The Open Championship 2022: How Will The Aussie Players Fare?
Cameron Smith, Adam Scott and Marc Leishman are some of the leading Australian golfers that will bid for glory at The Open this week.
Former world No. 1 Jason Day misses out after falling out of the top-100 in the official rankings following an injury-plagued couple of years. However, there will be some additional Aussies to cheer on, including the up-and-coming Lucas Herbert.
Read on to learn more about each Australian player’s odds and chances of success at the final major of 2022.
Cameron Smith
The world No. 6 is priced at $23 to win The Open. Only seven players – Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry – have shorter odds. His best previous finish at The Open came in 2019, when he finished T20, so his record at this tournament is nothing special. However, Smith has enjoyed a very strong year so far.
He won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January after finishing one stroke clear of Rahm. Smith then won The Players Championship in March, which saw him go into the Masters at Augusta as many pundits’ favourite. He was in contention on the final day, but he finished T3 after shanking his tee shot into Rae’s Creek on the 12th. That was a painful experience, but he bounced back with a T13 finish at the PGA Championship.
Smith’s recent form has been questionable. He had failed to finish in the top-10 in his last five starts before the Scottish Open, and he missed the cut twice. However, a T10 finish at The Renaissance Club at the weekend should steady the nerves. He has all the necessary ingredients to thrive on the Old Course at St Andrews. The course feeds directly into Smith’s key strengths – hitting greens, displaying a pillow-touch on the greens and converting chances. This is likely to develop into his best performance at The Open.
We are offering $3.75 on Smith to finish in the top-10 and $2.28 to finish inside the top-20. He is in Group B of our groups betting market, along with Fitzpatrick, Justin Thomas, Lowry and Patrick Cantlay, and you can grab odds of $4.70 on him to finish ahead of them.
Adam Scott
Scott infamously blew a four-hole lead with four holes remaining at The Open back in 2012. He bogeyed all four holes and ended up one stroke behind Ernie Els. Scott finished T3 the following year and T5 in 2014. He has since finished T10, T43, T22 and T17, making him one of the most consistent players at this tournament over the past decade.
The Adelaide native still has just one major triumph to his name – the 2013 Masters – and he is now 41 years of age. His last PGA Tour win came in 2020 at the Genesis Invitational, and he has not finished in the top-10 at a major since the US Open in 2019. He finished T48 at the Masters earlier this year and then missed the cut at the PGA Championship, but he was T14 at the US Open last month.
Scott has made five previous appearances at St Andrews. His best finish here was T10 back in 2010. He is still swinging with elegance, but he needs to improve in terms of shots gained from tee to green if he is to compete this week. As such, Scott is a $91 outsider, and he is priced at $3.80 for a top-20 finish and $2 for a top-40 finish. He is also priced at $4.40 to win his group, which features Kiwi Ryan Fox, Seamus Power of Ireland, Canada’s Corey Conners and the legendary Tiger Woods.
Marc Leishman
Leishman finished T2 at The Open in 2015. The tournament was held on the Old Course at St Andrews that year, which bodes well for his chances this time around. He finished level with Zach Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen, but ultimately lost in a playoff.
He also has T5 and T6 finishes under his belt at The Open. Leishman has not had much luck in recent years, but a return to St Andrews could galvanise him. He comes into this tournament on the back of two missed cuts, at the Travelers and the Scottish Open, and he has not finished in the top-10 of a tournament since the Shriners last year.
Leishman is a $101 roughie for this tournament. If you think he can exceed expectations, he is priced at $4.20 to finish in the top-20 and $2.10 for a top-40 finish. Leishman is in a group with four famous Americans – Gary Woodland, Billy Horschel, Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau – and he is $4.30 to prevail.
Lucas Herbert
The world No. 51 has hit the headlines a few times during his rookie season on the PGA Tour. He won the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in October, finishing one stroke ahead of Danny Lee and Patrick Reed, and he was T13 at the PGA Championship.
Herbert missed the cut at the Masters and the US Open this year. He flew to Europe following his struggles at Brookline, and he finished T9 at the Irish Open. Herbert missed the cut at the Scottish Open last time out. His best finish at The Open was T51 in 2018, so he is very much an outsider for this event.
You will find odds of $141 on Herbert lifting the Claret Jug. He is $2.65 for a top-40 finish, and we have $4.30 on him winning a group that also features Taylor Gooch, Haotong Li, Jordan Smith and J. T. Poston.
Min Woo Lee
The young Aussie famously won the Scottish Open last year, sparking excitement about his prospects. However, his title defence at the weekend was a disaster, as he shot 11 over, and he is now down to No.74 in the world rankings.
However, Lee has discovered some form at majors this year, finishing T14 at the Masters and T27 at last month’s US Open. He is a $201 outsider for The Open and priced at $2.99 for a top-40 finish, which could be interesting.
The Rest
Anthony Quayle, Brad Kennedy, Dimitrios Papadatos, Jason Scrivener, Jediah Morgan and Matthew Griffin will all fly the flag for Australia at St Andrews this week. They are all priced at $801 to win the tournament. It is worth noting that nine of the previous 10 winners previously had a top-10 finish at The Open, so history is not on their side.
However, players that sit some way down the world rankings have had plenty of joy at The Open. Shane Lowry was 33rd in the world when he won in 2019, Ernie Els was 40th in 2012, Darren Clarke was world No. 111 in 2011 and Louis Oosthuizen was 54th the previous year. Ben Curtis, the 2003 winner, was world No. 396.
How Have Australians Fared Recently at The Open Championship?
Leishman and Scott have come the closest to lifting the Claret Jug over the past decade. Scott had one hand on it back in 2012, but he suffered one of the worst collapses in the history of the sport to finish one stroke behind Els.
Leishman finished level with Johnson and Oosthuizen at St Andrews in 2015, leading to a three-way playoff. They played four holes and Johnson ultimately came out on top.
The top Aussie in 2016 was Day, who finished T22, 21 strokes behind runaway winner Henrik Stenson. The action shifted to Royal Birkdale the following year, when Leishman led the charge for Australia by finishing T6. Carnoustie hosted in 2018. Day and Scott finished T17, six strokes off the lead.
In 2019, the world’s leading players went to Portrush in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, for the 148th Open Championship. Lowry was crowned the winner, finishing 14 shots clear of the top Aussie – Smith, who was T20. The tournament was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic, but it returned last year, when debutant Collin Morikawa stormed to victory at St George’s. Once again, Smith was the leading Australian, but he finished T33.
Who Was the Last Australian to Win The Open Championship?
Greg Norman was the last Australian player to win The Open. The Great White Shark first clinched the Claret Jug in 1986, and he picked up his second victory in 1993.
That tournament took place at Royal St George’s in Sandwich, Kent. Norman was in contention throughout the event. He had a share of the lead after 18 holes, and he was just one stroke behind co-leaders Nick Faldo and Corey Pavin heading into the final day.
Norman held his nerve to shoot a final round score of 64, finishing two strokes ahead of Faldo to win the tournament. That was a golden age for Aussies, with Ian Baker-Finch also beating compatriot Mike Harwood to win The Open in 1991. We have had a few runner-up finishes since then, including Stuart Appleby and Steve Elkington, who lost to Els in a playoff in 2002, but the wait goes on for an Open Championship winner. Can one of the Aussie contingent secure victory this year? Check out the Open Championship odds and make your plays.
