Westwood, McIlroy AND Woods!?!?

I will go ahead and say that this weekend got me FIRED up for next year on the PGA tour.  Why?  Because Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods all won and will all be headlining the  PGA tour next season.  I know they will throw in Luke Donald, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Bill Haas, Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson and a few others as a marketing ploy, but I am calling it right now that these three will be the story of next year.

I am not the biggest Tiger fan in the world and I will be the first to admit that I never believe any of the rumors that he is back.  I truly believe that Tiger will never dominate the PGA Tour like he did earlier in his career.  That doesn’t mean I dont’ think he will win and win majors.  I think he will win next year and I am not sure if a major is realistic or not.  With that being said, you can’t deny the electricity he creates.  I know that he won the Chevron this weekend and not the Masters, but it felt like I was watching a major for the last two holes.  He has the IT factor and there is no denying it.

The reason I say he won’t dominate is because too many young guys have grown up on the tour in his absence.  They never experienced the aura of the dominant Tiger and they won’t be quick to back down when he is in contention.  Rory showed us all that he has mental toughness after absolutely embarrassing himself on the back nine at the Masters only to freakishly win the U.S. Open.  Westwood has been through a rebuilding of his game and has a huge chip on his shoulder of never winning a major.  He will get one eventually.  These are the guys who are going to challenge Tiger now that he is “back” even though I still don’t think he will ever be the Tiger of old.

I really think this next year on the PGA tour is going to produce some memorable golf.  Just like this year brought a bunch of first time winners to the winner’s circle, next year is going to generate some genuine rivalries and match ups that hopefully last all of us viewers a large chunk of time.  I, for one, can’t wait for it to get here and start all over again.

Three Ideal Story Lines for the Open

I have been reading a lot of conflicting predictions for the upcoming Open this week.  I have heard that Royal St. George will produce a Dark Horse winner that no one expects, but I have also heard that it is a course where the best tend to win.  I have no idea which it will be, but I hope it is the scenario where the best wins.

Last week we saw the field absolutely demolish the Scottish Open due to non-existent winds and a soft course.  I don’t think the Open will be nearly as soft, and you never know with the wind.  If anything at all can be taken away from the Scottish Open it is that the top players in the world are playing well right now.  Donald, Westwood, Kuchar and McDowell (for three rounds) all played great golf last week.  Phil played decent but not great.

I think there are a few potentially explosive story lines going into next week that are a real possibility.  The first I could see playing out is a Northern Ireland heavy leader board.  I could very easily see McDowell and McIlroy high up on the leaderboard battling it out for the championship over the weekend.  Wouldn’t that be something to see the past two U.S. Open Champions slugging it out at the British Open for their second major?  I for one would be glued to the T.V. and really do believe this is a strong possibility.

The second story line is similar to the first but it involves two Englishmen instead of Irishmen.  It is a very real possibility that we will see both Donald and Westwood high up on the leader board during this championship.  Donald is fresh off his win last week and Westwood has been playing good golf pretty much all year.  He always finds a way to play well in Major championships and it really feels like it is his time.  He can’t go his whole career without winning a major, can he?  A Donald vs. Westwood showdown would be fantastic in its own right, but the fact that it would be a rematch from when Luke snatched the world #1 ranking from Westwood at the BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth would make it that much more exciting.  I can’t decide which is more likely, Donald vs. Westwood or McDowell vs. McIlroy, but both would be fantastic.

The last story line I would love to see play out this weekend is pretty much any American making a run at the Claret Jug.  Do I think they will?  Not really, but I think Matt Kuchar is our best shot.  Watney may get hot and get in the mix but I don’t see it happening.  Kuchar was playing in the Scottish Open last week and played very well.  He is Mr. Consistent and seems like the kind of player who will win a major in his career.  Why not now?

The biggest dark horse American player I can think of who has a decent shot is Steve Marino.  I know he hasn’t wo on Tour but he has a good resume on links courses and is a relentless grinder.  You need to be able to handle bad breaks and Marino has tasted bad breaks this year, but keeps chugging along.

At the end of the day I am still going to go with pretty much everyone’s favorite pick thus far.  I think Rory is going to be lifting the Claret Jug come Thursday.