British Open: Dark horse candidates to raise the Claret Jug

Kevin Kisner – 150/1

Kisner takes the last spot on this week’s dark horse rankings. At 150/1, he gives you incredible value. Especially for someone who T-2nd at last year’s British Open.

He co-lead after each of the first three rounds last year. After starting off with 66-70-68 through those rounds, he shot a 74 on the last day to lose to the champion Francesco Molinari by two strokes.

One of the areas that Kisner really excels in is driving accuracy. He ranks 13th this season there, hitting 69.86% of fairways this year. This could be a good sign as they head to Northern Ireland, where rain and poor weather should be expected.

They say “drive for show, putt for dough”, and Kisner’s game reflects that. He is 163rd in distance, but pairing that with his 13th fairways hit puts him 60th in SG off the tee. His putting is great, coming in at 38th.

All year, he has been on the edge of cracking multiple top-tens. He had a run earlier this season where he placed in the 20’s in seven of eight events. The eighth event was a sin at the WGC Dell Match Play event.

It’s likely going to be poor weather this week. That makes me lean towards someone like Kisner who will be hitting fairways and making putts. If anything, Kisner will definitely make the top 20.

Best of luck to everyone teeing up this week at the British Open. Especially the dark horse candidates.