
The British Open doesn’t go until next week at Royal Birkdale, but Phil Mickelson is already in trouble. Lefty shot an even-par 71 in the first round of the warm-up tournament in Scotland, seven strokes behind the leaders. Lefty has slipped to 14-1 at press time to win the Open; Ernie Els is also 14-1 after going 1-over on Thursday.
With the top two names in the Open field struggling, Sergio Garcia becomes the favorite at 8-1. He’s already had a successful warm-up, finishing second at the European Open last week. Garcia also finished second at the 2007 British Open when he lost a playoff to Padraig Harrington.
Harrington is 16-1; he finished tied for 17th at the European Open after hitting a 75 in the final round. The biggest name on the leaderboard after one round at Loch Lomond is Angel Cabrera, at 6-under. The 2007 U.S. Open winner is 40-1 to win at Royal Birkdale.
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