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David Duval become the 130th winner of the British Open Championship on Sunday afternoon, and it wasn't just the American who was left smiling after a final round, four under par 67, gave him a three shot victory.

For it was a tale of two Davids, as our very own golfing guru David Tindall tipped the American for victory at a whopping 25/1 before the tournament began on Thursday.

Tindall said in his words of wisdom: “His 11th place at St Andrews last year was his fourth top 20 in six Open visits so he has the credentials of an Open winner. Particularly relevant was his tied 14th at Lytham in 1996.

“After a poor first round 76, Duval shot 66-67-70 over the final three rounds. That meant he played the final 54 holes in one less than the winner!

“Although much of his form this season has been indifferent, he still has that desirable ability to raise his game for the Majors. He pushed Tiger all the way when finishing runner-up in the US Masters and contended for three days at the US Open before stalling in the final round and finishing tied 16th.

“Duval wants a British Open title badly. After St Andrews last year, Duval flew home with Woods and the two discussed the events of the final round while Tiger sat with the claret jug on his lap. Despite his disappointment at losing, Duval was inspired by sharing the moment with Woods and vowed to add his own name to the illustrious list of champions.

“He's a 25/1 shot to do so and if his game can suddenly click – as it did at Augusta – he could be the man.”

And indeed he was the man, as his main rivals for the title all made costly errors throughout their final round.

The biggest misfortune came to Welshman Ian Woosnam, who after making birdie at the opening hole to go to seven under par, then discovered he had too many clubs in his bag.

He immediately received a two shot penalty and with it his chance of landing a first British Open looked to have faded.

But despite that it was to be Duval's day and after making consecutive birdies as the par five sixth and seventh holes, he suddenly had opened up a two shot lead.

From that point onwards he never relinquished the lead and in the end he finished both a worthy and profitable winner for followers of Tindall's advice.

Duval had briefly been a 33/1 chance after finishing the second round at level par but his surge up the leaderboard on day three meant his odds were continually cut thereafter.

He started the final day as the clear favourite with all the major firms, with Blue Square offering a stand-out 9/2, but he was odds-on after opening up that two-shot lead and never looked back.

It was an Open to remember for most bookies with Ladbrokes reporting record levels of turnover.

"Turnover was already excellent before the start of the tournament and with so many players in contention going into the final round it is safe to say that this year's turnover was the biggest ever," commented Magic Sign spokesman Paul LeSage.

An estimated £3m was bet industry-wide but one firm probably not feeling too cheerful on Sunday night were Paddy Power, who had to refund somewhere in the region of £60,000 following Tiger Woods' poor performance over the weekend.

They offered a special 'insurance policy' to UK customers whereby all win bets on players who finished ahead of reigning champion Tiger Woods, but who failed to win the championship, would be refunded.

With Tiger slumping to a disappointing tied 25th it meant all wagers on the likes of Darren Clarke, Colin Montgomerie, Jesper Parnevik, Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh will have to be returned.