British Open Preview -- Could LIV's Johnson upset the applecart?

  • In Charles Jay
  • Sat, Jul 16th, 2022 4:00:42 am
  • By Charles Jay - Exclusive to OSGA


Dustin Johnson leads a number of LIV golfers who are challenging in the British Open at St. Andrews.


Martin Slumbers, the chief executive at the Royal & Ancient Golf Club (which runs the British Open) is not a fan of LIV Golf. He issued the following statement this past week:

"I believe the model we have seen at Centurion and at Pumpkin Ridge is not in the best long-term interest of the sport as a whole and is entirely driven by money. We believe it undermines the merit-based nature and the spirit of open competition that makes golf so special."

This came after he had already essentially barred two-time Open champion Greg Norman from the premises this week, thus denying him the chance to take part in ceremonies commemorating the 150th anniversary of the tournament.

So BetOnline customers can imagine he must have been having a mini-heart attack on Friday when Dustin Johnson surged to the top of the leaderboard. reaching nine under par.

People have been asking, "What happens if a LIV player wins the Open?" We don't know if that will happen this year, but if Johnson finds himself in the final two groups on Sunday, he is going to be difficult to ignore, which is what the announcers have done as much as possible since the tournament started.

As for the R&A, they kept any LIV player out of press conferences connected to their ceremonies, although the press is going to want to ask players questions, naturally.

With a good round, Johnson could make things tight for the leaders, including Cameron Smith (-13) and Rory McIlroy (-10). They are +180 and +400, respectively, to win the tourney. Johnson is priced at +1000 to be holding the Claret Jug at the end, according to the folks at BetOnline.


And speaking of those LIV players......

Some of them are actually doing pretty well thus far. Talor Gooch ended Friday tied for eighth. Lee Westwood and Abraham Ancer were in the top 20 at -5. Sergio Garcia shot a 66 in the second round to move to -3. Ian Poulter has the same score, and he nailed a put from 160 feet that was the only shot that I saw from a LIV player all day (Although I didn't watch the whole thing).

Gooch (who's priced at +8000) made a statement to the press about how his LIV colleagues understand that the establishment is against them.

“Everybody, it feels like, is against us [and] it’s kind of banded us together,’’ he said. Gooch added that he made the decision to go with LIV full-time when the PGA Tour suspended him.

Johnson, for his part, wasn't really interested in buying into the "us against the world" mentality. Nor did he say that he'd heard anything about it. No, he's not going "turncoat." He just wants to concentrate all his efforts on trying to win.

It's within his grasp.


Notable names who missed the cut included some LIV guys....

Louis Oosthuizen, who won in 2010 at St. Andrews, just missed it, as did Ernie Els. Zach Johnson, who won on the Old Course the last time it was played there in 2015, finished at +3, which may have been better than some thought but still not good enough. He will be the 2023 Ryder Cupcaptain, and is expected to issue snubs to the LIV crew.

John Daly gave it a heck of a run, and would probably have made the cut if he had not bogeyed the last three holes. No, he's not LIV, but hey, those guys seem like a rebel bunch, so there's alwys possibility.

Brooks Koepka continued to have his struggles in the majors. He's out, as is Phil Mickelson, who, from what we understand, was pretty gracious in answering questions from reporters afterward.


There's still plenty of British Open betting left to do. BetOnline has daily matchups, odds to win and more....... Plus, you can make live wagers on a hole-by-hole basis...... It's very easy to open an account. All you have to do is use your credit card or turn to virtually any cryptocurrency in the world!


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