Well what do you think about the US Open and Tiger being RED HOT!!!

Does anyone really have a chance ??

I honestly think its going to be alot closer then what people think.

Whats your opinion on the U.S. Open outcome ??

And if you think Tiger is going to win, how much will he win by ??

Thx.

Winner : Tiger Woods
Contender: Ernie Els
Dark Horse: Anthony Kim

If Woods wins, I won't be surprised. If he doesn't win, I won't be surprised either. Golf tournaments are hard to win, US Open even more so. Outside of Tiger, golf tournaments are extremely hard if not impossible to predict before they begin.

Very True.

But if he hits that many fairways nobody has a chance IMO.

If the weather is perfect then Tiger, if it is crappy then the unpredictability factor comes in and any of the top guys (including Tiger) will win. If I was betting my cash it would go on the field. Jim Furyk will be right there come Sunday.

Furyk?!? No knock against the guy but if its horses for courses, Furyk isn't the horse. There's a 520 yard par 4 and Furyk isn't the longest hitter.

Look for someone who can drive it long but keep it in the middle. Bethpage requires both elements.

I would take the field over Tiger but if I had to pick a single guy it would be Woods by a landslide.

I wouldnt put up cash AGAINST tiger.

I go with TW. I like Rory Mcilroy as my dark horse.

Winner: Tiger
Contender: Paul Casey
Dark Horse: Retief Goosen

Would love to see Rocco and Phil in the mix.

Well the US Open will not have 60yrd wide fairways like Jack's course usually do but "Tiger Woods swing feels good course looks good I like his chances".....I will go ahead and say it the cat owns his swing now and also in his prime to bad for the rest of the PGA .....what a stretch to say huh ......but coming down the finishing hole on the 18th hole Sunday the chant should be to the Oaf right next to him "KEEP THE BIB ON!!!"

JuNiOR

well I'm going to mail in an entry for that Golfsmith free driver promotion so GO PHIL! Even though I really think it will be Tiger's week. He just seems to 'own' certain courses (Torrey, St Andrews, Firestone) that fit his eye and I think that Bethpage Black is going to join that list.

As a (relative) dark horse I like Dustin Johnson, especially with his length out there. He's played some really solid golf this year and I could see this being the major he contends in. Was up at the Memorial this past weekend and watched him play a few holes, love the way he swings the club.

Winner - Tiger by 2

Contender - Poulter

Dark Horse - as usual, Hunter Mahan

Winner - TW
Contender - Retief Goosen
Dark Horse - David Duval

WoW. Didnt even think of Poulter....Nice pick.

If Tiger plays like he did last week and hits 83% of his fairways? Game over.

Winner: TW
Contender: Harrington
Dark Horse: Kim

Fav: Tiger
Cont: Geoff Ogilvy...I just have a hunch
Dark: Kim

Damn! There she is again! Love that Avatar!

imho what makes woods such a great golfer is the 6 inches between his ears. everyone of the players in the open hit the ball great, have excellent short games, etc., or they wouldn't be where they are. what woods has that many of the others don't seem to have is that mental toughness. in addition, he doesn't have to hit a driver off every tee, which gives him an advantage over shorter hitters.

but, this is golf and on any given sunday...

I picked Tiger in the "Tiger or the Field" wager with a co-worker on The Masters and lost that bet.

So, despite his performance at The Memorial, I picked the Field for the follow-up bet on The U.S. Open. Although I must admit that I will be hoping that Tiger wins. The $1 bet is less important to me than seeing another amazing performance from the world's best.

I don't know why... but I've got a very good feeling about Sergio Garcia this year. Bethpage looks like a course he can conquer while everyone else drops like flies. Finally this is the year a European wins the U.S Open. (fingers crossed!)

Winner: Sergio Garcia
Contender: Tiger Woods
Dark Horse: Rory McIlroy

Winner: Tiger
Contender: Harrington
Dark Horse: Mickelson (a dark horse only because of his situation)

Tiger to be in contention but i don't fancy him to win. I don't think Casey or Garcia will compete and i can see a first time winner coming through.

I'm going with Tiger all the way. After the won at Memorial, I think he knows what he has to do to win at the US open. I think he prepares himself for a major better then anyone else, a disappointing finish at the Masters will motivate him to win back to back US opens.

Bethpage is not so kind as Murfield Village with fairway width. If you notice, pretty much all of the pros hit more than their average fairways last week. This is not detracting from Tiger's driving performance last week (it was downright awesome). But despite his excellent driving, he barely won last week and really only won because the field, once again, choked on a big chicken bone coming down the stretch.

With that being said, my money would be on Tiger, just because last year's U.S. Open proved to me that Tiger can win the most difficult tournament in the world on the most difficult setups in the world on one friggen leg. However, if Tiger has one of those "bad" days like he did Friday at the Memorial, that 74 will be an 80 at Bethpage.

If Phil wins, I think it would be the feel-good story of this decade in golf.

