The British Open Comes to Liverpool
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by user Bobbyjim45
With the British Open upon us, you have to wonder if the Europeans will finally be able to claim their own tournament and pull dominance away from the Australians. Lately, the men from down-under have been unstoppable and the Europeans have been just flat. The Aussie charge has been led by young guns like Adam Scott (5 top-tens in ‘06) and Geoff Ogilvy (winner of the U.S. Open).
Meanwhile, the Europeans have gone from dominant to dormant over the past few years, symbolized by Colin Montgomerie’s brutal second place finish in the heart of European golf, the British Open.
But now, the jolly good British look to take back bragging rights (and a nice chunk of change) on the course that is rightfully their’s. Their best option is probably Luke Donald of England. Though he missed his first 3 British Open cuts from 2002-2004, he finally made it last year, ending with an even-par 288. He’s had a good start to 2006, finding himself 14th on the money list and 11th in the world rankings with no wins, but 5 top-tens in 16 events. Sergio Garcia is also another good possibility as he looks to take his first major as well.
Of course, there are still the usual major contenders in the event, including the Fab-Five. Tiger looks to rebound from a missed cut in the U.S. Open, while Lefty looks to redeem himself from an implosion on the 18th at Winged Foot. The other three-fifths of the Fab-Five (Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, and Ernie Els) have also been struggling and are looking to turn it around in Liverpool.
Anybody’s guess is just as good, but right now, my pick to win the Claret Jug is young American, Sean O’Hair. O’Hair is the kid with the terrible father who asked for 10% of all his son’s winnings before getting the boot from Sean. Well, I think the 24-year-old Texan will find a major victory for the first time in his career in a playoff with Monty. Wouldn’t that be something? Another runner up for that bloody chap…
Date
Mon 07/17/06, 7:18 pm EST
