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'.

Good on Carl.. Might as well just change now IMO..

Rob Hodgetts writes some great off-beat articles for the BBC web-site. Nice one here about Todd Hamilton:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/23331505

Imagine Hamilton is one of those guys who might do well on the Champions Tour when his time comes. By all accounts a good guy.

I was at Muirfield yesterday. I haven't seen a course that hard and fast in years. The rough is tough. Not many drivers being used, except on the 9th, which is a real handful off the new tee. It's going to be a birdie shoot for guys who can keep it straight, and a bogey fest for those that are hacking it out of the rough.

There are a few repositioned bunkers dotted about and a few fairways have been narrowed down at about 260 - 280 yards.

Tom Watson burned it up yesterday. So did Tiger and Jason Day.

I can quite believe it George - I played Duddingston last night and even it is playing like a links right now, crazy fast fairways and greens. A couple of weeks ago we had the greens running at 12 on the stimp for PGA event. Given the weather since, after a cut and iron, they'd easily be faster than that right now, so I imagine the courses down East Lothian must be absolute lightening quick. Playing Dunbar on Thursday afternoon, then off to Muirfield on Friday - first time there and looking forward to seeing what the course is like and how the best handle it.

Excellent write up SJ - thanks.
The bacon has been purchased. I've gone for Irish soda bread this year - feel that may be a omen for McDowell? Tip tree ketchup and some fantastic eggs. Told son not to bring new girlfriend round this weekend - she may not understand the monosyllabic sloth with grease and ketchup on his tee shirt, sitting, eyes glued to BBC! I'd hate to make a bad impression!
Is Kwini coming over to watch the action on Beeb? Wouldn't blame him!
Still hoping for LW to come through, but still not prepared to weigh him down with my betting money, and not able to bet against him!
Enjoy everybody. It's going to be great.

puligny,
Partly, Yes!

Disappointed the forecast, for Muirfield at any rate, doesn't call for more wind . . . .

People, check this out, Peter Hanson does not wan't to play but will be forced to because of some PGA rule, thus denying himself a chance to get better and a reserve a spot in the field (with a real chance o competing in stead of limping through the course). A disgrace and outrageous IMO (and yes, I am a Luiten and Hanson fan).
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.golf.se/Folja/Nyheter/2013/7/Hanson-maste-spela/&usg=ALkJrhiOvEgz6WJhyMOdWoFJtslBlz42Kg

This is crazy.
Just like we all swear at Rory or Daly for walking off, you could also argue that Hanson should be fined for playing if he knows he'd WD. It's not sportsmanship, is it?

Yeah but he is forced to because he will lose his high exemption category otherwise, so no real blame on him I'd say. Perhaps the R&A and the PGA could have a quick call to settle this? PD? Any contacts? Spread the word!

mighty,
All a bit puzzling. Two things:

1).Our friends with more knowledge of the PGA Tour than I have said the number of events golfers need to play this year to retain PGA Tour membership is reduced to 12 to compensate for the shorter season.

2).Hanson, in his present form won't make the Top 125 anyway, no chance if he's unfit, which to be fair he's been battling fitness issues all year. Under existing rules, and with the safety net of Medical exemptions, golfers are crazy to play through debilitating injuries. See Casey Paul and Weir Mike for poster child examples.

Hanson may be in a ridiculous predicament but mostly of his own making, something we've been predicting for many weeks now.

Over to you robo . . . . . .

Maybe his Ryder Cup status has got something to do with it? Just a wild guess...

Why should it?
PGA Tour has nothing to do with the Ryder Cup . . . . . . .

Hopefully common sense will prevail, but it would be refreshing if some of it came from Hanson himself.

In the article he states PGA Tour rules, not European Tour (Ryder Cup).

And he is not forced to do anything. If you are injured, you are injured.

In my opnioin he abuses the rules for his own benefit. The clever golfer would have made a schedule with a buffer for unforeseen circumstances. But it seems his priority has been to suboptimise his calender for his own benefit.

I agree it's a lose-lose situation and the current rules are not really perfect as they push golfers towards unfortunate decisions. But nobody forces a golfer to be unsportsmanlike. If PH tees off and WD's after a few holes (or plays pitch and putt) he'll be on my sh!t list.

I just assumed there was a Ryder Cup exemption like on the ET but that ovviously is not the case.

The R@A should just ban him from playing- Then what could the PGA tour do about it!

mighty,
The difference is that the E.T. also owns (50% of) the Ryder Cup.
The PGA Of America owns the other half, not the PGA Tour - which is why the PGA Tour calendar is not necessarily sympathetic every year to the Ryder Cup schedule.
For instance, after the Tour Championship the Ryder Cup is often the following week, regardless of time zone.
For the Presidents Cup there tends to be, as this year, a week off for the protagonists.

