11/23/24
June 12, 2006
Hidden: Woods-Mickelson circus begins at Winged Foot: It seems that there are only two players anybody is talking about at this week's U.S. Open: World No. 1 Tiger Woods and No. 2 Phil Mickelson. Both are heavy favorites to battle it out down to the wire. Who else will join them on legendary Winged Foot, which is getting scary reviews from all of the pros who have seen the rough-strewn monster.
posted by donnnnychris to golf at 07:23 AM - 7 comments
Haha JJ, I'm sure Tiger has called Phil much better names behind closed doors. Reminds me of an old story about Arnold Palmer. It seems that during the height of the Jack Nicklaus-Palmer rivalry he used to refer to going to the bathroom in the morning as his "Daily Nicklaus." Ahhh, for the days of yore. And by the way, my pick for this year's Open is Mickelson. Not sure why, but he seems to have turned the corner finally in the mental department. David Howell is in my top 5 mix. He has been playing extremely well lately. As for the other guys mentioned, I just don't see Tiger coming back after this long of a layoff and making a run at the title. The Open requires too much precision both off the tee and on the greens and I just don't think he'll have that having taken 9 weeks off. Ernie Els seems to have forgotten how to play at the highest level lately, but two guys that might be interesting are Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen. Singh has been struggling of late but came alive this week so maybe this will be another upturn for him. Goosen is the proto-typical Open player, kind of like Hale Irwin back in the day. Straight off the tee and nerves of steel. Another name to ponder, if he can get himself righted on the greens, is Sergio Garcia. If he can't putt though, then it won't matter how well he hits it. Oh well, either way it's one of my four favorite weeks of the year. I can't wait for Thursday morning.
posted by donnnnychris at 08:49 AM on June 12, 2006
It seems like a big job to come back after 9 weeks of not playing to face US Open conditions, but if it can be done, we all know its Tiger that can do it.
posted by jaygolf at 08:50 AM on June 12, 2006
And in reference to the article JJ, I just wanted to get the discussion started. I'm sure there will be other articles later in the week to reference or make a thread with on this subject.
posted by donnnnychris at 09:05 AM on June 12, 2006
I'm sure there will be other articles later in the week to reference or make a thread with on this subject. Fantastic. Because we need 100 threads on every topic.
posted by yerfatma at 09:41 AM on June 12, 2006
Tiger Woods isn't the best player in the world at the moment. He has been the best player in the world for most of his career which (Singh managed a temporary appearance at the top like David Duval) encompasses the last ten years.
posted by delconte at 03:42 PM on June 12, 2006
A good look at the gem this years Open will be played at. My dark horse pick: Jim Furyk. The last Open played here, in 1984, had one of the most exciting last rounds in recent memory, leading to a playoff between Fuzzy Zoeller and Greg Norman. I can still see Fuzzy waving that white towell in mock surrender....
posted by mjkredliner at 05:23 PM on June 12, 2006
donnnnnnnnnnnnnnnychris - we need to up the ante if we are to overwhelm the trolls with awesomeness. There must be something better out there by way of a preview to the year's second major than a yahoo wouldn't-it-be-nice-if-Phil-and-Tiger-were-tied-on-Sunday wank fest that has no bearing on anything other than the writer's weak recognition that those two players are the best in the world at the moment. He has also completely misunderstood the issue with the rough and seems to think that the USGA's introduction of "graded rough" makes the course harder than ever, when really, it makes it easier and brings more players into the "possible winner" category. This year, for the first time that I can remember, you will be penalised according to how wayward you are instead of (as in previous years) the rough being the same (hideous) length two inches off the fairway as it is thirty yards off the fairway. It's fun to have a thread before a major where we can all mouth off about who's going to win and make stupid predictions (David Howell is mine) about who might win, but let's find a better article to aid the discussion. On the other hand, that one could have been posted in its own right as a "Tiger calls Phil a fat prick" headline.