I love Turnberry. A welcome return to the Open rota and the stage for a number of classic matches - the famous 1977 'Duel in the sun' and Nick Price with his excellent win in 1994.
I may get sunnier as the weekend progresses, but it ain't going to be a duel in the sun this time I think - the forecast is for rain and wind. Oh dear, I can hear a few choice excuses now....
Who's going to prevail and beat the elements as well as the field?

Paul Casey

I love the British. Get up early watch some golf the get out and play!!! I'm hoping it gets nasty.

I'm just no looking forward to hearing the saying "if you can't see the rock it's raining and if you can it's about to."

Casey
Tiger
Sticker
Villegas
Westwood

Aye, a wee bit wind. I love watching The Open in those conditions, I prefer the US Open firm and fast, but like The Open windy and wet.

Tiger is already there... check out the BBC website for photos.

Hitting three woods mostly...

The Open website is a good tip.
http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/T...ampionship.aspx
Checking it, I was reminded of Norman's 1986 win in bad weather. On the back of last years masterclass of playing in foul weather, Norman is surely a good outside bet. Hope he plays well this week.

The Open weather is unimportant. I'm just glad to hear that you will be in a better mood.

Typo grande! ahem, IT may get sunnier. Nontheless, I'll still be smiling

By all means, The Open should be windy and wet! Its the true test of golf!

Is there going to be fantasy golf like the other 2 majors this year or are we skipping this one?

Tiger
Westwood
Kim... unless he ends up in the final group with Tiger
Duval "I believe in David Duval"
Goosen whoops forgot McIlroy!

My favorite major! I'm already excited! I will (as usual) pick Hunter Mahan, with props going to Duval and of course Mr. Woods. And rounding out the

group we'll give Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell a shot...

I've finished packing my kit for Thursday when we set off for Ayrshire and the last three rounds of the championship. I also love Turnberry - as a place and as an Open Championship venue - and I can't wait. The last couple of times that I visited the Open there were both fantastic. It's the first Open in four years for me and I'm thus appropriately giddy. The eternal optimist, despite the weather forecasts, I've packed some Duel in the Sun kit as well as being more pragmatic and taking generous amounts of waterproofs and winter woolies.

My traditional modest major championship wager has already been placed. Woods to win; Westwood for the Tooting Bec Cup and each-way for the championship; and shots to nothing on Ross Fisher and Adam Scott are my picks for this year.

Been there today. Course is in stunning condition and set up very fair. 15 and 16 back into a stiff breeze will test the whole field.
The 17yo Japansese guy Ishikawa is very impressive and seems to have great personaility.
However for club Hos prepare to be disappointed. Very little if anything out of the ordinary. Hardly saw a set of blades, cavities rule. Jap lads were very smartly turned out except for on who is using YELLOW balls. This is a non starter, they look like range ammo!

What will be disappointing for this Open is no HD coverage.

I love watching The Open... Most of my friends hate it, but I really enjoy it...

Adam Scott.

He's got his game back, and if wasn't for a dodgy 3rd round at the Scottish Open, it would have been his.

Darren Clarke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Typical Scottish weather - always crap.

Going to be a very exciting Open this year and once again; I'm getting vibes telling me Tiger will not win.

poulter or garcia. poulter just because he playing well and loves majors. garcia is due cause he has huge talent and should have two majors already but he deserves it.

I really like when Tiger leaves the driver in his bag. The rhythm and pace of his swing is much better for all shots.

Tiger is a So. Cal. guy, he hates cold weather, rumor has it he never saw snow till his wife took him to Sweeden. Not to mention I hear the rough is brutal and I dont see him hitting a lot of fairways. When he won at Liverpool it was hot and dry without tons of rough. His other two wins at St. Andrews were good weather and that course just seems to suit his eye. If it is cold windy and rainy I say he barely makes the cut and doesnt make a run.

I am picking Lee Westwood in my fantasy league, also like Poulter and Steve Stricker. Stricker is hot and likes to practice in Minnesota in the winter hitting balls into the snow. Also like Zach Johnson. Kaymer has won two in a row but seemed exhausted in his post round interview Sunday. This should be fun, I expect a good ball striker to win, past winners include Price, Norman and Watson, they all hit it pure.

Tiger will win

My very long shot------- FALDO

I like TW and Westwood, darkhorse being B. Watson.

Well since people are doubting Tiger will win, I say he does get his first major of the year at Turnberry because I remember in Rosaforte's book Earl saying something about how Tiger was hitting shots on the driving range after a junior tournament at Turnberry and it took him about 45 mins to realize tiger was shot shaping different shots into a 30 mph wind into a single post on the edge of the driving range and stuffing it with every kind of shot in the book.

