2344 replies to this topic

[deasy55]

Open Championship week has begun!   

[Tate]

Tiger Week....can't wait

[KYMAR]

Little early no? I will say Ian Poulter wins in a diving rain storm and 30 MPH winds. Then he immediately retires to pursue his "Rod Stewart. The later years" tribute tour.

[Rustynuts]

If Poulter wins I will be annoyed I wasted 4 days watching! Can't stand him

[glenbrookchamp10]

+100000000000000 to Poulter winning.  That's my boy

[PGArox]

That's a nice little video montage of Lytham's rich history.  Almost without exception the winners have been legends of the game.  Phil would fit in quite nicely, I think.

[bscinstnct]

Very nice of you to post that. Thank you.

This just in!

Tiger says the Open is his favorite Major.

Let's light this candle!

[tgtaggie]

I kinda excited to see how this will unfold this week. I really think Phil will either win or have another t-10 this year. I think he found a new found love for playing links courses the last couple of years. I really want to see him pull off the career major slam b/f he retires.

If the weather is going to be horrible (like it is expecting), I think Rickie might have a great chance. His third round at St. George's last year was arguably one of the best bad weather rounds in a major in recent years.

I don't see Rory winning this one this year. The swing changes coupled with him not being a particularly good bad weather player (i.e last year's third round w/ Rickie Fowler) doesn't work in his favor. The same goes for Luke also.

Lee's ballstriking will be the reason why he will be a factor.

As for Tiger. He hasn't played the weekend in about two years now and I am pretty sure he wants to win this one. At the US Open, I was thinking since Lytham is pretty short Tiger could play it like he did Olympic for the first two days (like he played Hoylake). But since the weather is projected to be rough, its going to be pretty difficult for him. I still see him contending since this is his "favorite" major. Also, the GOATs (of this generation) Federer and Serena won at Wimbledon a couple of weeks ago....so it might bode well for Tiger.

My darkhorse is the dude that t-2 w/ Phil last year....DJ. And Martin Kaymer.

Edited by tgtaggie, 15 July 2012 - 10:45 PM.

[Sean2]

I heard on Golf Channel that the long range weather forecast is rain and more rain. If that's the case, I wonder if that favors certain players over others?

[tw18majors]

Picked Martin Kaymer to win at the start of the year and I'm sticking to it. Rounding into form nicely these last couple of weeks and it seems like he pops up in big events every 6 months or so. Other players I can see contending would be Sergio, Poulter, Fowler, Tiger, Westwood, Watney and Villegas.

[rustyputterguy]

I would love to see Luke actually show up and contend this week.

[HCEG1]

Tiger in no doubt as to how penal the rough is


The Open 2012: Tiger Woods calls sections of the Lytham rough "almost unplayable" after first practice round

http://www.telegraph...tice-round.html

There will be no plotting his way round with irons off the tee like he was able to do at Hoylake because he course is playing too long after the prolonged rain that has fallen and the wind will be a big factor too. Tiger's 3 Open wins were all achieved in sunny, windless conditions. It will be very interesting to watch how he & Phil tackle this very tough track with their less than pinpoint driving

I see a straight hitter lifting the claret jug come Sunday.  Garcia, Kaymer, Molinari, Z.Johnson, Furyk & Westwood come to mind........ Oh, I know he misses more fairways than he'd like, but it's hard not to imagine Luke up there too

Edited by HCEG1, 16 July 2012 - 01:17 AM.

[i*windows]

I've been betting on Westwood to win a major for the last decade or so and I dont think I will change my mind now. I'd like to see an English man win, but there have been 15 winners of the last 15 majors and it's just too hard to call. the BBC will stream 40 hours of live coverage starting on Thursday at 9am so there will be little work done on Thursday and Friday!

[imakaveli]

Francesco...

[TheDarkOne]

I kind of feels like Westwood might finally have has moment. I could see him and Rickie right there at the end.

