British Open Championship Hole-By-Hole Preview

Golf Betting Lines

07/14/2010 - St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - HOLE ONE - Par 4 - 376 yards: On the opening day of the Millennium Open this seemingly benign hole was rated the second most difficult on the course. A total of 36 players scored bogey or double-bogey against 15 birdies. The Swilcan Burn that curls down the right side of the fairway and across the face of the green is the cause of the problems. Unless the wind blows strongly from the west the approach is seldom more than a wedge and players should avoid the temptation to attack any pin position close to the front.

HOLE TWO - Par 4 - 453 yards: A new tee added 40 yards to this hole for the 2005 Open and brought Cheape's bunker on the left back into play at just over 300 yards. Championship pin positions are often found on the high left side of the green beyond a sharp ridge that can throw the ball left into a deep bunker or right towards the lower level of the green.

HOLE THREE - Par 4 - 397 yards: The ideal tee shot line hugs the right side, but the edge of the fairway is littered with pot bunkers and small gorse bushes. Crescent-shaped Cartgate bunker eats into the left side of the green and the putting surface falls away from a high left side.

HOLE FOUR - Par 4 - 480 yards: There are two choices from the tee: straight at the flag down a narrow strip of fairway hemmed in by dunes and gorse, or over the mounds on the left where the fairway opens out to merge with the 15th hole. But the further left the tee shot the more difficult the approach with a bunker on the left and the green sloping away to the right.

HOLE FIVE - Par 5 - 568 yards: The easiest hole on the course during most championships at St Andrews, reachable in two for today's professionals if the tee shot avoids the clutch of seven bunkers on the right between 270 and 320 yards. Fairway contours and the prevailing westerly wind gather the ball towards these traps and the aiming point is well to the left. The sheer size of the green - 92 yards from front to back - can frustrate many birdie chances.

HOLE SIX - Par 4 - 412 yards: Bunkers left and right are completely hidden from the tee as the hole drops to a lower level beyond a long, gorse-covered ridge. Shorter hitters will have to tiptoe their way through this minefield, but the power players will likely carry the ball beyond danger - unless the wind is strong out of the north-west. A ridge and hollow across the front of the green will do little to prevent a host of birdies.

HOLE SEVEN - Par 4 - 371 yards: The start of the St Andrews' loop of short par fours and two par threes where many winning scores have been forged. Most players will lay up into a flat area beyond a large mound where the seventh and 11th holes cross. From there it is just a short pitch over the vast expanse of Shell bunker to a green that runs downhill sharply from left to right.

HOLE EIGHT - Par 3 - 175 yards: If the wind swings round to the east, as it often does in summer, a simple short-iron shot can become as much as a five- iron. There are subtle contours in the largely flat green and the tough pin position is just behind the vertically-faced bunker on the left side.

HOLE NINE - Par 4 - 352 yards: Well within reach for a large percentage of players, especially with the prevailing westerly wind at their backs, the surprise is that this hole gives up far fewer birdies than it should. Gorse bushes creep close to the left edge of the green, but there is a wide expanse of open fairway between that and two bunkers on the right.

HOLE TEN - Par 4 - 380 yards: Although stretched by nearly 40 yards for the Millennium Open the green is still in reach for the longest hitters. Most players will be happy to avoid the two small bunkers on the right. Leaving a full wedge or sand-wedge approach can give a greater degree of control than chipping or putting from the fringe as the green falls away beyond a raised front.

HOLE ELEVEN - Par 3 - 174 yards: This tee shot can be anything from a nine- iron to a three-iron depending on the strength and direction of the wind. The green slopes dramatically from back to front and left to right. Come up short and the ball will run way back off the green. Too long and it drops 15 feet into a gully. Strath bunker at the front is small. Hill bunker to the left, meanwhile, is long and very deep.

HOLE TWELVE - Par 4 - 348 yards: A short but deceptively tricky par four where the bunkers that threaten the tee shot are all hidden from view. The top level of the two-tier green is only 12 paces deep and requires supreme accuracy with the approach. Many players will try to eliminate that shot by attempting to drive the green.

HOLE THIRTEEN - Par 4 465 yards: A new tee introduced for the 2005 Open brought the Coffins bunkers back into play at 280-310 yards on the left. The approach is over raised broken ground to a huge double green shared with the fifth hole. A shallow hollow filled with clinging rough on the left and a deep bunker on the right guard the entrance to the green at a hole that is consistently strong and often rates as the second most difficult on the course.

HOLE FOURTEEN - Par 5 - 618 yards: An out-of-bounds wall on the right and the group of four Beardies bunkers on the left leave a clearly defined target area off the tee. Then the direct route to the green must carry the huge expanse of Hell bunker 80 yards short. If the wind blows strongly from the east this is a genuine three-shot par five. The face of the green rises steeply before dropping away back and left.

HOLE FIFTEEN - Par 4 - 456 yards: There is little threat from Sutherland bunker in the middle of the fairway unless the wind blows strongly from the east. Beyond the bunker the fairway is pinched from both sides by low dunes and the trio of Rob's bunkers, some 80 yards short of the green, may catch downwind tee shots from the real power players. The wide entrance to the green is mounded on both sides, with sand on the left.

HOLE SIXTEEN - Par 4 - 423 yards: The fence that marks the route of the old railway into St Andrews runs all the way down the right from tee to green and there is only a narrow strip of fairway between the fence and a cluster of three bunkers known as the Principal's Nose. The percentage option is to lay up left of the bunkers, leaving a short-iron to a green that has a sharp ridge curving across the front. The green is bunkered left and behind.

HOLE SEVENTEEN - Par 4 - 455 yards: An extra 40 yards have been added to the hole that already has a reputation as the toughest par-four in championship golf. This means a minimum carry of 260 yards over the replica railway sheds to reach the ideal position on the right edge of the fairway. The green angles away from the player from front right to back left behind the vertically-faced Road bunker. An over-hit second shot will fall off the back of the green on to the road.

HOLE EIGHTEEN - Par 4 - 357 yards: There will be many players in the field capable of driving this green in the right conditions, but for anything that comes up short the choice of second shot can be vital, particularly when the pin is set just beyond the deep Valley of Sin at the front of the green. The traditional links shot, the low pitch and run, has a greater chance of success than a high-flying, fast-spinning wedge that can easily screw back off the green.

Course descriptions provided by www.opengolf.com.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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