This morning, I had the opportunity to attend the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. When I say I had the “opportunity”, I mean, I moved to Fort Worth and live three or four miles from the course, so how could I not go? No, my blogging juice carries no weight to get me in the gates, so I tossed my $45 into the hat, and drove on over.

First of all, if you’re a fan of professional golf, there’s nothing like being there. I mean, come on. How can you not get a thrill out of standing there watching the pros that you see on TV, week in and week out? Granted, there was no Tiger or Phil, and I was hoping John Daly would make the weekend, but when they say “These Guys Are Good”, they’re not kidding. The worst players on Tour are better than the best players most of us have ever played with. Still, there were a number of big-named players that made the weekend.

On top of that, it’s a family-friendly atmosphere. The players are generally decent people and good role models (yes, I know, with some exceptions). So I had to smile at (and Tweet about) all the kids going for the Rickie Fowler look with the big Puma hat with the bushy hair hanging out the sides and the colorful, stylish attire. It’s nice to see them emulating a classy, young role model.

Secondly, the quality venues that the PGA Tour plays on are way above and beyond what most of us tee it up on week to week. Sure, some of you have the cash and clout to belong to places like that, but the vast majority of us don’t. In fact, events like this are the only way that we can get in the place. The membership is gracious enough to invite us in, so I’m happy to take them up on it. It’s Hogan’s Alley, after all! Generally, I’ve found that just taking in the beauty of venues like these is a great thing.

Third, if you’re a serious golfer or if you fancy yourself a student of the game like I do, then attending is like studying with the masters. Instead of watching the television broadcast and seeing them jump from player to player to player and catching a swing here and there with no context, you can get a much better feel for what a great player does before and during a round to post those numbers that we dream about.

Every time I go to a pro event, I spend a lot of time at the driving range and at the practice green because I want to understand how a pro prepares.

For instance, I watched Hunter Mahan take the same six-foot putt on the practice green, over and over and over and over. For like ten or fifteen minutes. Why? Not exactly sure, but he was probably just trying to groove his stroke. It wasn’t necessarily about sinking the putts, it was probably more about just getting the feel just right. He even remarked to his caddy (or coach, not sure which) that when the ball got below the line slightly, it dove right, but if he hit it above the line slightly, it hardly moved at all. It’s true, I noticed that too.

I watched a number of players on the driving range, as well. I’m sure we’ve all heard players talking about the proper way to warm up, and it seems to differ from what a lot of weekend players do. You know, the ones that hit five wedges and then uncork the driver. I saw one guy hitting a bunch of twenty yard wedges to start. It’s a great way to sharpen feel and to groove a nice, even tempo. And by the way, he flat-out duffed one of those, just like we do, proving they’re not machines. But don’t count on seeing that too many times.

The Crowne Plaza Invitational is just a great event, overall. This year, there was a tie-in with National Armed Forces Day, so there were a few things going on related to that. I did a giveaway last week relating to Room Nights for the Brave, where Crowne Plaza is donating hotel room stays for families of service members. The room count is up to something crazy at this point.

They also had a tent on the back-nine with six Congressional Medal of Honor recipients in attendance. Those of you at home might have seen David Feherty speaking to some of them (as did I, because I was home by then) on the CBS broadcast. There was also a table for the Medal of Honor Foundation near the entrance where they were selling copies of Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty, a beautiful book detailing 142 living or recently deceased Medal of Honor recipients. I couldn’t resist buying a copy for myself.

I have a special place in my heart for service members and associated charities, so I’m thrilled that I was able to go and show my support, and that’s something that people don’t really pay enough attention to, with regards to professional golf. It is a very charitable endeavor. The Crowne Plaza Invitational generates millions for charities around Fort Worth, not just for military-related ones, but also for things like Cook Children’s Medical Center, and dozens of other worthy causes.

If you have a PGA Tour event in your neck of the woods, or if you’re able to travel to see one, I highly recommend it. It’s a fun time, and very educational for us students of the game. I might even apply to be a volunteer at next year’s event, so that I can help out in some small way. I imagine there’s no shortage of people willing to help out, so even if I don’t get accepted, I’ll be right there at the gate with my ticket in hand again.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

There’s Nothing Like Pro Golf

There are few benefits to living in New Jersey (don’t get me started), but one of them is that I’m only about an hour away from Galloway, NJ, home of the Seaview Bay Course where the Shoprite LPGA Classic is played.

