PHIL MICKELSON is the big early mover in today’s Open betting on Betfair. Currently tied for the lead at four under with eight other players, he has traded at a low of 5.4 and is the 5.7 favourite.

 However, many punters are clearly expecting Tiger Woods to tame the course as well this afternoon. The benign conditions have seen him shorten from 6.8 to 6 before he starts his first round just after two o’clock.

 Fellow big guns Ernie Els (-4, and available at 12) and Sergio Garcia (finished at -4, and 20) are others to have taken advantage of the good scoring conditions, but Vijay Singh and Luke Donald have doubled in price after disappointing efforts.

 The punter who can lay claim to striking the best value punt on Betfair on the Open though is the one sitting on a £41 bet on Australian Mark Hensby at the colossal price of 680. He drifted to that price after triple bogeying the third hole, but he is currently vying for the lead on four under after going on to shoot nine birdies in his round. He is now only 95 to back, and 100 to lay.

 Colin Montgomerie was backed at 1.72 to win his three-ball on Betfair after birdying the first – and a low of 19 in the outright market - but his round is unravelling somewhat.

 It culminated in him missing a three-foot putt on the 13th  – much to the chagrin of those punters who backed him at 1.01 to hole it for par on Betfair’s unique in-running hole-by-hole betting market. Backers of bogey at 25 were happy though.

 More updates will follow, as the action folds.