The Open Championship

I don't know about all of you, but I find myself really fired up for the Open Championship okay, the British Open, that begins this Thursday.

Credit for this, obviously goes to Jordan Spieth and the fact that he has won both the Masters and US Open this year and now has a chance to do something that has never been done - winning the modern Grand Slam in the same calendar year.  The fact that he played in the low level John Deere Classic this weekend, and won it, only intensifies the hype.  Also, I heard today that he will be paired with none other than Dustin Johnson in the first two rounds of the Open.  Those Brits know how to stage drama, don't they?

Also, the Open will be played on the Old Course at St. Andrews, the birth place of golf.  I love watching the Open when it is played there.  I hope it will be cold, windy, and overcast.

Spieth will be the favorite this week, especially since the injured Rory McIlroy will not be there, and you have to root for him.  However, one of the hardest single things to do in pro sports has to be winning any given golf tournament.  And one of the hardest things to predict is the winner of any given golf tournament, so I am going to wait until after the first round is played before offering my pick.  Yeah, it's kind of a chicken-scratch way to do it, but My Blog, My Rules!

Two other story lines to follow beside Spieth's quest for the Slam.

One is Dustin Johnson.  He has it in him to win one of these Majors, but how will that 72nd hole meltdown at the US Open effect him?

The other is Tiger Woods.  Yes, I know that Woods' days as the pre-eminent  golfer of all time are over, but an appearance by Woods in any tournament will always be a story, just as appearances by a washed up Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus were always stories whenever they played.  Call me crazy, but I still think that Tiger Woods will win again on the PGA Tour, and maybe even win another Major.  He knows St. Andrews.  He has won at St. Andrews, so give him a puncher's chance to be in contention for the lead on the weekend, and if he is in contention, you never know what might happen.  It's probably more likely that he will miss the cut, but I would never count him out.

Play well, gentlemen.