Thursday, my brother called me at work and brought up the idea of taking a ride to Galloway to see the ladies play. It’s funny, even though this event has been played on the New Jersey coast for a number of years (I think it may have moved around here and there), it had never even occurred to me to hop in the car and go.

At that point, I was resolved to go, so I went to the tournament website and bought a couple of tickets and we headed down to see some of the second round on Saturday.

Without question, the verdict is that I had a great time.

First and foremost, have you heard the PGA Tour tagline, “these guys are good”?  Well, these ladies are good, too. They might not hit it as far as the men do, but I witnessed some great golf yesterday.

I also found that the ladies are much more accessible than their male counterparts. After finishing up, many took time to sign autographs. They seemed very personable and there were times when we were walking around the club house area and players were just going here and there. A couple of times, we were walking along, and looked at each other with the look of “wait, was that a player walking by?”

It has been my experience at PGA Tour events that the players there are kind of sequestered away somewhere and then they just appear and get inside the invisible rope wall and finish up and disappear. Sure, many do sign autographs, but the larger crowds make it more difficult to have a chance to get one, or even to get up close to the golf action.

That was another big plus. As a spectator, you simply cannot beat the proximity to the action that you can find at an LPGA Tour event. While we didn’t stay long enough to see the final groups play (hey, I had to get back and work on MY game), I found that it was easy to see the more popular players up close.

In fact, right after we arrived, we walked down toward the 9th hole, where Michelle Wie was finishing (she started the day on ten). Naturally, she has a larger gallery, but it was certainly not too big to prevent anyone from getting a pretty good view of play.  If you’ve ever been in a Tiger Woods gallery, you know what I mean.

We were standing right by the 9th green as she finished and we noticed that an autograph line was forming right where we were standing. We didn’t have any intention of getting autographs, but we figured we’d just hang out and see what happened.

After Michelle Wie finished, she took the time to sign autographs, making extra effort to make sure that she signed for the kids in the gallery. She signed for pretty much everyone and as she walked by us (she’s almost as tall as me!) my brother asked her to sign his program, and she did. He thanked her and she moved along, headed back up to the club house.

We were giddy like a couple of kids. It was probably pathetic to watch, but we were thrilled that we could so easily get an autograph from one of the most popular players, and let’s face it, her fame rivals that of many of her male counterparts.

Later on, we hung around the practice green and watched Natalie Gulbis and several other players get ready for their afternoon rounds. That’s where the golf geek in me really enjoys myself. As I’ve written about before, I absolutely love to watch professionals prepare for their rounds and see what kinds of things they do to get ready. I would have liked to hang out at the driving range for a bit, but the final groups were just preparing to head to the tee so there wasn’t going to be much activity at the range.

We headed home after walking around for a few hours, quite happy that we took the time to go. If you’re a golf fan and haven’t had a chance to attend an LPGA event, I wholeheartedly recommend it. And if you’re already an LPGA Tour fan and haven’t been to an event, then you’re missing out, big time.

There’s nothing like attending a PGA Tour event. I’ll be the first to say that. But because of the smaller galleries, you have an opportunity at LPGA events to get up much closer to the action and the golf is plenty enjoyable. In fairness, the galleries for the final groups were probably a little bigger than what we experienced, but judging on the number of people around the practice green when the final groups were warming up, I’m betting they weren’t too huge to keep anyone from getting a good view. At a PGA Tour event, sometimes it’s hard to get on the rail at the practice green or driving range let alone following the final group on the course, but when I watched Natalie Gulbis warming up, I was right on the rail less than ten feet away.

The bottom line is, I will definitely make it a point to attend more LPGA Tour events in the future and I recommend that you do too. It was great golf and great fun.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

A Visit to the 2010 Shoprite LPGA Classic

This year’s “playoff” marked the third since the FedEx Cup was introduced in 2007, with Tiger Woods winning in somewhat predictable fashion.  Then, the following year, Vijay Singh took the Cup home while an injured Tiger Woods sat home recuperating.  The joke of that year was that the outcome was pretty much decided before the last event and Singh basically just had to continue breathing to take home the cup.

Over these first three playoffs, the Tour tweaked the format each year to try and make sure there was a little drama going into the last event.  Well, this year the situation was a little better.  Sunday at the Tour Championship was dramatic, and ultimately, the FedEx Cup was awarded to Tiger Woods, the player who also had the best year (more on that later).

