No opposing Couples to be British Open’s top senior

Fred Couples is far from a regular attendee at the Open Championship, but his upcoming visit should be a profitable one for punters backing him to be named the top senior after four rounds at Muirfield.

There are nine seniors lining up at the major and this group have previously celebrated 12 Open Championship victories between them.

Interestingly, it is two non-former winners that head the betting to be top senior, with Couples and Vijay Singh both priced at 7/2.

Couples is playing in this major for the first time since 2006 after qualifying through winning the Senior British Open last year, while this is a first visit to Muirfield in 21 years, after failing to make the cut in 1992 when the defending Masters champion.

However, making the cut has become Couples’ forte this season, as he is yet to miss one in 12 starts across the PGA Tour and Champions Tour.

Couples has already starred at the Masters this year, as were it not for a third-round 77, he could have finished a lot higher than 13th overall, while he has not been outside of the top 14 in his eight starts alongside his fellow seniors.

Singh has yet to dip his toes into the senior ranks, but his PGA Tour form suggests that he may want to consider it, given that he has missed the cut in five of his last eight events and finished inside the top 25 just once all year.

Tom Lehman may be the chief opposition to Couples to be top senior and with Ladbrokes paying 1/4 of the odds on the top three in this market, he is an each-way bet to nothing at 9/2.

Lehman finished one stroke ahead of Couples at the recent US Senior Open and has played four rounds in five of the last six Open Championships.

At a bigger price, five-time champion and 2009 runner-up Tom Watson is sure to generate some interest at 15/2.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.