Little money riding on Tiger

Tiger Woods tees off at the British Open tomorrow as the bookies’ favourite for the 27th consecutive Major championship.

The American superstar has been the shortest man in the field at every Major event he has played in as a professional since the 1997 US Masters – which he won.

Woods is quoted at a generous 3-1 favourite with Ladbrokes, and according to spokesman Balthazar Fabricius there has been no flood of bets for the world’s number one golfer.

“We have had one bet of £5,000 (€7,139) on Tiger at 3-1 but otherwise I would say he is friendless this year,” said Fabricius.

The popular money according to Ladbrokes has been going on defending champion Ernie Els, who has moved in a point to 7-1 from 8-1 following his victory in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond on Sunday.

US Open Champion Jim Furyk is another popular choice at 20-1, while England’s Justin Rose has been cut from 80-1 to 66-1 and Spaniard Sergio Garcia has come in to 40-1 from 50-1.

Former Open Champion Paul Lawrie is seen as a good each way bet, with one bet of £1,000 (€1,427) each way having been placed on the Scot at 100-1.

A win for either one of the Irish duo Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington would be bad news for bookmaker William Hill.

Both players have been popular with the punters according to spokesman Graham Sharp, with Clarke priced at 20-1 and Harrington 25-1.

“A win for one of those two Irish boys would be our worst result,” said Sharp. “The biggest single bet we have taken has been £4,000 (€5,711) on Clarke.

“The Open is now the biggest betting event of the year outside of horse racing and football, with more than £5,000 (€7,139) being staked on the outcome, and we have people placing bets from 203 countries around the world – including Christmas Island.”

Hills have taken a couple of £1,000 (€1,427) bets on South African Els who is also quoted at 7-1, and they have cut Lawrie from 100-1 to 80-1 after also taking a £1,000 bet on him.

Woods was 7-2 at one point but has come in to 9-4, and if you fancy an alternative flutter on him then you can get 100-1 on the Tiger shooting a hole in one.