots at the par-five 15th hole were followed by a successful eagle putt from long range and suddenly jaunty Jordan again had a vice-like grip on the Jug. He was back to 2-7 and shortening.

Jordan Spieth made birdies on the third, seventh and eighth on the front nineCredit: Getty Images

Two more Spieth birdies at the 16th and 17th blew the dreams of Kuchar backers to smithereens and it was game over, the champion getting the job done by a three-shot margin.

Ante-post 300-1 chance Haotong Li fired a tremendous final-round 63 to finish alone in third spot, while Rory McIlroy and Rafael Cabrera Bello tied for fourth.

Spieth was clear favourite with many firms on Open eve and bookmakers were unimpressed with his triumph. Bet365's Steve Freeth probably spoke for a large part of the industry when he said: “A trap-to-line success for a player who started as a double-figure-price favourite and won his last tournament was never going to be ideal. We were hoping Kuchar would save us from a costly payout.”

Coral's John Hill said: “Clearly this wasn't a great result for bookmakers as Spieth always has more than his fair share of supporters in every event he lines up in. However, it could have been a lot worse as the in-play gamble behind Rory McIlroy really had us concerned over the weekend.”

Hills' Rupert Adams said: “Spieth is always a popular choice and my guess is that the industry will have lost over a million pounds.”

Bookmakers had pushed each-way terms to new heights before the tournament, with Bet365, Betfair, Coral and Paddy Power all offering eight each-way places and Sky Bet breaking the double-figure barrier by giving punters ten places to aim for.

The firms' bold move could have been more costly as there were no hotpots in the extended frame positions and the most expensive placed golfers, notably Rory McIlroy, landed in the spots paid out by all firms.

The players who filled the bonus placings for punters (those in the five-way tie for sixth), included 300-1 shot Matthew Southgate. But a trio of 55-1 chances - Branden Grace, Alex Noren and Marc Leishman - and 40-1 US Open champion Brooks Koepka will have had plenty of supporters.

Where your money went

Top ten
1 Jordan Spieth 16-1(ante-post) 7-4(top ten)
2 Matt Kuchar 55-1 11-2
3 Haotong Li 300-1 33-1
T4 Rory McIlroy 20-1 11-5
Rafa Cabrera Bello 70-1 15-2
T6 Matthew Southgate
300-1 66-1
Marc Leishman 55-1 5-1
Alex Noren 55-1 5-1
Branden Grace 55-1 13-2
Brooks Koepka 40-1 18-5

Top amateur
Alfie Plant 11-2

Top American
Jordan Spieth 7-1

Top Australian
Marc Leishman 7-2

Top English
Matthew Southgate 45-1

Top European
Rory McIlroy 10-1
Rafa Cabrera Bello 28-1

Top GB & Ireland
Rory McIlroy 5-1

Top Rest of the World
Haotong Li 80-1

Top South African
Branden Grace 5-2

Top senior
Steve Stricker 8-11