2022 British Open: 2 players to wager to finish top 20
The tour stays in Scotland for another week with the Open Championship, PGA’s final major of the year, on deck. The Old Course at St. Andrews is quite the sight with loads of put bunkers, undulation, huge greens, and plenty of blind spots.
Due to possible windy conditions, the layout of the course and strength of field, I’m looking to the top-20 market for some value. These are two players I like to contend in the Open Championship.
Patrick Cantlay
Top 20 +100
Top 10 +200
Top 5 +400
To win +2000
Cantlay doesn’t have the best history in majors. In the last five years, Cantlay has only six top-20 finishes, including a solo 14th in the June U.S. Open. Since missing the cut in the May PGA Championship, Cantlay has flipped a bit of a switch, gaining strokes in every category in three of his last four events played. The one red mark on his recent form is losing just over one stroke on his approach in the U.S. Open. He’s been solid lately and that consistency has led to four straight top-15 finishes, including a T4 in last week’s Scottish Open. The question becomes, can he carry that over into an even stronger field event?
In the April Masters, Cantlay finished in 39th, losing nearly seven strokes with his short game. He’s gained five or more strokes with his short game in his last four events. He’s World No. 4 for a reason and needs to remember that he’s a top-five player. Keep the game solid and bring confidence.
Max Homa
Top 20 +170
Top 10 +350
Top 5 +700
To win +4000
This may be the first time I'm throwing Homa into the betting mix. Every time I want to wager on him, I’m either disappointed because I missed out or relieved because I dodged a bullet. Homa also has a lackluster history in majors. There was a year-long period when Homa missed the cut in six straight majors from the 2020 PGA Championship to the 2021 U.S. Open. He’s since improved with four straight top-50 finishes.
Is Homa ready for the next jump to snag a top 20? He finished solo 13th in the PGA Championship, took T5 in the Memorial and last week finished T16 in the Scottish Open. He did so losing nearly three strokes on approach, while gaining in every other strokes gained category. That was the first time Homa lost strokes with his irons since the Sentry Tournament of Champions in early January and he still managed a solid finish. His around-the-green game and putting have really been complimentary to his ball striking since May so I’m keeping fingers crossed he can catapult some of that into earning his second career top-20 major finish.
