This is a guest contribution by Martin de Knijff of Metric Gaming. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

The eyes of the sporting world will descend on Royal Birkdale this week, as the annual celebration of golf that is the Open Championship takes place for the 146th time.

There’s no doubt that the history of the Open puts it right up there with the world’s great sporting occasions, such as the Fifa World Cup, the Olympic Games and the Super Bowl. Golfers dream of the famous Claret Jug, and have nightmares about the challenges thrown up by the links courses that dot the coastline of the UK. We have moments that have gone down in sporting folklore, from the sublime head-to-head battle between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson in 1977 to the ridiculous sight of poor Jean van de Velde getting his feet wet as he threw away what seemed certain victory in 1999. We’ve had amazing performances from multiple winners such as Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, as well as shock, flash-in-the-pan successes like Paul Lawrie and Todd Hamilton.

While the competition on offer in the Open always seems to ascend the greatest heights, I’ve felt for some time that the betting sector is failing to fully embrace this glorious sport. For me, it’s a gimme that golf should be a Major winner in the in-play betting era. It’s an entertaining sport rich in data and the potential for volatility, and millions of golf fans worldwide would love to put their knowledge to the test if only operators would offer them a wider variety of markets.