THE Open Championship 2013

First topic message reminder :

In response to PD's plea, here's my effort at a thread for this week's ET event, which just happens to be the most important event on that particular calendar, if not in the world of golf as a whole. I'll try to keep it factual, other than the 'ones to watch' at the end.

The 142nd Open Championship gets underway this week at Muirfield, just outside Edinburgh. Defending champion, in both respects, is Ernie Els, the big South African having followed up his playoff win at Muirfield in 2002 with last year's surprise victory at Lytham.

Els has quite a record in this event. He missed the cut on debut in 1989, but has played every year since 1992, recording 2 wins, 3 runner-up positions and a further 7 top tens. He's missed the cut just twice in that run, in 2010 when so many were caught out by the weather on the Friday at St. Andrews, and again in poor conditions at RSG the following year. In that context, his win last year is even more remarkable. Other notable stats for the Big Easy at the oldest major include twice recording 4 rounds in the 60s without winning, in 1993 and 2004 (brownie points on offer for naming the only other player to do this and the year), finishing under par most often since 1963 alongside two other huge names in the recent history of the Open (easy to guess who so I'd like the number of times too please), and he edges both of them on overall number of rounds under 70, 39 to their 37 and 33. Interestingly they both have more rounds under par than Ernie, which I suppose means when he's good he's very good. Testament to that would be his 29 on the front 9 in the second round at Muirfield in 2002, and his seven consecutive rounds under 70 in 1993-4.

Muirfield as a venue commands, it seems, a great deal of respect from the players even though the male only status of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers as a club casts something of a shadow over an otherwise excellent location for this great championship. I have no intention of expressing an opinion on that particular issue, not least because this week has nothing to do with the membership of the club and everything to do with the best players in the world. At 7,192 yards it's no beast, and indeed may even be considered short these days, even though they've added some 158 yards this time around. That won't detract from the substantial test that it's bound to provide, the rough at least providing some defence even if the weather doesn't look like it's going to. It's not an in and out type links, rather the front 9 loops clockwise around the anti-clockwise homeward 9. Par is 71, with 3 par 5s (5,9,17) and 4 par 3 holes (4,7,13,16). The prevailing wind will help on 5 and 17, so look for those holes to be eagle opportunities, while 9 plays back into it and at over 550 yards will be out of reach for most if there's any kind of breeze. 2, 3 and 11 are par 4s under 400 yards and ought to offer birdie opportunities, especially since the wind is likely to be helping on those holes. With the exception of the 4th, the par 3s are all around 180-190 yards, so should be no more than a mid-iron for most of the field.  

Previous champions here have included some of the game's true greats - Els, Faldo of course, twice, as well as Nicklaus, Watson, Trevino, Player and Cotton. Nobody has won the Open here by default. Faldo's 18 pars to edge out Azinger in 1987 will be part of Open Championship folk lore for centuries, even though his finish here in 1992 was arguably more inspired following his mid-round stumble which let John Cook have a sniff of victory.

Perhaps important to note is that although we look back on those last 7 Muirfield winners as greats of the game, for some of them victory here was their first in the Open (2 names?) or indeed in a major championship of any sort (another 2?). As such, could this be the first of many Opens for a new great (Rory, Justin, Adam?)

Victory in Scotland this week for Phil Mickelson has to mean he should be considered as another great player with the potential to win at Muirfield, although the fairways there will surely look like tiny islands in a sea of rough in relation to the giant swathes of short grass that the contenders at Castle Stuart were faced with this past week. So who else could be lifting the claret jug next Sunday?

Rory McIlroy - the world no. 2 hasn't given anybody any reason to suspect he'll be able to turn his form so far this season around, and this isn't his favourite event on the calendar. If the weather remains as calm as forecast that may change, but there will surely be too many genuine contenders for Rory to sneak up on the rails and pinch this one?

Tiger Woods - we've not seen numero uno since his latest injury, to his left elbow, forced him to miss his own tournament at Congressional. He's apparently 'full go' for the Open, albeit recognising that staying out of the rough will be an even better idea than usual! The length, or lack of it, of the course means he can afford to leave the driver in the bag most of the time and still have scoring opportunities but as with Rory, there are too many other serious contenders to think that Woods might win here when he was only able to muster a T28 here last time, which included a very wet, windy and rough-strewn third round 81.  

Ernie Els - the defending champion has to be a very serious contender this week, his excellent Open record combining with some pretty good recent form including of course victory in Germany 3 weeks ago. With no wind to blow him off course as he wedges his belly putter into place, you have to think Els will be in the mix next Sunday.

