July 13, 2011 · 4:40 pm
The 12th green at Royal St. George's; Photo By: Pet_r
It’s that time of year again…time to set the alarm for an obnoxiously early rise, pre-make the coffee the night before, and groggily enjoy the BBC’s bumbling video coverage of one of golf’s most important/prestigious tournaments…The Open Championship (or I supposed one could simply set their DVR and sleep in). This year, the Royal St. George’s Golf Club in southeastern England plays host to its’ 14th Open Championship (coverage begins Thursday morning at 4am EST on ESPN and on Direct TV’s channel’s 701-705). The course was the was the first to host the Open Championship outside of Scotland in 1894 and last hosted the tournament in 2003 when Ben Curtis, the 396th ranked player in the world at the time, came out of nowhere to win the Claret Jug.
The 2011 version of Royal St. George’s is largely recognizable as the same course players faced in 2003, but there are some notable changes. The 1st fairway, where only 30% of the players Continue reading →
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Tagged as 140th, 2003, 2011, Adam Scott, ben curtis, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, British Open, champion, charl schwartzel, club, england, favorite, gene sarazen, golf, ian poulter, jim furyk, Justin Rose, kent, KJ choi, lee trevino, lee westwood, links, location, luke donald, odds, open championship, Paul Casey, phil mickelson, preview, previous, repeat, retief goosen, royal st. george, sandwich, style, tiger woods, tom watson, walter hagen, winners
June 16, 2011 · 12:42 am
Congressional Country Club's 18th hole & Clubhouse; Photo By: Keith Allison
Thursday marks the beginning of America’s national golf championship, the 111th U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. It also marks the first time in recent memory the almighty golf prognosticators of the world have no clear cut “favorite” to win the Open. Gone is Tiger Woods who is still limping both physically and mentally through life. None of the flashy promising young guns like Rory McIlroy or Rickie Fowler have shown the ability to take their game to the next level on a consistent basis. Potential American heroes such as Nick Watney and Dustin Johnson have fallen short in recent majors, while no one seems willing to bet the farm Bubba Watson’s “Bubba Ball” nor the consistently brilliant, but boring Matt Kuchar. And heaven forbid an American prognosticator predicts any foreign player like Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, or K.J. Choi to win.
Therefore the mass media reports that the tournament is wide open and that a winner could come from anywhere in the field. Finally(!), words of wisdom coming for the golf prognosticators gallery (read my post on yearly golf predictions and you’ll understand my reaction).
Not being a believer in golf predictions here are a few tidbits to contemplate while enjoying the 111th U.S. Open (coverage begins at 10am EST on ESPN and Direct TV 701-705):
- Congressional has been home to four PGA Tour events; the Booz Allen Classic in 2005 and the AT&T National from 2007-2009. Of the players who competed in these tournaments and are playing in the U.S. Open, only Continue reading →
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Tagged as 111th, 2011, 2nd, Alex Cejka, anthony kim, area, Ben Hogan, bethesda, Bobby Jones, Brandt Snedeker, championship, chances, conditions, congressional, country club, course, coverage, Curtis Strange, dc, favorites, golf, Graeme McDowell, greens, hunter mahan, information, jim furyk, John McDermott, lefty, length, location, Lucas Glover, major, maryland, Nick O’Hern, notes, odds, phil mickelson, predicitions, preview, Ralph Guldahl, Robert Allenby, Ryan Moore, second, Steve Sticker, tournament, u.s. open, us open, Weather, Willie Anderson, yardage
