2009 British Open

[Sect309Fan]

Here are the tee times for Thursday for the British Open. (here are some notable names)

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/britishopen09/news/story?id=4309238

2:36 a.m. (ET) Greg Norman, Kenny Perry, Oliver Wilson

4:09 a.m. (ET) Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Ryo Ishikawa

5:59 a.m. (ET) Branden Grace, Thomas Haylock, Brandt Snedeker

[don28]

Thinking Lee Westwood or Martin Kaymer wins this week.

[ZachLV27]

I'm going with Sergio Garcia which means he will do his normal thing of either a) missing the cut or b) contending and then sinking like a rock on Sunday.

[BoroTitan]

tiger by 6 strokes this weekend.

book it

[Sect309Fan]

tiger by 6 strokes this weekend.

book it

:lolhit

Tiger will probably make it into the top 10, but I just don't see him winning a major this year. However, I do see him winning at least one next year, when he has had a full year removed from his injury.

I will take the field every time.

[Toronto]

My pick is Ogilvy. Already has a major, had a good season this year.

Backup is Stenson, showed a ton of game at the Players...

I'm doing the last 2 rounds, I start work at 5:30AM each morning :crazy

[Sect309Fan]

It is pretty cool to see my favorite golfer of all time, Tom Watson, leading the British Open right now. His 5 under today probably won't be beaten, but there are still about half the field out there.

Tiger shot a one-over 71. Snedeker is 2 over with just one hole left.

Ben Curtis is tied with Watson at 5 under. Snedeker parred #18.

[Toronto]

It is pretty cool to see my favorite golfer of all time, Tom Watson, leading the British Open right now. His 5 under today probably won't be beaten, but there are still about half the field out there.

Tiger shot a one-over 71. Snedeker is 2 over with just one hole left.

Ben Curtis is tied with Watson at 5 under. Snedeker parred #18.

Watson was my childhood idol - I still remember watching him chip in at Pebble to win the US Open, as well as his last Open win. When I first started golfing as a 10 year old kid, I was always Watson. Never Trevino, Jack or Player. Always Watson....And I'm a lefty!:crazy

[Sect309Fan]

1982 was the year where I really became a sports addict. The Redskins made the playoffs and eventually won the Super Bowl. The Braves won the NL West for the first time in my lifetime, and Dale Murphy was MVP. The UT football program beat Alabama for the first time in 12 years, and Vandy had their last winning season (until last year).

In the golf world, Tom Watson was dominant that year. He won the US Open with that chip shot. He also won the British Open that year as well. He became my favorite golfer because of that year.

[Toronto]

Interesting to see the scores blow up as the wind started blowing...

My pick, at least one of them, Ogilvy, can charter a plane, he's done thx to sitting @ +13.

I have two wishes for the weekend.

1) That Watson can hang in there....what a story that would be.

2) I'm personally praying Tiger blows up, even though I know that won't happen. It continues to piss me off that they feel compelled to show him WARMING UP more than showing many other golfers. Then ABC/TNT will have to do what NBC and CBS refuse to do, which is report on the actual tournament.

Our Canuck Weir blew up good too (+5), but we're used to that. A little tease, then he fades away or has one brutal round. He's never gonna win more than the one major he has. Just doesn't have the length off the tee, and he is so busy creating his own little empire (Weir wine, Weir charity tourney, etc.) that he never did follow up on making himself into a great player, instead of a good one.

[Sect309Fan]

2) I'm personally praying Tiger blows up, even though I know that won't happen.

Don't be too sure. Tiger had a pair of double-bogeys on the back 9, and he is 7 over par for the tournament. He only has 3 holes to make it back to +4, the projected cut.


Snedeker is 5 over, so he needs to stop bogeying holes and get at least one birdie to make the cut.


Tom Watson bogeyed 5 of the first 7 holes, but he recovered nicely to shoot even par for the day and finish in a tie for first at 5 under. :)

[Toronto]

Don't be too sure. Tiger had a pair of double-bogeys on the back 9, and he is 7 over par for the tournament. He only has 3 holes to make it back to +4, the projected cut.


Snedeker is 5 over, so he needs to stop bogeying holes and get at least one birdie to make the cut.


Tom Watson bogeyed 5 of the first 7 holes, but he recovered nicely to shoot even par for the day and finish in a tie for first at 5 under. :)

At the rate scores are blowing up, and the cut being t70 and ties, I bet cut moves to +5...

Doubt Tiger is indeed in trouble though, (+6 after 16) - unless he can birdie 17 or 18 and have that cutline indeed move to +5 he's going home early.

[Sect309Fan]

It looks like Tiger will birdie 17. Unlike yesterday, he is finishing strong. (He did make birdie)

He probably still has to birdie 18 to make the cut. Snedeker bogeyed number 9, so he is 6 over with nine left.

[Sect309Fan]

Tiger misses a long chip and only makes par on 18. The odds are pretty good that he misses the cut.

