Mcllroy was the first to notch up a million pound liability at 13:03, with Westwood next 13:45 and Donald at 2:02. Despite Rory Mcllroy reaching the Million pound mark just after 1pm, Hills held the 10/1 until 2pm so that their lunchtime customers could take advantage of the price Hills finally threw in the towel at 2pm and cut Mcllroy to 8/1. In total Hills had accepted over 50,000 bets on the Open by 2pm, with over one hundred four figure bets, with bets placed in over 70 different countries.

"Having Mickelson for a million at the Masters was scary enough, now we have the front three at the biggest tournament of the year for over a million each. There are going to be some sleepless nights in our trading department over the next few days!" said Hill's spokesman Rupert Adams.

Hills predict that over the four days they will turnover in the region of five million pounds with an industry record of perhaps £30 million.

William Hill British Open Odds:

Outright: 8/1 Rory McIlroy; 12/1 Luke Donald; 14/1 Lee Westwood; 25/1 Sergio Garcia; 28/1 Martin Kaymer; 33/1 Graeme McDowell; 35/1 Steve Stricker; 35/1 Nick Watney; 40/1 Padraig Harrington; 40/1 Matt Kuchar; 40/1 Jason Day; 40/1 Charl Schwartzel; 50/1 Phil Mickelson; 50/1 Angel Cabrera; 50/1 Ian Poulter; 50/1 Reteif Goosen; 50/1 KJ Choi; 55/1 Justin Rose; 66/1 Adam Scott; 66/1 Peter Hansen; 66/1 Robert Karlsson; 70/1 Dustin Johnson; 70/1 Henrik Stenson; 70/1 Matteo Manassero; 80/1 Hunter Mahan; 80/1 Paul Casey; 80/1 Ernie Els; 80/1 Ross Fisher; 80/1 Peter Hanson; 80/1 Frederick Jacobson; 85/1 Robert Karlsson; 90/1 YE Yang; 100/1 BAR

Each Way ¼ 1-5