With the Ryder Cup in the books, the focus now shifts to the European Tour with the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship taking place this week at three different courses across Scotland. Although it’s a relatively newer tournament, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is now an established tradition on the European Tour and will have the spotlight to itself this weekend with a strong cast of contenders set to take part in the event. Given that the golf world just experienced two epic weeks of action as the PGA Tour hit the climax of its season, it’s understandable that there isn’t as much involvement in this event from the world’s best players as much as the organizers had hoped. We won’t see the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day or Dustin Johnson. On the flip side, it means that some new faces will have a chance to shine. Louis Oosthuizen leads the pack as he’s the favorite to win this week while Thomas Pieters is right behind him in terms of the betting odds.
Event Details
Event: Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Category: European
Date: October 6-9
Locations: Old Course at St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland; Carnoustle, Angus, Scotland; Kingsbarns at St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland
Half of the European Ryder Cup team will be on hand for this event. Each professional golfer will be partnered with an amateur and the teams of two will play each of the three separate links courses in rotation over the first three days. The cut is made after the third round and the top 20 teams will progress to the final round at St. Andrews on Sunday.
Past Five Winners
2016: Thorbjorn Oleson -18
2015: Oliver Wilson -17
2014: David Howell -23 (Playoff)
2013: Branden Grace -22
2012: Michael Hoey -22
What To Know About The Course
This tournament is almost always a birdie fest and it won’t surprise anybody if that is the case again this week. Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy will obviously matter, but it won’t be nearly as important as what the golfers do once they find the greens. Par 4 scoring is likely the best statistic to keep an eye on and a better statistic to consider in terms of where you want to put your money. Each of the 15 winners here have been renowned links players so keep that in mind when making your selections.
The Field
Louis Oosthuizen leads an impressive cast of contenders as the sports betting favorite at this event at +1400 odds. Oosthuizen is followed by Branden Grace, Bernd Wiesberger and Thomas Pieters at +1600 odds, with Alex Noren rounding out the top-five betting options on the board according to the odds at +1800. One name that stands out for obvious reasons is the defending tournament champion Thorbjorn Olesen, who is listed at a ridiculous +8000 odds to repeat this week.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Thomas Pieters over Louis Oosthuizen
Oosthuizen finished fifth at this tournament in 2011 and sixth two years ago but he’s missed the cut at this event six times so there is a very good chance he struggles again this weekend. It likely won’t take much to open the door for Pieters to produce a better score in the head-to-head betting matchup, especially considering the impressive play we saw from him at the Ryder Cup last week. Pieters is in excellent form heading in to this tournament and there is decent value betting on him to best Oosthuizen this week.
Top-Five Pick: Thorbjorn Olesen
Olesen might not repeat as the champion at this event but he should at least be able to hang around and challenge for a top-10 finish. It isn’t a stretch to think that last year’s winner can finish in the top-five this time around and considering the long odds there is definitely value picking him to finish in the top-five at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for the second year in a row this week.
Top 10 Odds To Win The Alfred Dunhill Championship
Louis Oosthizen +1415
Thomas Pieters +1550
Branden Grace +1550
Bernd Wiesberger +1550
Martin Kaymer +1650
Alex Noren +1650
Danny Willett +1850
Rafael Cabrera Bello +2550
Shane Lowry +2550
Tommy Fleetwood +2850
