Golf is good for business. A recent analysis says that the Open Championship says that it will generate more than £80 million (about ($127,544,000) for the surrounding Kent county. Press release follows:

To no one’s surprise, Rory McIlroy is the odds on favorite to win this year’s Open Championship, at 13/2 (meaning that a bet of $2 pays 13 if he wins). Rory has been so close (or winning) in recent Majors that he seems nearly certain to at least be a leader.

Still, there are those who are not convinced. Lee Westwood and Luke Donald (both 11/1) are the two deemed most likely to pick up the standard if Rory falls. In fact, I heard a commentator on The Golf Channel this weekend suggest that Luke Donald’s number one position, coupled with the win in the Scottish Open should make him the favorite. Bettors apparently don’t agree.

I like Luke Donald for the win at the Open Championship. He seems as though he has the steady hand that Championship requires. Length will kill him in the US Open, but in the isles ...

The rest of the top ten are an interesting mix. Martin Kaymer is at 22/1. He’s had a solid year, but I’m still not convinced that he’s the real deal (yes, I know he won the PGA). Graeme McDowell and Sergio Garcia are in at 28/1. I’m putting Sergio on my team along with Donald. I really think this could be his year.

Steve Stricker is the leading American at 28/1. His victory this past weekend was quite the thing, but Stricker’s not had a good run at the Open Championship. His best finish was a T7 in 2008. Other than that, it’s been a long string of cuts, did not plays and finishes no better than 25.

My dark horse (if there can be a dark horse in the top 10) is Jason Day. He’s played so well in recent majors that he’s just got to break through soon. Look at his last three Majors: US Open 2011 - 2nd; Masters 2011 - 2nd; PGA 2010 - t10. Ok, so his best finish at the Open Championship was T60 in 2010, but that was his first appearance in a Major.

Nick Watney at 33/1 is the other American on the list. He’s got game. We’ll see how it holds up on the links.

The rest of the betting odds for the 2011 Open Championship are below, courtesy of Bodog, the world’s largest betting destination.

The oldest of golf’s majors, the Open Championship extends back to 1860, when it was played by eight professionals at Prestwick Golf Club. The initial winner was Willie Park, Sr. He defeated the heavily favored “Old” Tom Morris by two strokes.

The tournament is played on a rotation of nine courses—five in Scotland and four in England: The Old Course, Carnoustie, Muirfield, Turnberry, Royal Troon, Royal St. George’s, Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s, and Royal Liverpool.

Harry Vardon holds the record for the most number of victories, with six.

The complete list is below. A = amateur PO = Playoff, a number in parenthesis following a name indicates the number of Open Championships that player had won at that point.

Only Phil.

This uncredited photo is linked to the article here.

Just a thought: Phil should think about what happened to Thomas Levet in a moment of whimsey.

Phil Mickelson is playing in the Scottish Open this week, and the Scotsman notes that he’s wearing his usual Pollyanna smile:

You gotta love Phil. You gotta will him on. God knows he needs the help because despite his oft-expressed love of this part of the world his results have been abysmal. That’s another part of Mickelson’s character that you have to admire. Throw some stats at him that show how poorly he has performed in big tournaments in Scotland and England in his career and he says, yeah, he’s not played well, but he’s loving the challenge all the same, loving the quest to become “the complete golfer”.

Phil’s record? It’s ugly. Six Scottish Opens and one decent performance, a second (beaten in a play-off by Gregory Havret) in 2007 to go with the 37th and the 33rd and the 35th and the two missed cuts in 2003 and 2010. And at The Open? Gruesome. Eighteen attempts and one top-ten. On 13 occasions he has finished outside the top-20 and four times he has missed the cut. And yet so much love in his heart. Those mountains and lochs must mean an awful lot to him.

“It’s something that I’m really starting to enjoy,” he said of his drive to conquer Britain. “It’s a real challenge for me to overcome the obstacles. It’s gotten me more determined to try and overcome this because this is exciting golf over here. I enjoy my time here. I enjoy the challenge of links golf. It’s fun.

Two weeks ahead of the 2011 (British) Open Championship, Rory McIlroy is the odds on favorite at 5/1. That’s as it should be, for he’s just one hole (the tenth at Augusta) from playing for the third leg of a Grand Slam. If he can keep his wits about him, in two week’s time, he should have his second Major. And that’ll REALLY have golf pundit tongues wagging.

For my part, I like neither Lee Westwood (9/1) nor Martin Kaymer (16/1) for this title. Kaymer has had a good year, with five top ten finishes including a win, but he looked terrible under pressure at The Masters, failing to make the cut. Westwood is the new Montomerie. Luke Donald at 14/1 looks good, though.

Sergio is the player who most intrigues me. Long the holder of the dubious distinction “Best Player Not To Win A Major,” Sergio looks as though this just might be his year.

Two players at 25/1 also could be contenders: Graeme McDowell and Jason Day, who has been o-so-close. Phil Mickelson also is in at 25/1, but I’m certain that an Open Championship will continue to elude him, just as the US Open. I don’t think his gambling, oft reckless style fits those two championships well. He has to hold back and that’s just not his way.

Of the American players, Nick Watney at 28/1 seems to be the best out there right now. I would not be surprised to see Watney and McIlroy in the final group on Sunday.

You can see the complete odds for the 2011 Open Championship below, courtesy of Bodog, the world’s largest betting destination:

The Scotsman has a little piece on what Tom Watson did with his down time during this past Friday’s wind delay.

He walked over to an area reserved for people in wheelchairs and went down the line shaking hands with each one. Maybe ten in all. The last of them was a military man, Sergeant Paul “Baz” Barrett, a native of Manchester but a resident of Letham, near Forfar. In his mid-30s and a father two, Baz trod on a landmine at Sangin in Helmand Province in December 2008 and lost a leg. For 20 minutes, Baz and Watson chatted. They talked about all sorts; about Rangers and Celtic, about horses, about pipe fencing and dry stacking. Watson mentioned that his step-daughter was a singer and was performing in the Criterion bar in the town that night. “Nashville type stuff,” he smiled. “Sassy!”

Mostly they talked about golf and war. “It must be frustrating for you having to play in that wind,” said Baz. “It’s a bit of a hazard.”

“Hey,” said Watson. “You’re a guy who knows what hazards are really like. We don’t have hazards.”

Read the rest.