Graeme McDowell - another recent winner, and the all or nothing man of 2013. To mix missed cuts and wins the way GMac has done of late suggests huge mental strength, something that Muirfield Open champions have in common.

Lee Westwood - as some of you may know I'm a big fan of Lee's, but I don't really know why. Ordinarily my pessimistic, cynical nature would predict a good start to the tournament for Lee only to whimper out of contention on Friday and Saturday to the point where he hasn't got a realistic chance of winning on Sunday. However, he took the decision to miss the French Open in order to be better rested for the Open, and I'm hoping that will pay off. He's straight enough to win, especially if his recently improved short game holds out, but whether he has the mental strength I mentioned above remains to be seen!

Justin Rose - mental strength can't be questioned following that tremendous finish at Merion, and he certainly has the game to win at Muirfield. He doesn't have a great record in the Open though, his famous 4th place as an amateur in 1998 at Birkdale comfortably his best finish. 12th in 2007 and 13th in 2009 are his best pro finishes. Given his exertions at Merion, I think victory here would be asking too much.

Adam Scott - Justin's big pal and the other major champion of 2013 so far should arguably be defending champion this week. I was at Lytham to witness his demise on the Sunday, and it was pretty clear as he played the 18th that he wasn't in a good place mentally. Much like Rory he bounced back from throwing away a major by winning one very soon after, but I just have a feeling that also like Rory the one that got away will take a bit longer to finally reel in. Rory will most likely win the Masters one day, just as Adam will probably win an Open, but I fear the memories will still be too fresh for the Aussie this week.

All in all then, GMac, Ernie or Lee. All are around 25/1. If you want an outside bet; Brooks Koepke will return you 5 times as much as those big names - he's had a phenomenal year on the Challenge tour, graduating to the main ET via 3 wins before July and he played pretty well at Castle Stuart this week.

With the weather promising to be very pleasant, the course is likely to be hard and running, with the rough therefore coming more into play. Muirfield will doubtless produce a fantastic tournament and another excellent golfer will be announced by Peter Dawson around 7pm next Sunday as 'winner of the gold medal and champion golfer for the year'.

Poulter with his tail up, great to see him pumped, very exciting!

Westwood has a 3 shot lead! #champion

That was massive from Westwood, thats what champions do...

Wonderful drama. Westwood playing some really fine golf. Doesn't seem to be forcing anything -- but he's going to need to hit some fairways on the back 9 if he wants to be drinking claret from the jug.

Who had 7th hole, for when Westwood started to gas it??

Anyone but frogface or nine chins

Lol, who's frogface sr?

Tiger's back in spitting mode

Peter Alliss has just informed the viewers that Ernie holed his 3rd shot at the 17th for a 3.
No s**t, Peter.

We don't need to see the Els eagle again, or indeed, we don't need an Els interview.

Come on BBC.......................

It's a miracle Westwood is still in a share of the lead given how poor his long game has been Yest and today.............can he sort it out???

why would you not interview the defending champion? Not many groups left on the course. Mickleson looking dangerous...

BBC coverage immaculate as always...barring hazel Irvine and the silly slow-mo facial expressions (not as bad as Wimbledon at least, where you suffer them on nearly every shot, and of the players families too- sickeningly irritating)

Frogface is bible thumper Zach Johnson

Mickelson is a strong favourite now, and what a wonderful winner he would be......................

Poulter can now go home.

Champion shot there on 18 from Phil. Wow.

Looks like another Yank ... but not a no-name Yank will win.

Unless, of course, Lee lights it up ...

If Mickleson holes for birdie on the 18th, I think it is over.

Start the car...it's all over.

How did this fizzle out so quickly. When was the last time the last four groups were all out of contention with so many holes to play.

Well done phil. All time great status now secured.

Mac - No question about that. He handled the pressure like no others. Pretty good couple of tournaments in the UK, that's for sure.

Thanks for playing everyone.

Aw, I don't feel well.

absolutely mac
Westwood needs 2,4,3..

Played Pmick.

great open. gutted again for lee

It's a deserved victory to shoot lowest score of the week to come through when the pressure has affected all the leaders is great work. Though mentally for Westwood this will be tough.

hogie wrote:

SmithersJones wrote:Westwood is now all over the shop. Sad, but that really has to be it for him and majors now, I fear.

