2021 British Open Betting Preview: Buy Lucas Glover to Stay Hot at Royal St George’s

It was Lucas Glover's day on Sunday at TPC Deere Run as he charged his way to victory with a final-round 64. He beat Ryan Moore and Kevin Na by two shots to capture his fourth career TOUR win, and first in 10 years. Glover joins the long list of players who have gotten victories this season to end extended droughts.

Now, the best players in the world head across the pond for the final major of this season. The 149th Open Championship will take place this week at Royal St. George's in Sandwich, England as the course hosts this event for the first time since 2011, when Darren Clarke got an improbable victory.

There aren't too many players from the John Deere Classic making the trip this week, but we do have a few, including the champion Lucas Glover. He will certainly be one to stand out as we look at the final strokes gained data from this week at TPC Deere Run to find some guys taking good form with them to England for The Open.

3 Buys for the Open Championship

We have to start here with Lucas Glover, as he really had a good week throughout his bag, gaining strokes in every category. It's not surprising to see him gain more than two strokes per round with his ball-striking as he has always been known for that part of his game, but undoubtedly the club that got him the win this week was the flat stick.

Any time that Glover gains strokes on the greens he will give himself a chance for a great week, and this time he saved his best for last. Glover gained 2.51 strokes putting in the final round, which helped him post five birdies in his final seven holes to effectively close out the event.

If he can keep the putter going this week in England, he certainly has the tee-to-green game to compete. He showed that most recently in 2019 when he finished 20th at The Open. It will be a totally different event with more grinding than birdie-making at Royal St. George's, but certainly the form is there for the Clemson alum.

While Glover made the most noise and had the lowest Sunday, it was Harold Varner who led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green in the final round. Unfortunately for HV3, it was a poor third round that left him without much of a chance to win. It was the only day he lost strokes on approach, and his balky putter didn't help either.

It's good to see Varner bounce back on Sunday to go low and get himself a solid top-15 finish. He will travel to England with the good vibes of his 5-under final round, and look to improve upon his 66th-place finish in his only Open Championship from 2016.

The player with some of the best form going from Illinois to England this week is Russell Henley. While he hasn't been able to close out much in his last few events, he's been right there for solid top-20 finishes going back to the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

It was a similar story for Henley this week at the John Deere Classic as he did enough to finish alongside Varner in a tie for 11th, but it wasn't the weekend he had hoped for after being in position to really be a factor. The former Georgia Bulldog gained more than six strokes on approach this week, and that will be a big key going into Royal St. George's.

If he can keep his irons hot, and hit a high percentage of greens in regulation, he could be in position to improve on his career-best finish of 20th at The Open.

John Deere Classic Final Strokes Gained Data (avg/rd)