Steve Palmer's Open Championship golf specials betting and best bets

Free golf specials tips for the Open Championship at Royal St George's, starting on Thursday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Golf, 6.30am Thursday

Best bets

Keegan Bradley to make cut
5pts 7-10 bet365

Guido Migliozzi top Italian
3pts 10-11 BoyleSports

Martin Kaymer top German
3pts 8-11 general

Shane Lowry top Irish
2pts 15-8 Hills

Takumi Kanaya top Japanese
1pt 11-5 bet365

Preview

Strong driving could be the key to success at Royal St George's this week after recent rain has allowed the rough to grow to an extremely healthy length, and American raider Keegan Bradley will be more confident than most of passing the assignment.

Bradley lies third on the PGA Tour's total-driving statistics - he typically hits it long and straight off the tee - and that Big Dog control makes the former US PGA champion a solid investment at a shade of odds-on to make the Open cut.

Bradley has made the cut in five of his seven Opens, and he can bolster that stat amid a decent 2021 campaign. Eight of his last ten tournaments have yielded a top-30 finish. He was runner-up in the Valspar Championship in May and 14th in the Travelers Championship last time out.

In the tops markets, Guido Migliozzi can be fancied to win a two-runner affair for top Italian. Migliozzi is up against Francesco Molinari, and current form can win the day over experience.

Migliozzi has been producing some incredible golf in recent weeks, finishing runner-up in the British Masters and the Made In Himmerland in May, then following up with a barnstorming US Open debut, sharing fourth place at Torrey Pines.

Confidence must be coursing through Migliozzi's veins as he awaits his Open debut, whereas self-belief must be lacking in Molinari, who has been labouring with back problems in recent weeks and has missed five of his last seven cuts. He also missed the cut at Sandwich in the 2011 Open.

Martin Kaymer, who finished second in the BMW International Open at the end of last month, showed a liking for Royal St George's when sharing 12th place in the Open a decade ago, and the dual Major champion can be trusted for top German honours.

Marcel Siem, Marcel Schneider and Matthias Schmid provide weak opposition for Kaymer in this section. A grind with heavy rough holds no fears for 2014 US Open champ Kaymer.

Two other to consider at bigger prices are Shane Lowry for top Irish and Takumi Kanaya for top Japanese.

Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut by a shot in the Scottish Open last week, seems a vulnerable odds-on favourite in the Irish market. Defending Open champion Lowry has been playing well over the last four months. Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke complete the section.

Kanaya won the Taiheiyo Masters on the Japan Tour when he was still an amateur. He tees up this week as a 23-year-old pro who is clearly going places - and he seems his country's best title hope in the absence of Covid-stricken Hideki Matsuyama. Rikuya Hoshino, Ryosuke Kinoshita, Yuki Inamori and Ryutaro Nagano can be left behind.

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