Fowler clear choice for best of the rest at Hoylake
Published:As with the first two majors of the golfing season, the final round of the Open at Hoylake looks set to be little more than a procession with Rory McIlroy leading the field by six shots after 54 holes.
Two eagles in the final three holes of day three put the 25-year-old well clear and saw him capture the 54-hole Grand Slam, although he will be far more concerned with nabbing his third major.
McIlroy is 1/25 to win the Open, an understandably short price given that no-one has ever thrown away a six-shot lead in the 121 years it has been contested over 72 holes.
Better value can be found in the winner w/o McIlroy market, and the best choice to be runner-up is Rickie Fowler at 11/4.
The American is sitting in second at the moment on -10, one shot clear of Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson, who are both 25/1 to finish as best of the rest.
Fowler already has experience of coming in second behind a runaway winner at a major this season, finishing T2 at the US Open.
That followed a T5 placing at the Masters, demonstrating Fowler’s recent consistency at the biggest events – he would be top of a combined leaderboard of the eight rounds of the season’s first two majors.
The 25-year-old has also impressed in the Open in the past, finishing T5 in 2011, when Darren Clarke triumphed in the blustery conditions of Royal St George’s.
Indeed if the weather turns sour in Liverpool then Fowler’s odds of 16/1 to win the tournament as a whole might become interesting.
He overcame a six-shot deficit to briefly draw level with McIlroy during round three before the Northern Irishman’s late flourish put him clear again.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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