WHILE Zach Johnson left St Andrews on Monday night with the Claret Jug in his grasp, nobody won quite as much as the bookies, who had as close to the perfect week as they are ever going to get.
Eventual champion Johnson was sent off as an unconsidered 125/1 at the start of the tournament last Thursday, and was 33/1 going into the final round as he lay three shots off the pace and had any number of big names in and around him on the leaderboard.
Yet it could have been a lot better for punters, with nearly all of the players toward the head of the betting getting into contention at some stage over the five days, with Dustin Johnson ripping it up for the first two rounds, Louis Oosthuizen losing in the play-off, Adam Scott taking a share of the lead on the back nine on Monday before fading away, and Jason Day experiencing yet more Major heartache after missing out on the play-off by a shot.
However, the player the layers were all scared of was Jordan Spieth, and there were massive sighs of relief in betting offices everywhere when he made a mess of the final couple of holes to also miss out on the play-off by a shot.
Spieth, with the Masters and the US Open already tucked away, came to St Andrews with very little preparation and yet got within a whisker of taking his third successive Major win.
Indeed, but for a few uncharacteristic errors on the greens, the Texan would have claimed the Claret Jug and would now be putting together a strategy for Whistling Straits and a Grand Slam bid.
The final Major of the year, the US PGA, takes place on that daunting Wisconsin track from August 13, and while Spieth can’t now complete the clean sweep, he has been installed as a best-priced 11/2 jolly (Stan James) to make it three out of four.
It is a massive course which, in theory at least, should be far too long for his game, yet Chambers Bay and St Andrews shouldn’t have suited him either, so he will go into that one as a worthy favourite.
The other big question is whether Rory McIlroy will be fit to defend the US PGA title on a course where he was third behind Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson five years ago, and the Holywood man will surely be pulling out all the stops to give himself another chance of a Major victory.
Between now and then, there is also the small matter of a World Golf Championship event, the Bridgestone Invitational, which Mclroy also won last summer, and ideally he would like to be back for that, not only to defend the crown, but also his position as world number one, which is coming under increasing pressure from Spieth.
McIlroy is currently the 7/1 second-favourite for Whistling Straits, although even his biggest fans will be giving that price a wide berth until there are more updates on his fitness.
While Spieth takes a well-earned break after a busy couple of weeks which saw him win the John Deere Classic and go so close at St Andrews, plenty of leading lights from the Open do tee it up this week.
Private jets were on standby in their droves in Scotland on Monday night, with a number of them destined either for Switzerland or Canada.
The Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre in the Swiss Alps attracts a strong field, headed by Sergio Garcia on the back of another strong Open performance, while Jason Day is the favourite for the RBC Canadian Open in Ontario.
With the Open finishing a day late, fatigue might need to be factored in this week, although it is hard to understimate the energy provided by a good performance, with Zach Johnson just missing out on a play-off at the John Deere in Illinois before moving on to taste Major success in Scotland.
Therefore, I’m backing Luke Donald to maintain his recent return to form in the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club, just outside Toronto.
The former world number one has arrested an alarming slump down the rankings in recent weeks, with his last three events yielding two ties for seventh at the Travelers Championship and the Scottish Open, and a share of 12th at St Andrews.
Yet Donald (below) is still outside the world’s top 50 and needs another big week to get into the field for the Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA, which should be motivation enough to fight off the tiredness for another few days.
That recent run of form gives plenty of evidence that the Englishman is getring back to his brilliant best after wrestling with swing changes for a couple of years, and he could be worth a look at 28/1 (Coral) on a course where he has played reasonably well without starring in the past.
Glen Abbey last hosted the Canadian Open two years ago when Brandt Snedeker took the title, but he sits this one out, so another player to keep an eye is one of those who tied for second then, Matt Kuchar.
The American never really got into the shake-up at the Open, finishing in a tie for 58th, but he did show some pleasing form the previous week in the Scottish Open at Gullane, finishing second to Rickie Fowler, and he should be in confident mood on his return to a course he has excelled on in the past.
Kuchar is an 18/1 chance with Boylesports this week and, like Donald, represents a fine each-way bet.
In the European Masters, I’m going to forgive Tommy Fleetwood for missing the cut by a shot at St Andrews and flag him up once more at 25/1 with William Hill.
Fleetwood opened up with a 69 in the Open but suffered in the winds on the second day, yet his form is generally very good, with an 11th in Germany and a 10th at the Scottish Open, which should have been better, his previous two results.
Fifth at Crans-sur-Sierre in 2014 and ninth the year before, Fleetwood will be better rested than a number of the big names in the field and can go well.
My other player to side with is Richie Ramsay, who did make the Open cut but didn’t get into the mix at any stage.
However, he has been playing reasonably well since winning in Morocco at the end of March without getting his rewards, and the feeling is that a big week is on the way.
It could well be in the European Masters, which Ramsay won in 2012 and was also eighth in last term. At 35/1 with Coral, he should be the subject of a small each-way flutter.
