11th Jul 2016 | Open Championship
Open Championship Tips: Charl Schwartzel
Won three times in the last nine months and has four top-20s in his last six cracks at the Open.
For a while it seemed Charl Schwartzel had lost the happy knack of closing out tournaments but 2016 has seen the talented South African return to winning ways.
His run of good form actually started in November 2015 with victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. He quickly stepped up a level when lapping the field at the Tshwane Open to win by 8 shots and then registered his first PGA Tour win since the Masters by winning a playoff at the Valspar Championship. That adds up to three wins in under nine months.
Schwartzel’s good results are mirrored in his statistics on the PGA Tour. His sits in the top-10 for strokes gained tee-to-green and scoring average, yet is nowhere near the top-10 in the betting.
This is slightly strange give his record in the Open is good. He has made 6/11 cuts and has four top-20s in his last six appearances.
Being a major champion provides invaluable experience and he could emulate Zach Johnson in following up a Masters win with success at the Open. At 66/1 he is a good each-way bet with Skybet paying 1/4 odds for a top-7 finish.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 16:05 11th Jul, 2016 but subject to change
