US Open Preview

There was talk that last year at Oakmont (par 70) no one was going to shoot better than 10 over par. Well Angel Cabrera got home in 285 which just happened to be 5 over. I see this year some projections that the winners final score will be better than 285 which would mean a winner at even par or better being that Torrey Pines will be playing as a par 71.

Honestly, I like to see the pros struggle to break par. At that same time I like to see that someone has the ability to make a birdie hear or there to make thing interesting. A perfect example of this took place just last week in Memphis at the St. Jude. Trevor Immelman was down 3 strokes with 3 to play and made three straight birdies to get into the play off. He did go on to lose in said playoff, but at least he had the chance to make a late charge to get in. What was the winning score? If Immelman made 3 straight at the end to catch up the winning score must have been better than 15 under. Wrong, it was 4 under, proving that a course can play tough but is still open to the occasional birdie run.

My favorite thing about the Open this year will be that 18 is a par 5 and a reachable par 5 at that. Anyone with in two of the lead who can keep a driver in the fairway will have a chance to go after the green putting pressure on the leaders.

Another great feature this year will be all the play in primetime. Playing out on the west coast the last groups will be finishing up sometime past 10 PM in the east.

Lastly the USGA has decided to pair the top 3 players in the world for the first two rounds. Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and 14,000 fans will be going around the course together for the first two days. I feel bad for the players directly in front and behind them because they are going to witness a stampede before, after, and unfortunately during their shots. This is an interesting experiment that will be great for ratings, let’s just hope it works out on the course.

Predictions…

Tiger makes the cut, but does not finish in the top 25. His knee is going to be too much to over come while trying to gauge the ball out of the deep US Open rough.

Philbert is in it late but finds away to yet another US Open slip away (probably by dunking one at 18 trying to reach in two).

Defending champion Angel Cabrera misses the cut.

Justin Rose wins his first major and becomes the first European to win the US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970.