And that player also finished second in the event.  Therein lies the problem.  I’m trying to think of another major sport where the loser of the championship wins it all.  And make no mistake – in any tournament there is exactly one winner, and a whole crowd of losers.

There is not a bigger Tiger Woods fan in the world than I am, but on Sunday he was a loser.  I’m not suggesting Phil Mickelson “deserves” the Cup.  After all, Tiger won it fair and square playing in the framework that the Tour set up.  I submit, though, that this system is severely broken.

Can you imagine if the loser in the Superbowl game actually won the Lombardi trophy because it had accumulated more points throughout the season and then again in the playoffs after the points were reset?  Or, what about the World Series, Stanley Cup, or NBA Championship?  Winning teams don’t blow out the opposition and then lose the final game.

As the FedEx Cup playoffs started approaching this summer, a number of players were vocal in their feelings about the unfairness of the idea that a player who had the best season could get bounced out of the playoffs or that a player who had a mediocre season could win the Cup with some great play in the playoffs.

I’m failing to see the problem there.  If you just want to reward the player who had the best season, then why bother having a playoff system?  Just throw the $10 million at the guy at the top of the money list and forget the playoffs.

In sports that have a playoff system to decide a champion, these are the “unfair” realities.  But in those sports, the regular season is also looked upon as really just a way to buy a seat at the playoff table.  The rewards of playing well in the regular season come in the form of bye weeks, advantageous seeding, and home field/arena advantage.  In all those cases, however, the ultimate winner is the team that wins the last game.

I’m not a tennis guy, but someone tell me:  can a player lose the final match and still win it all?

The fact is, sometimes the teams that had the best year get upset in the playoffs.  The best team doesn’t always win it all.  That adds to the drama. Occasionally, an underdog slips in and wins the championship game in an upset.  And when that happens, they win it all. They don’t give the trophy to the loser.

So how would I do it?

The current format isn’t too far from a good one – with some minor tweaks.  I would have the players accumulate points throughout the regular season, just like now.  Those points would be used to determine the field for the first playoff event.  Once the field is set, toss the points.  Don’t reset them, don’t adjust them.  Trash them.  The winner of the FedEx cup should, well, win.  Accumulating points doesn’t cut it.

As the four events progress, the field should be cut smaller and smaller as the events progress.  If a player doesn’t perform, he goes home – period.  Just like in the current system, start with 125 and then the top 100 move on.  From there, the top 70 move on.  Finally, the top 30 play for the Tour Championship.

The big difference would be, the winner of the Tour Championship wins the FedEx Cup.  Period.

Now, if I had my way, the Tour Championship would also be a match play event.  A mano y mano fight to the finish.  I’ve heard people say that it wouldn’t work for television.  I say, “Bah”.  The WGC Accenture Match Play championship works for television.

Remember, the 2008 U.S. Open playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate?  That worked for television, and it happened on a Monday for crying out loud.

I’m willing to let go of a match play Tour Championship, though.  I would be happy if the winner of the last event was the winner of the FedEx Cup.  Match play works best for me, but not awarding the trophy to a tournament loser works better.

Look, I’m not naive.  I know a Tiger or Phil win is better for the Tour because it means better TV ratings.  They want their big names out there getting coverage.  However, the cream tends to rise to the top.  More often than not, the Tour is going to get the big names in it down to the wire, even if the winner isn’t who they wish it was.

If that’s not a good enough argument, then just drop the hokey playoff system and award the cup to whomever has the most points at the end of the season and stop calling it “playoffs”.

That’s all I’ve got to say about that.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

The FedEx Farce

Given my goals and interests, attending a PGA Tour event is an awesome day for me.  I’m a big fan, but being a student of the game, I can’t help but switch into sponge mode and take in everything I can learn about how golf is played at the highest levels.

I thought I’d share some of the random things I learned and experienced.

Tiger is Amazing

OK, you knew that.  But, I promise you, you can’t fully appreciate how he hits a ball until you see it in person.  Preferably, do it from a position like this:

I wish I could say that Tiger and I are good pals now, but alas, he still has no idea who I am.

My brother and I staked out this position on the 18th tee for about ten groups.  We saw a lot of big names come through, but when Tiger Woods got there, the atmosphere was different. It helped that he was about to win the tournament, but it’s always like that with him. When this shot was taken, Anthony Kim was in the process of drilling a spectator. Too bad he didn’t hang on for the win, but he’s got a lot of potential and a terrific golf swing.

