Unsurprisingly the two South Africans Ernie Els and Reteif Goosen are the favourites to be the leading player from the rest of the world (i.e. not Europe or the United States). Els is currently 6/1 favourite while Goosen follows closely behind on 7/1.
Ernie Els has been one of the most consistent performers on the tour and in the Majors for the last few years. He is ranked third in the world behind Woods and Mickelson making him the highest placed non-American. Els has been in good form this year although this has dropped off since finishing a disappointing 24th in the US Open and 50th in the Scottish Open last week. The big South African acknowledges himself that he will have to improve if he is to make any headway in the British Open. Els has a good record at Muirfield though and the Open in particular where he has been the leading rest of the world player for the past two years.
Reteif Goosen is one place behind Els in the World Rankings. Last year he became the first non-European to win the Volvo Order of Merit since Greg Norman in 1982. This year he is in similar form leading the table ahead of Colin Montgomerie. After finishing as runner-up in the Masters earlier this year Goosen missed the cut in last month’s US Open but recovered some of his form to come second in the European Open in June and 14th at Loch Lomond last week. He finished 13th in the Open last year and he is one of the few players the Americans will be genuinely wary of.
Vijay Singh is always a contender for the leading rest of the world player in any major. The Fijian is a consistent performer in the big tournaments and has a good record in the Open finishing 13th and 11th in the last two years. His form this year has been reasonable if not quite up to its usual high standards. A major problem for Singh may be the quality of his short play which can be erratic on a course such as Muirfield and he could pay heavily for this.
The New Zealander Michael Campbell could be an interesting bet at 14/1 and is 17/2 to be the leading Australasian. Campbell made his name in the Open in 1995 where he lead after three rounds. Although disappointing at the Masters and the US Open (missing the cut in the latter) he recovered his confidence sufficiently to win the European Open and come 6th in the Scottish Open last week, making this one of the form players in the tournament.
Australians Robert Allenby (16/1) and Adam Scott (28/1) are two outsiders to lead the rest of the world field. They are also 11/2 and 11/1 respectively to be the highest placed Australasian. Scott is probably the more tempting of the two players. Allenby has not played a tournament since the US Open although he did finish a respectable 12th. Scott however is an exciting if somewhat unpredictable young talent. He is not afraid to make mistakes and this year followed coming 8th in the Masters by missing the cut at the US Open. By no means a banker, Scott however has the capability to cause a surprise.
Angel Cabrera and Eduadro Romero lead the Argentinean assault for the famous old Claret jug, both players are available at 20/1. Cabrera missed a putt at the final hole in Carnoustie to take him into the play-off. Since then he has missed the cut on consecutive years. In his last two tournaments Cabrera followed 6th in the European Open with 107th at the Scottish Open. Meanwhile his compatriot Romero has seen his stock rise based largely on his unexpected win at Loch Lomond last week. He has a reasonable record in the Open finishing 25th last year and 7th In 1997 at Royal Troon making him a more appealing bet than his fellow countryman.
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