Pretenders and Contenders

The Masters will always have it's southern prestige and charm - the white Caddie suits, heavenly landscaping, green Jacket, Butler Cabin, Amen Corner, ect....but the grind, pressure, and excitement of the US Open makes it my favorite. The golf season is beginning to peak and find it's most exciting time of the year, what better place and time than at our Nation's national championship at one of the most prestiges courses - Oakmont Country Club. The U.S. Open is not for everyone - you have to hit every fairway, the greens are ridiculously fast, the course is long, and the gallery is bit more on the tipsy wild side than at anal-retentive Augusta. The selection of courses would make any golfer drool at the opportunity to play Oakmont, Winged Foot, Pinehurst, Shinnecock, Bethpage, Southern Hills, or Pebble Beach. It is a long grind, and on Sunday pretenders fade into the ranks of 'wanna-bees'.



Shockingly, the U.S. Open has provided some lousy winners in the recent past - nothing compared to the embarrassment of the British Open - but some flukes have prevailed. Michael Campbell's fortunes at Pinehurst in 2005 quickly come to mind, he benefited Retief Goosen's melt-down and Tiger's inability to keep the ball in the fairway. Last year, while Geoff Olgivy was not by any means a joke, he certainly rode the fortune of his competitors mistakes. I hate when tournaments end like that, there is nothing more anticlimactic and lame than watching some guy survive other people's melt-downs. I want someone to win it, like Payne Stewart in 99' or Goosen in 04' - 2 or 3 guys dualing it out and one guy coming through.



The question for this week then, is who are the pretenders and who are the contenders?? NBC (network broadcast for the tournament) had an article about Woody Austin as a possible contender b/c of his win last weekend. Ha! I've also read people wondering "Is it Sergio's time?" No it's not. Here are some clues to picking winners:

1) Guy's wearing Hawaiian shirts and being sponsored by things like Wal-Mart, Hooters, Cheverolet, Cleveland ...these guys are pretenders. They don't wear Nike and Callaway for a reason. Sorry Woody Austin

2) Angry Europeans, while they may play well thurs-Sat, don't count on their "pissed at the world" attitude to take you only so far. Even Superman belt buckles see the cryptonite on Sunday.....

3) South Africa, these guys just know how to play this tournament - it fits there game. Goosen and Els have won 4 and should have had more than that - the others always are true potential contenders.

4) If the U.S. Open were 70 holes, Phil Mickelson would be a 4 time winner - sadly it's 72 holes. I'm sure we'll see some 180 yard flop shop out of the thickest rough imaginable through 5 trees attempting to stop the ball on the fastest green on the course on Sunday at the 18th with a one shot lead---again, somehow creatively blowing it. ....also, Phil's hand still is in pain so he may not even get to this stage.


5) If Tiger can hit the fairway on thursday and Friday, he will win on saturday and Sunday ---- that Simple. Though, the knowledge of his wife being close to her due date and the Junior prodigy child on the way - difficult to know if he will be all there.


Since we do not condone betting on here, "choose" a guy who will hit fairways and greens - he will be there on Sunday. Experts say that the scoring could be tougher than ever - watch for #8, a 288 yard par 3. I'm sure Adam Scott will try to hit about a 7 iron. On a sad note, when I googled "U.S. Open" - that pathetically boring Tennis tournament came up first. Tennis may be one of the most "anti- sweet emotion" sports.