Knowledgeable crowd

Prescient is the word you're looking for.

smithers i told you when he would falter- Not the first round.. classic westy major.

Courses and finishes like this are precisely why they should cut down how often they play at st.andrews

I was just hoping to avoid this prolonged agony. Never mind, maybe next time (not).

Great tournament by matsuyama. Looks like a promising talent.

Aye well played Big Phil, thoroughly deserved. It would be too easy to get negative about Westwood but I'd say it was as much about Phil taking it than Westwood giving it away. Also, the way Westwood putted this week has been a huge improvement for him and I'd say he could realistically look at contending the next 8-12 Majors with a realistic chance of winning if that putting form/confidence can be maintained.

Gutted for Westwood, but in fairness 5 under was some score Phil posted today. Great tournament overall. It had everything.

This is the second time Big phil has done this to westy..Pmick is the greatest golfer in the recent era (discluding woods) IMO- that includes players like faldo, seve, els and singh!

What I will point out is that majors is about timing sometimes.. If big phil played like this when other major winners had won(the average winners) then they wouldn't have got theirs either. No sour grapes , just reality. Westy is one hell off a golfer. But Pmick is becoming a modern legend. Top 15 off all time for my money

Good point Mysti -- It's not like Westwood (or Scott, Mahan, etc.) went out and lost this tournament. Phil just stomped all over these guys down the stretch. Those last few holes were amazing.

Agreed Mysti, Phil is an all time great, that was something else today. In the upper echelons of the game.

Yes, shouldn't take anything away from Mickelson's tremendous round. I hope he reveals this putting secret sometime soon, for the benefit of all us mere mortals!

As Mysti says, this is the second time a brilliant final round from Phil has denied Westy. This time round though, a level par round would have forced a playoff, and you have to say therefore that Lee's not helped himself. That spell from the 7th really did for him, bad swings and bad breaks.

...and the trend of only the greats winning at Muirfield has been extended!!

I know Westwood is liked and English. But he shot +4 today and out of anyone that finished top 30 this was worse score today. Unfortunately he did throw this away.

The mickelsons have shared more hugs in the last few minutes than my family have ever done.

awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Why are the Ashes the top story on the BBC website? Surely the Open is far more important and the Ashes only concern the English part of the UK.

McLaren wrote:The mickelsons have shared more hugs in the last few minutes than my family have ever done.

If they ever remake the Waltons, the Micklesons would be ideal to play it.

The open is great but it's not the ashes.

Congrats to Phil, what a fantastic win! Great bounce back from the US Open.

Worthy winner. As Mac says cements ATG status really whilst Westy cements nearly man status. Fine lines I guess.

The Open top of the BBC page here. Not surprising given cricket isn't considered a sport in Scotland.

Williams jumped ahead of Scott in the queue to shake Woods hand, he's sure trying hard..

Still feel Westwood is on the brink of a maiden win. He does need to find a way to turn his Sunday strategy execution into something closer to his Thurs-Sat performances though.

I'm amazed at some of the comments above saying that Lee didn't lose this one. Of course he did, he shot 75 in the final round when 71 would have made a play-off and 70 would have won outright. I don't say that to have a go at him and I hope he does go on to win one before the end of his career. But he has to go out and do it. Nobody is going to hand it to him.

Phil played brilliantly. 66 was a phenomenal score and he did what all Major winners do, he played his very best on the final day when it really mattered. 70 would have been good enough for Lee. Muirfield is a very, very difficult course so I'm not suggesting that it's easy to shoot a 70. But that's what you have to do to win a Major, shoot a good score on the final day in tough scoring conditions. 75 was never going to be good enough, whether Phil shot 66 or not.

Even Major winners such as Curtis, Micheel & Hamilton scored in the 60s on the Sunday when in contention in a Major. I'm not trying to say they're better players than Lee but they have done what Lee has never done, they've produced their very best on Sunday when in contention in a Major. All Major champions have to do this, just look at Scott, Cabrera, Rose & now Mickelson so far in 2013. Lee will never win one until he does the same.

Pretty poor coverage from BBC really, Mickleson shoots 66 and you wouldn't have known he was in the tournament until they showed him birdied 13!

The BBC could not see into the future unfortunately. Michelson wasn't really in it until he birdied 13 and then his great end.

beninho wrote:The BBC could not see into the future unfortunately. Michelson wasn't really in it until he birdied 13 and then his great end.

Complete nonsense he was +1, so hardly out of it. I forgot we have to watch every single shot Tiger hits, as well as his facial expressions.