Take on The Professor: Our genius hits St Andrews for the Open

The Professor is smarting after two defeats on the bounce, with Wimbledon proving his undoing after an uncharacteristic lapse in the US Open golf.

But with the bearded calculator, little defeats only spur our brainiac on to right those wrongs and he is preparing to hit back at the Open Championship.

The numbers have been crunched and our man has decided on the six golfers that will have a very enjoyable weekend at St Andrews.

As always there is someone who wants to not only dent the confidence of our genius, but also bag themselves a £25 FREE BET.

The format is similar to recent golf contests, with the cumulative finishing positions of each contestant’s six golfers added together with the lower overall score reigning supreme.

Taking on our sporting wizard is @Birdieclubtips, and the Professor is keen to point out it’s not about tips but science.

Here’s who each of them has gone for…

The Professor has also been kind enough to give us the reasoning behind his six players this week.

Dustin Johnson

Despite never landing a major, Johnson’s performances on the biggest stages are enviable.

Having secured nine top 10 finishes in majors over the last seven years, making the cut 20 times in the process, the wide layout at St Andrews will play to the strengths of the PGA tour’s number one bomber.

It is now a case of when, not if, in the 31-year-old’s hunt for a major triumph.

Martin Kaymer

After winning the 2010 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, Kaymer described St Andrews as his golfing paradise.

The two-time major winner has only made the top 10 in one of his seven previous Open starts, but with that coming at the Fife venue, he can turn it on again on the Old Course.

Victor Dubuisson

Injury has hindered any real progress for the Frenchman’s career after stealing the show at the Ryder Cup.

But top 20 finishes in the Scottish and French Opens as well as the BMW International are clear signs that he is on his way back.

Finishing in the top 10 in two of his seven major outings shows that he is not afraid of the big stage.

David Howell

This man loves links golf!

A previous winner at St Andrews in the 2013 Alfred Dunhill, he comes into the tournament in sterling form, with two top 10 finishes in his last three starts on the European Tour.

And with a T7 and a T15 to his name at the Open in the last decade, he is capable of coming good again.

Branden Grace

Another winner of the Alfred Dunhill, this time in 2013, Grace put himself on the majors map when producing an impressive display in the US Open.

He’s made the cut on all four visits to the Open Championship and has finished in the money in 51 of his last 57 starts on the European Tour.

Justin Rose

A nightmare second round saw Rose miss the cut on his only Open visit to St Andrews in 2010, after he recorded a solid two-under 70 on the opening day.

He is better than that though, and a win in the 2014 Scottish Open proved that he can handle the demands of links golf.

One win and two tied-seconds in his last six tournaments show the Englishman is coming here in some form.

Who do you think will win? Get involved on Twitter and via Facebook and watch out for your chance to land a free bet!

Terms and conditions:

1. You must be aged 18 years or over to bet and participate in this promotion.

2. One winning participant, selected at random, will be contacted via Twitter and asked to submit predictions for the top 6 of The Open.

3. Ladbrokes News Team will then inform the participant of their selections so that both parties are fully aware of what’s been chosen in advance of the first tee off on Thursday

4. At the end of the tournament we will add up the finishing positions of each of the 6 players and whoever has the lowest wins. For example, if the Professor’s picks finish 1st, 4th, 27th, 64th, 70th & 100th the cumulative score would be 266. In which case the contestant would need to score 265 or less to win.

5. In the event of a draw, once the race has finished, you will be asked a relevant tie-breaker question, chosen at the News team’s discretion. If you answer the tie-break question correctly, you win; if you answer incorrectly, the Ladbrokes News Team wins.

6. Free bet token will be valid for 7 days.

7. Free bets must be used in their entirety as a Win Single on any sport and cannot be split into multiple stakes. A free bet token cannot be partially redeemed. If you attempt to place a bet for a lesser total stake than the value of your free bet, the remaining value of the free bet will be void.

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10. Free bets do not count towards qualifying for any other promotional offers.

11. Ladbrokes reserves the right to amend or withdraw the competition at any time.

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

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