I love posts saying that if Woods plays like he did last week no one has a chance. Folks, he beat Furyk by one stroke last week. If he also plays like he did last week before the weekend, he isn't going to get away with a 74-75 bad day, with that rough it's going to be a lot worse.
Is he the favourite, of course he's number one in the world, number one should always be the favourite or the rankings system is a little off.

I'll take Mickelson, whom the crowd will go nuts for, as the winner. Woods as contender, and Shingo Katayama a dark horse.

True, his percentage was high, but he was second in the field for driving accuracy. He's normally I suspect down in the 100 and somethingths. I think that's why people are talking about it. Not so much that he hit a lot, but that he hit more than pretty much everyone else. If he does that at Bethpage, I don't think it's going to be close. If he gets a hot putter too, then the scoreline could be very interesting.

Winner - David Duval
Contender - Tiger Woods
Dark Horse - Sean O' Hair

Ok - here's my real prediction

Winner - Tiger Woods
Contender - Sean O' Hair
Dark Horse - David Duval

I just really want to see Duval do well....

Exactly.

Thank You.

Winner:TW Duh
Contender:DL3
Dark Horse: Geoff Oglivy

Sorry about your contender but I don't believe DLIII is in the field.

Winner-TW
Contender-Casey
Dark Horse-McIllroy and Poulter

I really wouldn't mind seeing an ameatur placing in the top 10 or doing great. I was at the US Open qualifier in Columbus, Ohio (where I live) at Brookside country club and after seeing my personal friend, Kyle Stanley, from Clemson post up at 62 - 70 on both courses was amazing. After the qualifier I got to talk to him and he introduced me to Rickie Fowler. Rickie is the greatest kid and so nice. Rickie made the US Open by one stroke so overall, I really would love to see Rickie or Kyle do good in the 2009 US Open at Bethpage.

Winner: Tiger
Contender: Henrik Stenson- if he's in the same form as at The Player's
Dark Horse: Harrington- I'd have him as a contender but I think he's still working out his swing changes, we'll see at St Jude this week

Tiger is special but golf is golf and even he is not immune from it's fickle nature.

I'll take the field.

The only battle is for second place.

No one has mentioned Angel?

Winner: Paul Casey
Contender: Angel Cabrera
Dark Horse: Dustin Johnson

Winner: Nick Watney
Contender: Tiger Woods
Dark Horse: Stewart Cink


You heard it here first.

Winner: Geoff Ogilvy
Contender: Angel Cabrera
Dark Horse: Boo

Interesting picks. Very feasible. What do you think about Byrd?

statistically you gotta go with the field now i think. But of course a Tiger win would not be surprising in the least

my non tiger picks

Winner: Stewart Cink (he's owed a US open after southern hills, and is playing well, and is long enough. Also now that he's got a regular putter the belly putter jinx won't apply)

Contender: Geoff Ogilvy (he's a big time player as we all know, and his high shots are great for the US open greens)

Dark Horse: Ben Crane (playing well, terrific putter...i could see him winning a major)

Actually, 74/75 is probably not going to be a bad day at Bethpage. Whom ever the winner is will probably have one of those days.

You realize what happened last time Serg played in NY?

Fans are going to tear him a new one.

winner-Tiger woods
contender- Geoff Ogilvy
dark horse- Rory Mcilroy

This years US. Open is "Ball strikers" set up.

Winner : Tiger Woods
Toooo Easy, Tiger wins by 3.

Contender: Vijay Singh
Dark Horse: Sean O'Hair

Winner - Zach Johnson
Contender - Tiger Woods
Dark Horse - Robert Allenby

Johnson is a great player, and all around has one of the most consistant tee to green games. He's accurate with every club, and knows when to go for it, or play it safe.

Allenby is very, very good at getting out of trouble, and this course has plenty of trouble to get into. Look for him to execute some interesting shots.

Other guys to consider:
Ian Poulter (scrambler), David Toms (accurate driver), Brad Faxton (putter), Anthony Kim (agressive), Kevin Na (all around), Camilo Villegas (luck? or GIR?).

Winner: Geoff Ogilvy
Contender: TW
Dark Horse: Phil

Lets go Phil!!!

No, please refresh my memory?

And yes, like someone brought-up on the previous page, don't forget Angel Cabrera. He's always lurking in the background when it comes to Major's and his U.S Open and Master's triumph is no fluke because he's a very good and underrated golfer. If he keeps his short-game together next week, I can see him ripping Bethpage apart in all honesty.

Btw, anyone else have a rough idea of what you think the winning score will be? I'm going to go for either -3 or -4. Slightly lower for a U.S Open, but I can see a few player's in contention come Sunday.

Going to agree with your winning scores there. Course is set up relatively easy as compared to last time it was there (Graduated rough makes a heck of a difference down there). If the weather is nice under par will win the Open.

Winner: Tiger Woods
Contender: Geoff Ogilvy
Dark Horse: Henrick Stenson

Winner - Tiger
Contender - Sergio
Dark Horse - Sean O'Hair
Dark Horse Contender - Bubba Watson

Winner - Tiger
Contenders - Poulter, Villegas, and Ogilvy
Dark Horse - Zach Johnson