The Open Championship In-Play Betting Tips: A double for Round 4

The Open Championship is underway but that doesn't stop Jamie Worsley from working his magic. So without further ado, here are Jamie's specials Open Championship In-Play Betting Tips.

It was all change on Saturday at Royal Troon, as wet, windy weather wreaked havoc at the top of the leaderboard to set up a mouthwatering final round for this 152^nd Open Championship, with 24 players now sitting within six shots of the lead.

Golf Odds

Open Championship leaderboard after 54 holes:

1^st – Billy Horschel (-4)

T2 – Thriston Lawrence (-3)

T2 – Sam Burns (-3)

T2 – Russell Henley (-3)

T2 – Xander Schauffele (-3)

T2 – Justin Rose (-3)

T2 – Daniel Brown (-3)

8^th – Scottie Scheffler (-2)

9^th – Shane Lowry (-1)

The resurgent Billy Horschel is the unexpected new name at the top of the leaderboard, as he produced a short-game masterclass to shoot -2 and move into top spot on 4-under. It’s quite the turnaround from the disappointing form he showed last year and as a proven eight-time PGA Tour winner – as well as winning the flagship event on the DP World Tour, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth – he won’t lack confidence in chasing his first major title on Sunday.

Several players took advantage of the kinder early conditions on Saturday to propel themselves into contention. Thriston Lawrence and Sam Burns tied the round of the day with a pair of 65s to move into second, closing a 10-shot deficit after 36 holes to just the one shot thru 54. Russell Henley was one stroke worse and is too in second place, with those three joined by Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose and the impressive Daniel Brown, who all battled well in the tougher weather later in the day,

Scottie Scheffler continues to stalk the field and despite struggling greatly on the greens, he enters the final round just two strokes back. Whilst it was a miserable day for overnight leader, Shane Lowry, who fired 6-over-par to relinquish his two-shot lead; though at just three back, he’s certainly still in it.

Meanwhile, Adam Scott, Justin Thomas and Sungjae Im also capitalised in the less demanding conditions to move to within five of the lead.

There are stories all over the place as we head into the closing 18 holes and it will be fascinating to see how it all plays out on today.

SELECTIONS

Whilst the rain largely disappears, wind is still set to be somewhat of a factor in the final round, with a strong breeze of 12-15mph accompanied by gusts at 20mph+ throughout the day.

We’re very nicely placed with pre-event headliner, Xander Schauffele among that sextet in second place and we now have Sungjae Im in the mix from five back after his strong moving day.

That means that I feel no need to go back to the outright market and after a couple of frustrating near misses in the last two days, I’ll try my luck with some final-round 2-balls.

Russell Henley to beat Sam Burns

First up I’m taking Russell Henley to beat Sam Burns in today’s final round. Both took advantage of the sympathetic scoring conditions early yesterday but having played in the tougher conditions throughout the rest of the week, Henley has had to contend with more to get him into this position.

Each of these players finds themselves in touching distance of a major breakthrough, entering the final round in second place, just one back of overnight leader, Horschel. They got here thanks to two of the lowest rounds of the day on Saturday, with Burns shooting -6 and Henley -5.

Prior to those rounds, each had contrasting Open Championships. Burns played poorly in the kinder scoring conditions on day one, shooting 5-over but then rallied in round two with a 2-under-par round, again in the gentler weather. Henley, however, did well to shoot -2 in a tougher part of the day in round one but then had to contend with those brutally difficult conditions late on Friday, when he succumbed to a 4-over 75.

When we combine this with the fact that he, despite playing in the tougher parts of the day over the first two days, ranks second in this field in ball-striking and third tee-to-green, whilst Burns has leaned heavily on the putter, ranking third, Henley has played the better golfer this week and can prove that again today.

Max Homa to beat Jason Day

I’m going to lean on this similar theme with my second pick, where I think Max Homa has had the rough luck this week. Yet, he’s got better with every round and with playing partner, Jason Day only really playing well in the beneficial conditions on Friday morning, the American looks to have the beating of him.

Day enters the final round in 33^rd position on -4, one shot ahead of Homa in 40^th. The Aussie’s week has seen him shoot +2 in round one in the more scorable afternoon conditions and then benefit from an early tee-time on Friday, to bounce back with a 68 and play his way into contention yesterday. There, he struggled in the wet conditions to shoot +5, making five bogeys on his back nine.

In comparison, Homa played the first two days in the opposite part of the draw. He teed off when the wind was at its strongest on day one, shooting +5 and staring a missed cut in the face. However, he battled immensely in the demanding weather late on Friday, responding well from a double on his fifth hole by birdying the final two holes of his front nine and after a triple on the 12^th, he birdied two of his final three holes to make the weekend.

His 1-under-par round yesterday does look a little underwhelming but he was 3-under thru 16 and bogeyed his final two holes just as the weather was starting to worsen.

Homa had driven it well on two of the three days and has started to find many more greens in the last two rounds. He’s also looked good with the putter in the last two days and with his week trending with ever-improving rounds, he has a strong chance of taking down this final-round 2-ball.

*You can get all the up to date and live The Open Championship 2024 Odds over on betfred.com

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