***Official US Open Thread (Oakmont)***

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As for favorites, in golf it is a frivolous discussion. There's Tiger, and then there's about 30-50+ other guys not far behind him who could win if they get hot this week. More interesting bets are pools where you pick or draft several players and their aggregate total decides the winner.

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tuq,

You have described a pool I've been running now for 6 years. I have 50 participants and each major is a separate contest with monies given to 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Two years ago I added a player of the year (poty) component. The poty wins money and takes receipt of the "hickman cup" for the year. His/her name is also inscribed on the cup which is actually a trophy.

Each participant gets 72 points to choose their 6 man rosters (it must be exactly 6 golfers). My pool has a twist though in that at least 4 of your golfers must make the cut for you to make the cut. Typically about 38% of the participants miss the cut every major. You take your lowest 4 scores and that is your team score (for example, if all 6 of your players make the cut you throw out your two worst scores).

I started a blog for my pool and to begin a golf blog too. My squad for the U.S. Open is (Zach Johnson - 15.8 pts; David Toms - 14.5 pts; Stewart Cink - 13.8 pts; Sean O'Hair - 12.0 pts; Ryan Moore - 9.8 pts and Nick Dougherty - 6.1 pts). You can see the Player Point Values for the U.S. Open at my blog and get a feel for how competitive such a pool can get.