Las Vegas oddsmakers aren’t sentimental. Sentimental clouds judgment. They’d presumably like to see Tom Watson win the British Open as much as the next baby boomer might, but that doesn’t make the venerable 5-time champion a good bet (despite Watson’s phoenix-like performance a few years back.) Watson is listed at 550-1 in Vegas.
At 9-2, Justin Spieth is a big favorite, but given the peculiarities of St. Andrews he seems like a pricey wager. Still, Spieth’s undefeated in majors this year and no one else could be the chalk. Dustin Johnson is next at 11-1. And Tiger Woods has the eighth best chance at 25-1, pretty short odds for a player ranked outside the top 200, whatever his history.
Here’s the top plays in the odds from Vegas
| Jordan Spieth | 9-2 |
| Dustin Johnson | 11-1 |
| Rickie Fowler | 16-1 |
| Justin Rose | 18-1 |
| Adam Scott | 20-1 |
| Henrik Stenson | 20-1 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 22-1 |
| Tiger Woods | 25-1 |
| Jason Day | 28-1 |
| Bubba Watson | 33-1 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 33-1 |
| Paul Casey | 33-1 |
| Phil Mickelson | 33-1 |
| Sergio Garcia | 33-1 |
| Martin Kaymer | 35-1 |
