Steve Palmer's Open Championship 72-hole match bets & free golf betting tips

Golf tips, best 72-hole match bets and player analysis for the Open Championship at the Old Course, St Andrews.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 6.30am Thursday

Best bets

Tyrrell Hatton to beat Max Homa
4pts 4-5 Betfair

Matt Fitzpatrick to beat Scottie Scheffler
3pts Evens Betfair, Power

Tony Finau to beat Brooks Koepka
3pts 8-11 Betfair

Joohyung Kim to beat Sahith Theegala
2pts 19-20 Coral, Ladbrokes

Hideki Matsuyama to beat Viktor Hovland
2pts 5-6 bet365

Preview

The English have a strong contingent north of the border this week for the Open Championship and two in particular appeal as strong match-bet options for the St Andrews showpiece.

Tyrrell Hatton has had a love affair with St Andrews from the Dunhill Links Championship. In 2018, the Buckinghamshire boy almost completed a hat-trick of victories, finishing a shot shy of a triumphant Lucas Bjerregaard.

Hatton was second in last year's Dunhill, so he has been a few shots here and there away from holding silverware aloft at the Old Course four times. Compare that with Max Homa, who is so short of links experience that he actually had a practice round at North Berwick after his second round in the Scottish Open last week. The American is clearly keen to learn, but Hatton has vastly more experience at this week's venue and seems a bargain at 4-5 to outscore Homa.

Matt Fitzpatrick is the other Englishman who catches the eye as evens outsider against Scottie Scheffler. Fitzpatrick has never been more confident, having won the US Open in fine style, and he has got countless rounds under his belt at St Andrews.

Scheffler is a debutant at the Old Course and the world number one has gone slightly off the boil in recent weeks, showing some vulnerability over short putts. He missed the cut in the Scottish Open last week by two shots, while Fitzpatrick adjusted quickly to the links arena and finished sixth.

Tony Finau loves his rare forays into links golf, so much so that he has twice jetted over for the Dunhill Links and finished tenth, and the giant Utah man is preferred to Brooks Koepka in an all-Yank match.
Finau has rock-solid Open form of 18-27-9-3-15 and has hit his stride in recent months. Koepka, seemingly unable to rid himself of injury problems, seems less certain to contend.

Joohyung Kim, who was superb last week in the Scottish Open and finished third, has clearly fallen in love with links golf and could develop into a superstar. His Asian Tour form is excellent. Sahith Theegala, who gained late entry to the Open when Daniel Berger withdrew, is less convincing.

Viktor Hovland has struggled since the Players Championship and actually hit a shank en route to missing the cut in the Scottish Open last week. The confidence dip of the Norwegian makes Hideki Matsuyama an attractive match-bet option this week.

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