Steve Palmer's Open Championship first-round threeballs preview, best bets

Golf tips, best first-round threeball 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

Louis Oosthuizen to win 2.37pm threeball
4pts Evens general

Laurie Canter to win 3.43pm threeball
3pts 5-6 general

Shane Lowry to win 10.09am threeball
2pts 8-5 BoyleSports, Power

Rory McIlroy to win 9.58am threeball
2pts 11-8 BoyleSports, Coral, Ladbrokes

Preview

Tiger Woods is the 11-4 outsider for his 2.59pm Open Championship first-round threeball at his beloved St Andrews.

Such odds ever being against the name of Woods to beat Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa would have seemed unfathomable when a rampant Tiger was setting marks of 19 under par and 14 under par to win his two St Andrews Opens. Time has been unkind to the greatest player of his generation, though, and bookmakers are showing his young rivals more respect.

Fitzpatrick, who won the US Open last month and has gained an incredible amount of driving distance this year, is a shade of odds-against for this threeball and the rightful favourite. Woods, though, should be at his most effective in round one as the strain on his body is likely to worsen as the event wears on, so there are arguably better options than Fitzpatrick on the threeballs card.

The even-money about Louis Oosthuizen, for example, is more attractive. The South African will be licking his lips at the prospect of teeing up again at the scene of his career highlight. He won the 2010 Open at St Andrews by seven shots, then nearly triumphed again at the Home of Golf five years later, losing in a playoff to Zach Johnson.

Oosthuizen has also thrived in the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews - fifth in 2011, sixth in 2014 - and eighth place in the BMW International at the end of last month was a decent spin in Germany. He has finished tenth and fifth in the two LIV Golf events.

Oosthuizen turns 40 in October and knows that he has to squeeze every last drop from his Major appearances. The man from Mossel Bay can be a carefree character who shies away from intense practice, but this tournament is so enormous, he has almost certainly prepared in thorough fashion.

Harris English has only recently returned from a long injury layoff, during which he had hip surgery, while Keita Nakajima is an inexperienced Japanese amateur still learning the ropes. Oosthuizen should take command.

Laurie Canter is another threeball favourite with compelling credentials. The Bath man is a strong ball-striker who can approach Major assignments confident of keeping his scorecard respectable. He finished 48th in his last Major - the US PGA Championship in May - and finished 37th in his last Open.

Canter will expect to make the St Andrews cut on Friday night, but that is a lofty ambition for his playing partners - Major debutant Dimitrios Papadatos and world number 742 Matthew Griffin.

A day-one threeballs Yankee may appeal to many punters, with outright hopes Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy expected to be the leading lights in the 10.09am and 9.58am groups.

Lowry won the 2019 Open in magnificent style, romping to a six-shot triumph in front of noisy and adoring galleries, and the fearless Irishman is relishing the chance to tackle St Andrews with his game in such tremendous nick.

Lowry has excelled in the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, and the firmer, faster conditions of a summer Open suit him even better. Lowry's creativity and scrambling ability seem set to give him a golden chance of claiming the Claret Jug for a second time.

Lowry has been in consistent form all season, finishing third in the JP McManus Pro-Am last time out. Playing partners Justin Thomas and Viktor Hovland, lacking significant St Andrews experience, were both abysmal when missing the cut in the Scottish Open last week.

McIlroy has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, but that weight of expectation is built on the fact he has total control over every department of his game. He fired a 63 on the opening day of the last Open he played at St Andrews, despite missing a short birdie putt at the 17th.

McIlroy's playing partners - Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa - may be tentative in the early stages given they have never competed at St Andrews before. Schauffele saw the course for the first time on Monday.

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