***Official Open Championship Thread***

HDPM · #1 07-19-2006, 07:36 PM

Looking forward to this one. Some internal out of bounds is a bit suspect, but overall the course should play the best of the 4 majors this year. It will be nice and brown and hard. Scoring may be low, but skill and strategy should prevail. Hard to pick against Tiger given he is mad at his US Open performance and will be fired up playing with faldo given their little spat. But a lot of guys can win. Ogilvy could win 2 in a row, I look for a good showing from him. other shotmakers will be in the hunt. I don't expect one dimensional players to do all that well. Olazabel could be a factor.

THEOSU · #2 07-19-2006, 08:07 PM

i don't think any course where a driver isn't used can be the "best of the 4 majors".

ligastar · #3 07-19-2006, 08:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Looking forward to this one. Some internal out of bounds is a bit suspect, but overall the course should play the best of the 4 majors this year. It will be nice and brown and hard. Scoring may be low, but skill and strategy should prevail. Hard to pick against Tiger given he is mad at his US Open performance and will be fired up playing with faldo given their little spat. But a lot of guys can win. Ogilvy could win 2 in a row, I look for a good showing from him. other shotmakers will be in the hunt. I don't expect one dimensional players to do all that well. Olazabel could be a factor.

[/ QUOTE ]

The British Open is my favorite major and golf tournament (the Ryder Cup is my favorite golf event). I’m not sure what you mean about the course playing the best of the four. FWIW I’m looking forward to Medinah and think the P.G.A. is starting to get a leg up on the U.S.G.A by playing on a “cooler” rotation of golf courses (Whistling Straights being a prime recent example).

I think the R&A dropped the ball by changing the numbering of the holes (hole #16 will play as hole #18). The real hole #1 which features a beast of a drive and a beast of an approach shot b/c of the O.B. is now the third hole. The course loses some of its character now b/c your first shot of the day is now not one of the most difficult drives you will face. Poor decision by you R&A.

If Tiger doesn’t go low on Thursday (and I’m talking 67 or 68 b/c low scores will abound) I predict he won’t be a factor on the weekend. His spat with Faldo is a non-factor. Tiger was trained by his Dad to be able to execute while his Dad was yelling at him or smashing over a trash can during his set-up and/or swing.

Ogilvy will win another major (or two or three) but he won’t win back-to-back majors. I do expect a good outing from him although he hasn’t played since Winged Foot for some reason. I look for the winner to come from this trio: Luke Donald, Vijay Singh and Mike Weir.

Schwartzy61 · #4 07-19-2006, 08:49 PM

Well the last time Tiger played with someone who had some negative remarks about him, he dispatched him as quickly as is mathematically possible in a match play format (Ames, 9 and 8 at the World Match Play championship).

Tiger will have a little extra motivation the first two days playing with Faldo...look for Tiger to be on the leaderboard after the first two rounds...

If not Tiger Woods, then irishman Padraig Harrington FTW!!

Schwartzy61 · #5 07-19-2006, 09:01 PM

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The golf course is definitely fast. It’s hard. It’s a little bit slower the last couple of days because obviously they’re putting some water on it, trying to keep it alive. But overall it’s going to be a fantastic challenge this week to play a golf course this fast. We don’t get a chance to do this very often, but when we do, it sure brings back shot making and creativity back in the game.

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said Woods, a two-time winner and the defending champion. Sounds like it should be fun to watch.

ligastar · #6 07-19-2006, 09:29 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Well the last time Tiger played with someone who had some negative remarks about him, he dispatched him as quickly as is mathematically possible in a match play format (Ames, 9 and 8 at the World Match Play championship).

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Poor analogy. Tiger was playing the man (match-play). Tomorrow he will be playing the course. Faldo will be the last thing on his mind.

andyfox · #7 07-19-2006, 10:59 PM

What was the Woods/Faldo spat about?

HDPM · #8 07-19-2006, 11:03 PM

Which course is the best and why?

I would argue that it can't be the Masters since the course was ruined with rough. Boring play for the most part there. Winged Foot was ruined with rough, although the character of the course was more intact than Augusta. Winged Foot is a hard course and is supposed to play sort of like it did. Medinah will probably be OK. So given the fact this will be the closest to what the course is on a daily basis, and the closest to what golf is supposed to be, it should be the best. Not like using the driver on 22 yard wide fairways is a test anyway, the bombers bomb it and hope to find it. Hoylake should put a premium on placement of the tee shot, which Winged Foot and Augusta actually lessened with the rough. It may be that guys are hitting 4 iron because of the fast conditions. In that sense, yes, the ball should be rolled back as I have argued. But they still would be hitting something other than driver given how fast the course is. Much better to change the ball than ruin courses like Augusta, but the USGA and R&A have failed. At least the R&A is slower to change the most valuable things in golf, namely the courses, instead of the USGA bringing in Rees Jones to work his magic and then growing hayfields to conceal any architectural nuance.

HDPM · #9 07-19-2006, 11:05 PM

Comments Faldo made about Woods's swing on the San Diego telecast.

ligastar · #10 07-19-2006, 11:24 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Which course is the best and why?

I would argue that it can't be the Masters since the course was ruined with rough. Boring play for the most part there. Winged Foot was ruined with rough, although the character of the course was more intact than Augusta. Winged Foot is a hard course and is supposed to play sort of like it did. Medinah will probably be OK. So given the fact this will be the closest to what the course is on a daily basis, and the closest to what golf is supposed to be, it should be the best. Not like using the driver on 22 yard wide fairways is a test anyway, the bombers bomb it and hope to find it. Hoylake should put a premium on placement of the tee shot, which Winged Foot and Augusta actually lessened with the rough. It may be that guys are hitting 4 iron because of the fast conditions. In that sense, yes, the ball should be rolled back as I have argued. But they still would be hitting something other than driver given how fast the course is. Much better to change the ball than ruin courses like Augusta, but the USGA and R&A have failed. At least the R&A is slower to change the most valuable things in golf, namely the courses, instead of the USGA bringing in Rees Jones to work his magic and then growing hayfields to conceal any architectural nuance.

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You are losing me on many of your points about the best course but that is OK.

The two rules that should have been instituted by the R&A and U.S.G.A. in the late '90s:

(1) A standard ball, that could be produced by all manufacturers, that limited the distance the golf ball could travel.

(2) A rule which states the shortest club in your bag must be your putter.