British Open betting opens

Haraldur Magnus will make history when he tees it up at The Open next week, becoming the first Icelandic man to compete in a Major championship.

The 147th Open takes place at Carnoustie Golf Links, Angus, from 19 July.

Magnus booked his spot at Carnoustie through final qualifying at Prince’s and in doing so signalled the success of a 15-year effort to grow the game in Iceland.

Magnus, who finished one stroke ahead of former US Open champion Retief Goosen, compared the challenging links of Prince’s to golf courses back home in Iceland - the country boasts 65 of them.

However, he was quick to point out that Carnoustie is likely to produce a more difficult landscape to conquer.

“I grew up playing in exactly these conditions and I love links golf,” said Magnus.

“I played at Carnoustie in the 2015 Amateur Championship and there was no wind that day, so it wasn’t too tough. But you could see that when the wind is blowing it can be absolutely horrifying.”

Since the year 2000, the Golf Union of Iceland (GSI) has more than doubled the number of registered members of a golf club to 17,000, which equates to around 5% of an approximate 300,000-national population. Further, the GSI estimates around 40,000, more than 10%, play golf in Iceland.

Magnus’ inclusion in the starting field at Carnoustie helps solidify the country as a nation that loves golf. As the President of the GSI, Haukur Örn Birgisson, puts it: “All Icelandic eyes will be on the leaderboard at The Open” when he makes his debut.

Betting World has already priced up the betting on The Open.

The early bookmaker-favourite to lift the Claret Jug is Dustin Johnson, followed by Rory Mcilroy and Justin Rose.

Tiger Woods is priced at 25 while Branden Grace (40) and Louis Oosthuizen (55) lead the South African onslaught.