[23under]

As if Westwood is going to putt well on these greens, lol. He will miss the cut.
Rickie will have a nightmare first round and be 10 shots behind going into weekend (if he makes the cut)

[i*windows]

tee times announced http://www.theopen.c...d=2012060&day=1


09:20 Lee WESTWOOD   Yoshinori FUJIMOTO   Bubba WATSON
09:42 Tiger WOODS Justin ROSE Sergio GARCIA
14:43 Luke DONALD Phil MICKELSON Geoff OGILVY

Edited by i*windows, 16 July 2012 - 06:47 AM.

[deasy55]

First group off at 6.19am

I really like the Ishikawa, Kaymer, Tom Watson pairing.

[J13]

Looks like it's tiger, rose, and miserable Garcia.  My question is if he feels he can't win a major why enter?

[Sing Golfer]

From all the early accounts the rough is brutal and a missed fairway is going to cost a shot more often than not. Chipping out sideways might be tough from some of this stuff.

Woods the winner, Westwood a distant but clear second because ballstriking is going to be such a premium his weak chipping and putting won't bother him so much.

Bubba to miss the cut and then cause a stir when he claims the fans were ignorant and even the French had treated him in a better manner. Luckily the three accidents he causes by driving on the right hand side of the road as he leaves for the airport results in no major injuries other than a dent in his $100k belt buckle.

[Hogan's Cardy]

J13, on 16 July 2012 - 08:45 AM, said:

Looks like it's tiger, rose, and miserable Garcia.  My question is if he feels he can't win a major why enter?

#

10th gets £104k, so probably worth turning up for.

[deasy55]

J13, on 16 July 2012 - 08:45 AM, said:

Looks like it's tiger, rose, and miserable Garcia.  My question is if he feels he can't win a major why enter?

He later clarified his comment by saying "I'll never win a major...the way my game currently is"

Or something along those lines.

[imakaveli]

J13, on 16 July 2012 - 08:45 AM, said:

Looks like it's tiger, rose, and miserable Garcia.  My question is if he feels he can't win a major why enter?

For the same reason Bubba will not find an excuse to miss the next US Open I suppose...

By the way, think how funny would be if he ends up being the only one of the flight playing on the weekend and maybe even winning the Jug!

[J13]

haha I guess the paycheck is important but heck i'm sure sergio has enough to last him a lifetime.  At this stage in his career it has to be about winning otherwise he really does have no chance to ever win.  His heart is what put him on the map but his head is what is destroying him.

[zack175]

You heard it here first, Ben Curtis  will contend

But I like tiger or kaymer for the win

[davekzg]

Fredrik Jacobson

[CincyCreech]

Some of the pairings are awesome. When is the last time that Tiger and Sergio were paired together?!?!

[Golfnutgalen]

CincyCreech, on 16 July 2012 - 10:38 AM, said:

Some of the pairings are awesome. When is the last time that Tiger and Sergio were paired together?!?!

No idea, though they did play together in the final round at Hoylake in 2006.

[Skaffa77]

I honestly have no idea who will win this championship.   With talk of near impossible rough, brutal weather and wet/soft conditions....

• Tiger - is either going to win or struggle bad.   After watching his first couple rounds at Olympic, I really thought he might play this year's Open like he did at Hoylake...but hearing about soft conditions has altered my thinking.
  
• Phil - No offense...near impossible rough makes me think the sometimes wild Lefty will struggle.  I still remember him injuring his wrists for practicing shots out of thick rough in prep for a US Open.  
  
• Rory - I'm seeing some sparks of his sharp game coming back, but I still don't think he feels comfortable yet.   When the rain and wind howl down on the players, I wonder if it'll hold up.
  
• Garcia - I actually like him in Open Championships, but his mental state is always cause for concern.  He is his own worst enemy.
  
• Poulter, Rose, Kaymer - Depends on if their game is in top form...which I never seem to know until midway through the tournament.
  
• Westwood - ....he might be the best pick for this tournamnet....

Edited by Skaffa77, 16 July 2012 - 11:57 AM.

[imakaveli]

Anyone can win this imho... from Thorbjorn Olesen to Tom Watson...