Ernie Els - SA

Perhaps if it was not for Tiger Woods, it would be Ernie Els who may have dominated the sport, particularly after his two early career US Open victories. The 'Big Easy' has never quite fulfilled the promise of those early years where the Majors have been concerned. He has won three and that is three more than most, but for someone who has the complete game it is not what most would have expected.

In many ways, Ernie was the man that was expected to challenge Tiger's dominance but in that he has failed and despite many brave efforts he seemes to have settled into a complacent mode and it is becoming quite rare to see his name high on the leaderboard. Despite being favourite in the Open Golf 2009 odds, he had a horrendous start at the Championship last year, having his worst ever Major golf round at Royal Birkdale. This awful start put him out of real contention and almost out of the British Open betting from the start. He did manage to claw himself out of a 'deep hole' during the next three rounds however, and in fairness he finished remarkably respectfully, however this seems to happen all too often with Ernie and on that basis it is difficult to see how he can threaten this year. Nonetheless, as they say, it is all in the pedigree and if he can recapture some of his past form then you never know. There will be many who will take advantage of the Open Free bets and back the South African. As always he will be one of those players who will be a good Open Golf tips to win

To give you some idea of the record of Ernie Els, it should be noted that he has won over 60 tournaments worldwide, including three Majors. He won the US Open in both 1994 and 1997 and also won the Open Championship in 2002. In total he has had an incredible 28 top ten finishes in Major tournaments, including last year at this tournament where he tied for 7th spot at Royal Birkdale.