Incidentally, note to the Tour: the marshal there on the right, whose name I regrettably neglected to get, was awesome.  He was kind enough to chat with my brother and I in the long breaks between groups arriving at the tee.  It was great to learn a little about what being a marshal is like and he was just a generally good guy. Not to mention, he was all business when it was showtime.

He also shared a little tidbit of tournament trivia:  on the way to the course during the tournament, Ryan Moore was stuck in traffic and had to abandon his courtesy car and run a mile to the course.  He had time to hit 5 balls on the range and then had to tee off.  Yet, somehow, he was only a few groups from the final pairing on Sunday.  Amazing.

Bad Breaks Aren’t Reserved for Amateurs

It’s easy to think that golfers at that level don’t face the same kind of adversity on the course that we do.

We staked out a spot near the 6th green for a couple of hours and saw maybe the last dozen pairings  pass through.  Of those, at least four players hit into the pond by the green.  It’s quite a long hole, coming in at 518 yards, but the drive is down hill to a fast fairway and the players didn’t have all that long second shots.  Most were under 200 yards.

Jim Furyk is the one that really stands out.  He narrowly missed getting on the green by maybe a yard, but ended up in the water.  He dropped back a ways, maybe 100 yards or so to give him a perfect distance for whichever wedge he hit.  He hit up on the green a little beyond the pin and the ball zipped back right by the pin and into the water again.  We didn’t have a good view, but it looked like it could have passed right over the edge of the hole.

He carded a triple-bogey there and went on to finish +2 for the day.  If he could have gotten a par there, that would have put him at -1 for the day and tied for 3rd in the overall standings.  How many of us could have hung in that well after blowing up like that on the 6th, especially when the second shot into the green seemed perfect, but had just a bit much spin on it?  The difference between us and them is that they recover better from adversity.

Avoiding Adversity Altogether

Not only do tour pros get over bad scores better than we do, but they have a knack for avoiding them in the first place.  From that same vantage point on the 6th hole, we saw Anthony Kim hook his drive into the woods on the left.  It’s already a tough enough hole without doing that.

Instead of letting the situation get out of hand by attempting a miracle, he laid up down the fairway to a desired distance, stuffed a wedge, and drained the putt for an amazing par save. It might seem like it on TV, but pros don’t go tee->fairway->green all the time.  Their recovery skills are razor sharp, though, letting them mend bad mistakes by playing on other strengths.

The Spin on Spin

Sometimes I wonder why I don’t spin the ball like the pros do.  After watching Tiger tee off on 18, we started to head to the shuttle because the green was a mob scene, we knew he was a lock to win, and we were facing a long drive home. On the way out, we cut back across the other course at Congressional and eventually back across the 6th hole where we sat earlier for a couple of hours.

By then, the ropes were gone so we walked up the fairway a bit and I couldn’t help noticing how tight and firm it was.

It’s no wonder they spin the ball like that!  It’s like hitting off a range mat!  There was an intermediate cut of rough around the fairway that was about the height of the fairways at my home course.  That also explains why sometimes I feel like I crush a drive but it ends up going 290.  On a fairway like that, I bet I’d get at least 20+ more yards of roll!

Feel that Tempo

Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it, but the tempo of a tour pro’s swing is an amazing thing.  Jim McLean has used the phrase “effortless power versus powerless effort” in the past, and watching these guys, you see effortless power.

I really paid attention to the rhythm that the pros possessed as they hit their drives from my spot on the 18th tee.  Almost none of them looked like they were trying to put “oomph” into the ball. I brought that imagery home with me and as I practiced and played this evening, I really tried to get a sense of that and started hitting the ball much better.

Tempo is something that I’ve been working on for a while.  I have pretty good tempo, but my tendency is to hit a few good shots and then adrenaline kicks in and I crank it up a notch and then everything gets thrown off.  Tonight, I really tried to avoid that and am very, very pleased with the results. I’m going to really put a lot of effort into that area as the season goes on.

One Swing Does NOT Fit All

I’ve known this forever, but it’s interesting to observe in action that there is no cookie-cutter swing at the highest level.  Every player’s swing is distinct.  Some look more “textbook” but many have various idiosyncrasies. The tempo varies, the setup varies.

