No obvious favourites for Open
The British Open hosts 49 of the top 50 golfers in the world. In this year's tournament, as much as people like to speculate about who will win, it could be anyone’s game.
The St Andrews course is the origin of golf, and players have made the pilgrimage to the 600-year old rolling fairways and slipper greens year after year. The golf course's prestige has been criticized as overshadowing the actual difficulty of the course; many believe Turnberry or Royal Troon challenge golfers to greater degrees. However, the illustrious history of the Open taking place at this event has golfers eagerly waiting to tee off.
It might be easier to close your eyes and point because right now there is no clear cut favourite for the competition. And not knowing has never felt so good.
This isn’t to say the field is light; the field is stacked with some high profile players, some of whom have played well in recent tournaments, some not so much. The windy greens at St Andrews are hard to play, even for the distinguished golfer. Despite how good they are on American style courses, golfers could fumble on the Scottish links, increasing the odds for everyone.
Tiger Woods, the world’s No.1 golfer, has continued to struggle to recover from his hiatus. He’s optimistic he will do well on the links, where he won twice before in 2000 and 2005. He has changed up his putter and his ball to improve his game. But whether or not he can regain his strength on the course is yet to be seen.
Tiger-mania has settled down, but Woods still has a palpable presence at every golf event he attends, despite his poor finishes in his last two golf events. Woods did place fourth at the Open and the Masters, and St Andrews is a course Woods dominates on. Do we dare get our hopes up for a 15th Major?
Young ambitious golfers like Justin Rose looked good leading up to the tournament. He won the AT&T National at Aronimink two weeks ago giving him a total of two wins and one top-10 finish in his last three PGA Tour events.
Rose has been the picture of perfection on all aspects of the game since his win at Aronimink. He has improved his techniques and mechanics, and is developing a strong confidence down the stretch. Is he on the fast track to stardom, or on a hot streak that’s about to end?
The 2010 US Open winner and Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell is riding the momentum of his recent win at Wales and Pebble Beach. If he wins it will be his second Major victory this season and a great story for this St Andrews veteran.
McDowell played the Dunhill links in 2002 and “loved this place from the first time I teed it up here...playing the first, 17th and 18th at St Andrews still gives me goosebumps.”
Lee Westwood was Britain’s best shot, but the 37-year-old Englishman has ruptured plantaris muscles in his right calf. He plays on Wednesday despite the mild pain, but whether or not his injury will impede his chances, only time will tell.
He has been taking it easy on the practice rounds, only completing six holes on Monday. Westwood isn’t suffering from too much pain, but he does feel it during his swings. This could be troublesome on the long fairways, but Westwood won’t blame a loss on his injury if he can’t make it past the cut.
Phil Mickelson, the 40-year-old world’s No.2 continues to make headlines after he misses chance after chance to dethrone Woods from his No.1 position. Mickelson won the Masters and finishes in the top 10 four other times this season, Lefty is about due for another success, but then again, name a golfer who isn’t?
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