1-2; +5.75pts

Outright plays (total stake per play: 1pt)

Niclas Fasth to win 12/1 e.w. @ Boyle Sports [6 places]  26th
There is a markedly weaker field in this event than last year. Players that have not returned include Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald, Angel Cabrera, Padraig Harrington, Ian Poulter, Tim Clark and Lee Westwood, while there are doubts over the form of top two players in this field in terms of the World Rankings (Henrik Stenson and Retief Goosen). That should equate to justifiably short odds on Fasth who has finished 4th, 1st and 11th in his last three appearances on this course, had form figures of 8th, 4th, 1st and 2nd heading into the British Open and played solidly after a poor opening round to finish 35th last week. As six of the top-seven in last year's event had made the cut in the Open the previous week, this is clearly an event in which momentum is important; as there is no-one stronger than Fasth in that respect, any post-Major fatigue looks likely to set next week instead.

Nick Dougherty to win 40/1 e.w. @ BetInternet, Ladbrokes, Victor Chandler, BlueSq and BetDirect  mc
Dougherty also made the cut last week for the first time in the British Open, but that should have been no surprise: his stroke average is almost a full shot better this year and he now ranks inside the top-10 in Scoring Average on the European Tour. He is finally achieving the consistency that has been predicted of him for several years and while he has yet to convert that into a good final round scoring average (he ranks 70th in the 4th round scoring average vs. 4th in 1st round scoring average this year), he is too good a prospect for that to continue. With a good performance on this course already under his belt (12th in 2005, though having been 5th with one round to play), there should be value in these odds.

Soren Hansen to win 66/1 e.w. @ Sportingbet, Sporting Odds and ToteSport  2nd
Hansen is the one selection who is not following on from a strong performance last week. Instead, he has the additional motive of putting an embarrassing oversight regarding last week behind him: he forgot to enter the Open! It is all the more embarrassing as he was playing extremely well at the time: while he finished in 2nd, 7th and 19th position in the previous three weeks, he had held the lead with one round to play in both the Open de France and the European Open and had held the lead after the first round of the Scottish Open. In such strong form and with a top-10 finish on this course last year, surely Hansen should have been priced at much lower odds.