"he limped off the pitch"

I'll bet the HCEG are impressed with Google for calling Muirfield "a pitch".

"The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers". What's in a name? Reminds of a "Gentlemens Club".

Just as I doubt the club is honourable, I've never met any gentlemen in a Gentlemens Club (the few times I've been at one of course...). But at least the latter has a less bigoted view on women...

Really? I'm not a woman but I think if I was I'd rather be excluded than ogled naked.

That's not the point. It's the double standard in the naming.

Saw some of the Gee Whiz FIGJAM Phil press conference. I need some salt to balance all this sugar. Did he just say he was the last player to win a tournament before a major?

I am enjoying stephanie wei's  tweets at the moment. She mixes great photo's of Scotland with getting stuck into the R&A and muirfield for several of their swivel eyed loon ideas.

https://twitter.com/StephanieWei

You put a bet on big mac?

mysti

How many can you answer?

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/british-open/2013-07/video-british-open-pop-quiz

Every one . Its not exactly challenging is it!!


you put a bet on?

It seems Hanson is convinced he needs 15 starts. Could someone with knowledge of the PGA rules (kwini?) comment and let Hanson know that he is at fault and only needs 12 so he can make way for someone that actually will try to finish the tournament? Guys?

Even so for the other guys in his flight btw, would be really distracting to play with a guy that is only chipping away (Bill Haas and ...)

Re Hanson - Just come across this while trying to clarify the situation:

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golftalkcentral/pga-tour-players-required-to-play-less-in-2013/

In particular

The one-year tweak will not apply to international players who use the circuit’s “home tour exemption” rule to play two circuits and is one of several one-off adjustments the Tour made to ease the transition to a new schedule

I think that would seem to suggest anyone retaining ET membership (like Hanson), and who missed PGA Tour tournaments in order to play ET events (so far for Hanson, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Scandinavia in place of Humana, Farmers Insurance and Memorial) will still have to make 15 Tour starts. Seems completely counter-productive, given that a shorter season will have the biggest impact on exactly those players, and the chances of single-tour players (except maybe Stricker) not playing 15 events anyway is extremely remote. But there you go.

Cannot wait!!! Good luck to Padraig, my bets and Lowry!

Test Cricket and Golf. AM I going to the office tommorow- Take a wild guess!!

Thanks Ned. So turning an eye on the PGA: do they really want Hanson teeing it up for the sake of an additional start or is there another way out of this mess? Complete b*ll*cks this!

What a horrible start for Saltman!

Oosthuizen a possible withdrawal

The first causing havoc two triples and two quads already!

sirbenson wrote:What a horrible start for Saltman!

Is it the cheating one?

Nope, just googled it and it is Eilliott Saltman who is accused of cheating and Lloyd Saltman is the one playing!

SirB, why, the hip again?

Fabulous start for The Mechanic!
birdie-birdie-birdie
 

P.S. Great write-up SJ, thanks!

themightyone wrote:SirB, why, the hip again?

Dave Tindall ‏@DaveTindallgolf 1h
Louis Oosthuizen a possible WD. Was having trouble with his neck again yesterday. Will see how it is this morning.

And also Day appears to be carrying a niggle as well

The Open Leaderboard appears to have stopped updating. Or is it just my browser??

EmmDee57 wrote:The Open Leaderboard appears to have stopped updating. Or is it just my browser??

Nope, mine has been stopped a good while too!

Ps SirB: Elliot Saltman is actually convicted of cheating. His brother says thanks for being affiliated with cheating over and over again... What a moron, this Elliot. Lloyd: you go girl!

Amazing, another birdie from the 50-year old!

-4 after 4 holes and leading by two!!

 

What 50 yr old!!!

Ok, 49 and a half for you, mysti...
The Mechanic, of course...!

I dont know his age- Just away from it all at the moment

I thought you might have been talking about Sir Nick !!!

I just backed Manassero, McIlroy and Jiminez for my wife. I thought the odds on Jiminez were a bit tight and now I know why!

Thankfully she'll have no idea what odds he was yesterday so won't give me any earache for not backing him before he started.

I would have just not backed him Hibbz- rid it out and pretended!!

Ha ha I might not be in favour of walking in professional cricket but there ain't no way I'm lying to the Mrs.

I have done it loads of times Hibbz- My gf ,mum and sister all ask me to put bets on for them!!!

some times I just dont rate there calls, I would pay them out anyway offcourse- But I just become the bookie!!