[Toronto]

Tiger misses a long chip and only makes par on 18. The odds are pretty good that he misses the cut.

They essentially need 4 more golfers to fall back to +5, and as of now, the math is not looking good. Only 3 players have a legitimate shot at backing up that far. (As of 3PM EST)

[don28]

I'm still feeling good about my picks Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer. Both are under par, and within 5 shots of the lead with 2 rounds to go.

[ZachLV27]

Sergio Garcia is playing as well as I thought he would be. Now if only he can get himself within two shots of the lead tomorrow then he will be setup perfectly for his normal Sunday blowup.

I do hope he proves me wrong though. I've always liked him (he'd drive me insane if I played with him because I like to play fast) and have always rooted for him in tournaments.

[Toronto]

Sergio Garcia is playing as well as I thought he would be. Now if only he can get himself within two shots of the lead tomorrow then he will be setup perfectly for his normal Sunday blowup.

I do hope he proves me wrong though. I've always liked him (he'd drive me insane if I played with him because I like to play fast) and have always rooted for him in tournaments.

I'd love to see Cabrera paired with Garcia. He has a notable temper and is the fastest player on tour. He would blow a gasket...

[ZachLV27]

With them both being on the European PGA Tour I would think they have been paired together a number of times before. The added stress of happening in a Major could do it though.

[Toronto]

I'm doing today and tomorrow's coverage, am already thrilled, only one Tiger Woods montage and post-mort...

I understand he's the meal ticket, but I'm thrilled he won't be around this weekend. I don't have to put together a sideshow pack of his round and TNT/ABC are forced to concentrate on the ACTUAL leaderboard.

I swear, you'd think Tiger was a female porn star for CBS, NBC and TNT/ABC. It's just mind-boggling how tilted their coverage of golf is. They better pray Tiger doesn't get to 18 majors soon, he might say screw it and retire with his hundreds of millions in the bank.

[Sect309Fan]

Watson played a good round today, and he has sole possession of first place going into Sunday (4 under for the Open). :bowdown:

This is such an amazing story. He turns 60 in 2 months. When Jack won his last Masters, he was only in his 40's. This stuff just doesn't happen in sports, even in golf where age isn't as important.

Tom Watson in the lead for the Open is a much bigger story than Tiger in the lead, at least to a long-time golf fan like me.

[Toronto]

Going to bed, exhausted from the golf and have to be at work for 5:30..

Trust me when I say this, Watson winning would be the best golf story of our lifetimes. Better than Phil, Tiger any of them. He's fifty frigging nine years old. This is awesome. :thumbsup

[Sect309Fan]

Watson is 2 strokes away from making golf (and sports) history. He is on the fringe of 18 and just needs to 2 putt to win the Open for a 6th times, and become only the third player since 1900 to win a major in 3 different decades.

However, he has a decent putt to make for par....

[t1tan5]

Damn it. He bogeyed 18. Sudden death playoff coming up against Cink.

[TitansFan23]

Watson choked on 18, and when he got into the playoff, he was reminiscent of Van de Velde.

Well, maybe not that bad, but he was still pretty bad.

After he missed the putt to save par, it was all over; they should have just handed the Claret Jug to Cink then and there.

That way we wouldn't have had to watch the agony of Watson shanking almost every shot in the playoff.

[Sect309Fan]

This reminded me so much of two events. One, Kenny Perry at the Masters. Another old guy on the verge of winning, only to collapse at the very end.

Two, any NCAA basketball tournament game where the heavy underdog has the lead for the whole game, only to have the favorite force OT in the final seconds and then go on to crush the underdog in OT.

Either way, it stinks. :sad

[BoroTitan]

tiger by 6 strokes this weekend.

book it

lol tiger missed cut this weekend. booked!

:p

I reeeealllly wanted tom to win. What a great day of golf, wish it were in hd tho

[Toronto]

I was gutted when Tom missed on 18..and the second he hit into the trap on the first playoff hole I knew he was done, could see the fatigue set in and the adreniline leave his body.

But like Tirico said when Watson was done, "thank you Tom Watson, for a tournament of our lifetime." (something like that)

[Sect309Fan]

Watson did make golf history in a different way: http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/britishopen09/news/story?id=4340797

TURNBERRY, Scotland -- Tom Watson did not leave Scotland on Monday with the Claret Jug, but he did make a record leap in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Watson, 59, who needed only to sink an 8-foot par putt at Turnberry's final hole on Sunday to clinch his sixth British Open title before losing to Stewart Cink in a four-hole aggregate playoff, moved to 105th in the rankings from 1,374th, a jump of 1,269 spots.

Official World Golf Ranking representatives said it is the biggest one-week jump since the rankings began in 1986.

[t1tan5]

When was the last time neither Tiger or Mickleson played on the weekend of a major?

[Sect309Fan]

When was the last time neither Tiger or Mickleson played on the weekend of a major?

Looking it up, it looks like the 1995 PGA Championship. Tiger didn't play then (was still an amateur), and Phil missed the cut.