Tiger's never played turnberry until this week

I wonder about Ben Crane. When trying to predict a winner, sometimes you look for the story not the player.

.....yep, can do all that now and then he goes to the course and sprays it all over. usually still good enough to win though. i hope he wins

For the UK locals:
I'm headed over on Friday and thinking about attending The Open on either Saturday or Sunday.
Not positive about making the trip from London to Turnberry just yet, but have a couple questions first:

How long is the trip from London to Turnberry using public transportation?
Is it possible to make it to the course relying solely on public transportation?
Can I depend on their being general entry tickets available at the course for purchase?

Any help is greatly appreciated?

Crikey. London to Turnberry is something like (and I am guessing here) 400 miles and doing it solely by public transport, whilst possible, is not going to be viable for anything but an 'extreme travelling' enthusiast who doesn't mind arriving at the course a long time after play starts or by travelling the previous day. Turnberry is arguably the most remote of the Open Championship venues and doesn't really lend itself to getting there easily, even with your own vehicle. By rail, from central London to Maybole, you're looking at six hours at least, plus a short hop by car to the course via taxi.

Getting in is easy enough, but getting there from London isn't a quick or easy journey by any stretch of the imagination.

Mat,
Thanks, I guess I'll find a local pub to enjoy the Tourney.

I've got a good gut feeling about this year's Open.

i might be one of the few but i find the british to be one of the least enjoyable tournaments to watch year in and year out. Constant sh*tty weather just makes the tournament (for me) not that great to watch. I guess im not a purist since this is where golf all started but i like the other majors much better.

Nothing against the courses over there as most of them are great, but the bad weather takes the cake for me

As the apocryphal line from the Japanese tourist so memorably put it when it comes to the Open Championship: 'Have you never thought of holding it in the summer?'

To turn things on their head, one of the most irritating things about televised golf from the U.S. for me is the incessant rain and thunderstorms stopping play for hours and days at a time and making it impossible to sit and watch live golf for the proper schedule much of the time.

I watch US golf most weeks on the TV, and am amazed at how many tournaments are affected by poor weather - only difference at The Open is they keep playing through it most of the time!

Thursday will have 11 hours of non-stop BBC TV coverage of the opening day of the Open. All live coverage with the option to follow your favourite game on digital. No adverts in between, no stupid commentary and no dodgy sound and camera crews. No kidding.
Where else in the world would you get that?

Yeah, 11 hours of non-stop coverage does sound fantastic - only downer on that is that you've got to listen to that werido, Peter Allis for half the time. Would just be better to have it on Sky Sports, then we could have decent commentary and watch it in HD too.

Apart from that slight downer, I'm really looking foward to this year's Open and I'll put a wager on that it'll be a first-time major winner who'll win it this year.

+1 for picking Bubba. I have him on my fantasy golf, my sleeper pick if you will. Also got Woods, McIlroy, Chad Campbell (he hits it low) trying to decide on a 5th maybe David Toms.

Am I safe to assume that the traditional starter has the duties once again?

After a little research, it appears so. I always look forward to his work.

http://www.opengolf.com/ChampionshipGolf/T...spx?stxt=robson

Actually, Stricker lives and practices in Madison, WI, which can be a fairly miserable place to play golf from late fall to early spring. He is one of the tour's best putters and scramblers, which should serve him well. He has some confidence rolling, so if he finds fairways he will be in the mix.

They are the best, I crack up every time he says Sergio Garcia. Its almost like his voice cracks.

Good old Ivor.

Still a pro, apparently. Or, at least, he never regained his amateur status.

Along with the old boy at Augusta, very much a graduate of the 'No unnecessary fannying about' school of starting.

Yeah, Ivor Robson is doing his 34th Open. I hear he doesn't eat or drink for 10 hours whilst he's on the tee. Pretty rough going.

Forget trains etc. If you have the budget (and I would imagine similar price to trains but a tad quicker) fly Ryanair.com from London Stansted to Glasgow Prestwick. From Prestwick it's a short train ride to Girvan and then a shuttle bus to the course. Obviously accommodation might be an issue but I'm sure something could be found.

Weirdo?? Are you mad??
The man is awesome! If it weren't for Feherty I would call him the best there is.

He knows trivia most Brittanica-editors haven't even ever heard about.
Not to mention the names of every single wife of every single golf club captain in the UK and of their senior team.

He is an integral part of The Open broadcast!

Meh... each to their own I guess.

I dunno. It's just his voice and the way he sometimes creeps me out with his knowledge on really weird stuff haha.

My Open Winner Picks

1-Sergio Garcia
2-Mike Weir
3-Ian Poulter

Bring on the Cold and Windy (Not too much Rain) Weather!!!