The British Open is held this year at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club near Lancashire, England. The buzz surrounding this Open is that anyone can win because Tiger Woods is not in the field. We'll handicap some of the players that I think can win, look at some of the longshots and note players to go against.

Ernie Els has publicly stated, "The poor guy that wins the Open, will have to answer over and over, do you think you would have won if Tiger were in the field." We know one player that will relish Tiger's absence and that is Phil Mickelson. Mickelson has said, "Tiger is a huge loss for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, the Fed Ex Cup, but, that some lucky player will snag a major or two and the $10 million dollars." Positive thinking there Phil.

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I predict that a no name will win this year's Open and in particular a European player. The European PGA Tour has improved steadily with the depth of field, they have better younger players now and the confidence to compete on the world stage due to the success of the Ryder Cup and notable Top Euro players placing high in all the majors is big.

Royal Birkdale will play 7,173 yards stretched from 7,018 in 1998 where Mark O'Meara defeated Brian Watts in a four-hole playoff. They have added a few trees, 20 new bunkers and the rough will be penal. The rough has only two cuts, a four-inch semi cut and then 12 inches plus of “heather patches”.

The greens are expected to run only 10.5 on the stimpmeter, because of much rain that past few weeks. The early forecast calls for 20% to 60% chance of light rain each day, as usual.

This track favors solid ball striking due to the hazards around the course and smaller than average greens. Total Driving is a good stat to help with your handicapping this week.

Sergio Garcia (10/1)

I have Sergio as the favorite, Sportsbook.com has him at 10/1, you will find him anywhere from 8/1 to 18/1 so shop around.

Sergio lost this tournament last year to Padraig Harrington in a playoff at Carnoustie. Sergio should have won his first major but blew it with conservative irons off every tee down the stretch. Since then he won the Players Championship and improved his putting dramatically with the help of short-game guru Stan Utley.

In this the year of the Spaniard, where Spain won the Euro Cup, Rafael Nadal wins Wimbledon surely Sergio can break through on the big stage.

Ernie Els (8/1)

Ernie has taken three weeks off relaxing at his home in London and then used the Scottish Open this past week as a prep, finishing tied for ninth.

I see Ernie having a legitimate shot this week, but still concerned about him constantly changing his inner circle personnel. He just re-hired Ricci Roberts his caddy who was on the bag for each of his three majors. He is working now with swing coach Butch Harmon (good move), and has gone back to his old sports psychologist Jos Varstiplant.

Lee Westwood (20/1)

Westwood is in the best shape of his life. He played very well dueling Tiger head-to-head in the U.S Open to finish outright in third place. He ranks second in scoring average at 70.11 and is second on the Euro Tour in Greens in Regulation.

Adam Scott (20/1)

Scott played the U.S. Open with a broken right pinky finger. He rested until this past week and teed it up at Loch Lomond in the Scottish Open and coasted in at T25 with a poor 74 final round, but that was expected. He is perhaps the best driver of the golf ball in the world today and along with Sergio are the top two players in the field having not won a major.

Miguel Angel Jimenez (60/1)

"The Mechanic" posted another top ten (T3) at the Scottish Open, which was his 6th this year. He also had a win at the prestigious BMW PGA Championship and a solid T6 at the U.S Open. He also posted a T12 in last year's British Open.

Longshots

Ross Fisher (100/1)

Fisher won the European Open a couple of weeks ago destroying the field by seven shots. Sergio Garcia was second! He currently ranks 7th on the European Order of Merit.

Oliver Wilson (120/1)

Wilson has been money in the bank this season. We have cashed a couple of times with him in matchups. The Englishman has a deadly putter and has improved up the ladder in each of his four years on the Euro circuit. This season he has seven Top 10's including four 2nd place finishes.

Stephen Ames (100/1)

Ames can dissect a golf course as good as any player in this field. His tee to green game is made to stay out of the rough at Royal Birkdale, and he is also a good bad weather player.

Go Against

Zach Johnson......Zach made the cut this past week at the John Deere Classic, but played very poorly after that. His heart and mind are on the victims, family and friends in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area due to the massive flooding.

Mark Calcavecchia.....Calc withdrew from the U.S. Open having problems with both knees, he could barely walk. He returned to the PGA Tour this past week in Illinois wearing shoe inserts. He shot a super 4-under par 68 opening round but then struggled mightily with a 75 and missed the cut by three shots. On top of that he had to sit around during the weekend waiting for the Chartered jet the PGA Tour arranged for players heading over to the British Open.

Sean O'Hair......O'Hair has not played well in months. He was in a car accident in June and suffered badly bruised ribs. He missed the cut at the John Deere Classic as well.