I’ve heard it said that most players at that level look similar at impact.  Certainly, though, they have an infinite combination of ways to get there.  That should be a lesson to us all that golf is not about mimicking a specific swing, it’s about making shots.  Certainly we want to work out any flaws we may have that cause problems.  But there’s no reason to think there’s one “proper” way for your swing to look.

Attitudes are Like As- … Uh, Nevermind

It’s interesting to see the emotional demeanor of each player as he goes about his job.  Tiger is famous for his determined focus.  In general, you might think that all tour pros are like that, but the working attitudes of pros are as varied as their swings.

Being there gives a much different picture of what happens between shots.  When the TV broadcast skips around from shot to shot to shot, life goes on.  Different pairings have a different rapport with each other.  Some were kind of in their own little worlds.  Some were just chatting away like old pals.  Some horsed around with each other, keeping the mood light.

It was eye-opening to see that you don’t have to exhibit an icy stare to succeed at a high level.  Even Tiger could be seen chatting with David Feherty, Anthony Kim, and keeping it generally light in between shots.  I’m not saying he’s Lee Trevino out there, but he’s doesn’t always walk around looking like he wants to rip out the hearts out of his competition.  He’s serious, but not a machine, even if he happens to play like one.

The Tough Test of a Tour Course

Maybe it’s just me, but while Congressional is a beautiful course, it seems like it would be easier to play than my own home course.  The place is perfectly manicured, the fairways were really wide, and the rough wasn’t that bad most places (except maybe right around the greens), compared to my course, anyway.

I’m not saying I’d  be transformed to a scratch player on a course like that, but I’d like to see how I could do on a similar layout.  It might take me a bit to get used to the speed of the greens, but I bet I could outscore my home course where many of the holes are narrow and ringed with trouble on both sides and where the rough borders on ludicrous.

Then again, maybe not.

Valuable Learning Experience

If you’re a student of the game and have never been to a PGA Tour event, I think you’re missing out on a great learning experience.  Even if you’re not much of a fan, there’s so much that can be learned by watching the best players in the world play the game.

I feel like I learn something every time I go out.  This was only my third event, and was the first time I was there on a Sunday.  The atmosphere is a little different on Sunday, especially since it was a Tiger event and one which he went on to win.

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend getting out there and watching an event.  You won’t regret it.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Sunday at Congressional

The U.S. Open was last there in 2002, where Tiger Woods won by three strokes over Phil Mickelson and was the only player to finish the tournament under par.

We discussed a variety of topics, including:

• The course
• Tiger
• Phil
• Is there an older player that can make a splash like Rocco did last year?
• Young guns, specifically Rory McIlroy
• A possibly surprising dark horse pick

Click the little player below to listen to the interview.  Or, if you’d like to download it and listen on the player of your choice, you can access the file here.

Thanks to Court for helping me clean up the audio some!

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

U.S. Open Preview Interview with Alan Shipnuck

Let’s take a look at your thoughts first.  For several weeks, I’ve been running a poll in the sidebar.  The question is, “Is the 2008 FedEx Cup shaping up better than 2007?” At the time of this writing, out of 49 votes, a full 61% answered, “No”. Perhaps the question should have been, “Did they get the formula right?”

My answer to that is a resounding, “NO!”

As I see it, there are two things that happened this year in the FedEx Cup playoffs that violated the unwritten rules of common sense in sports.  Those things are:

1. The playoff winner was pretty much decided before the last tournament, and
2. There were players in the playoffs with no mathematical chance of winning.

How can this be?

In the United States, we have a number of major sports.  Most notably, NFL football, Major League baseball, NBA basketball, and NHL hockey.  (I’m ignoring NASCAR, because it has a similar playoff system.  Based on viewership, it probably belongs in the top four, though.)

In the four sports I named, those two unwritten rules of common sense in sports hold true.  Once the playoffs start, each team is in it until elimination, and then it goes home.  Period.  On top of that, no team gets to start strong and then just phone in the championship (assuming it isn’t playing a completely over matched underdog, which happens sometimes).

Golf is a bit different because it’s an individual game.  But if you’re going to have a season followed by something called “playoffs”, then the common sense rules must apply.

Those of you who watched saw Vijay Singh basically lock it up well before the Tour Championship.  All he needed to do was show up and make the cut.  What kind of playoff championship is that?  If the Superbowl winner was decided by a team that only had to show up and score at least 10 points regardless of what the other team did, it would be a joke.

The sad thing is, the Tour Championship was a great tournament to watch on Sunday.  There were some fan-favorites in it down to the wire and it was a great finish.  But as the culmination of the FedEx Cup playoffs, it was a big, fat, yawn.  Vijay Singh showed up, made the cut, took home the trophy, and filled his bank account.  Oh, and Camillo Villegas won the Tour Championship.  Maybe Tour Sub-Championship would be a better description.

To add to the lack of FedEx Cup drama (not necessarily tournament drama), there were a number of players that had no mathematical chance of winning the Cup.  Why were they there?  Sure, they would have liked to win the Tour Championship, but as the final FedEx Cup event, it makes no sense that they didn’t have a chance to win.

So how do we fix it?

I didn’t come up with the idea, but I’ve read it suggested on several blogs that the FedEx Cup playoffs should consist of three stroke play events that whittle the field down progressively to 32, and that the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup both be decided by a final match play event.

I love that idea.  Here’s how it could work:

• Players accumulate points all year for entrance into the FedEx Cup playoffs.
• Let’s say 80 players make the playoffs.
• The points become irrelevant beginning with the first playoff event.
• The top 60 from the first event make the second event and the top 40 from the second event make the third.  Everyone else goes home.
• The fourth event consists of the top 32 finishers from the third event.
• The Tour Championship and FedEx Cup are simultaneously decided in a match play event.  Winner takes all.  All the glory, anyway.  I don’t have a problem if they spread prize money throughout the field, as with normal tournaments.  But the winner should win the Cup and the big prize.

What’s wrong with that?  Sure, the number of players and number of events could be tweaked, but the basic result would be a playoff system that culminates in the final event with every player still alive having the possibility of winning.

There are several up sides, but the only down side I see with that kind of format is that the field in the last event could be populated with players who aren’t the big stars, if lesser-known players get hot at the right time and the stars are off their games.  But you know what?  That means that they’re playing better golf at the time, and that’s more fun to watch.  In reality, though, the best players are the best players for a reason and in all likelihood, some of them will be there right down to the end.

Could we get a no-name player winning the FedEx Cup?  Sure.  But the same thing happens in the other sports I mentioned earlier, and in other sports with true playoff systems.  That’s something we would need to be willing to accept.

Television ratings take a hit without Tiger in the field.  Honestly, though, does anyone not expect him to make the final event once his knee is healthy again?  And even if he doesn’t, we’ll get to know other great characters on Tour like we’ve done this year with Camillo Villegas, Boo Weekly, Rocco Mediate and a whole host of other players who are fun to root for.  Tell me the Ryder Cup without Tiger wasn’t still a lot of fun.

What do you think?  Am I crazy here?  Let’s get a real playoff format going and dispense with the silliness.

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

Some Thoughts on the FedEx Cup

The U.S. Open, national championship of the United States conducted by the USGA, is as tough a test as any player will face in any particular year. The coolest thing is that it’s a democratic major. Got game? Then play your way in. If your handicap index is 1.4 or better, you have a shot. A tiny, minuscule, wee, infinitesimal, chance. But hey, it’s a chance.

I love the difficulty of the courses during the U.S. Open. Many people have unkind words to describe those conditions. I say, bring it on. Not because I want to see pros getting embarrassed on such a difficult course, but because the best will rise to the top. A player that isn’t at the top of his game for four rounds won’t be a factor. A player that plays intelligently, with precision, will rise to the challenge. A player that doesn’t know when to take risks or isn’t having a good ball striking week will go down in flames.

I’m having trouble trying to pick a winner this year. Tiger Woods is usually a safe pick, but he’s been injured for a while. He hasn’t played a tournament since the Masters, but he’s ready to go now. He may not win, but I wouldn’t bet against him.

How about Trevor Immelman? He won the Masters this year, but only has 2 top ten finishes in 13 starts.

Phil? I think he always has to be considered. We all know he’s had some bad moments in U.S. Opens, but without a doubt, he could find himself contending on Sunday.

There are so many cases to be made for different players. Justin Leonard won last week. Does he have more major magic? Boo Weekly is an excellent ball striker and has been playing well. Maybe it’s his week. Anthony Kim is an up-and-comer whose time may be here. Can Ogilvy win another? Is Vijay over the hill?

There are so many guys that have a shot.

I’m undecided. How about you? Who’s going to win?

© 2007-2011 Life in the Rough. All Rights Reserved.

It’s U.S. Open Eve