'Tis But A Flesh Wound

When Padraig was asked about his wrist after the first round, he responded with a famous Monty Python quote. If you can't pull it from your own memory banks, check out this YouTube clip.


He certainly proved worthy this weekend, posting a 283 total and winning by four strokes over Ian Poulter (who, according to Poulter, he and Tiger are the best two golfers playing right now ;-). The Shark didn't win, but he certainly proved that he's still got it - nobody expected him to be in the final group on Sunday before the week began. I admit, I even chuckled when I added his name to the roster for our picks.

As for our pool, Jeff Fannon wins again ($175) - making him the first back-to-back winner of the Tigerless Golf Pools. Congratulations Jeff - it's now your duty and privilege to recruit a few more players for the PGA! Cohen ($50) doubles his money by taking 2nd and Ridge ($25) gets his entry fee back.

Well, I have a tee time in about an hour and I have to get moving. I hope you all enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing you next month for the PGA. Check back here soon for the updates leading up to the final major of the year.

~Max

What's in Store For Norman

He was ranked #1 in the world for about five straight years in the the 80's and 90's. He's won 82 professional golf tournaments, including two times at The Open. However, he's mostly remembered for blowing a six-stroke lead at Augusta in 1996. Gagging a final round of 78 to Nick Faldo's 67. Faldo won by 5. That wasn't the first (or last) Major Meltdown for The Shark, but it is probably one of the greatest choke jobs in all of sports. Wouldn't it have been great if Faldo were part of the ABC crew this weekend - now that would have been special.

Norman has an opportunity to put all of that sordid past behind him today. With a win, he'll become the oldest player to win a major (53 years and 160 days). He'll become only the fourth player to win a tournament in three straight decades and he'll make everyone who has ever teed it up, no matter how old they are, believe that they too can go out and shoot the round of his life - the next time they play that is ;-) With a top-5 finish, The Shark will get an invite to next year's Masters tournament too.

Enjoy your Sunday and the final round at The Open.

Time to Feed The Shark

Nobody could have imagined this. The Shark holds the 54 hole lead by 2 shots over Harrington and Choi. He's 2-over par for the championship and the last time that The Open leader was over par after three rounds was back in 1986 at Turnberry. That too was Greg Norman, he was 1-over par after three rounds and held a 1-shot lead over some guy named Tsuneyuki Nakajima. In the final round of his first British Open win (that was 22 years ago by the way), The Shark shot a 1-under 69 to win by five strokes.


Back to what matters...Andy Cohen and Jeff Fannon are tied for the lead with 50 points and Mike Ridge sits alone in third place with 44. Anthony Kim (found on 5 entries) was our best scorer of the day with 4 points and Padraig Harrington scored 3.

It should be an exciting finish.


~Max

48 MPH Gusts Can't Stop Love

The conditions are brutal. No rain, but the wind is howling and players are finding it difficult to mark a ball on the green.

So far, the LRD is even par 70. Both Davis Love III and Henrik Stenson have accomplished this feat. Even par today is equivalent to the 5-under round that Villegas shot yesterday. Love's round had one birdie, one bogie and 16 pars. At this point, he's moved up the leaderboard by 40 spots. He was tied for 69th at the start of the day and is currently tied for 29th. If even par holds up for the LRD, you'll need scores of 74 or better to earn points today.

Good luck!

~Max

Weather Will Play Role Saturday

The forecast is for a high of 59 degrees, rain and 20-30 mph winds. The conditions will favor the pure ball strikers and those with experience playing in weather. It should be a lot of fun!

TNT Television coverage begins at 6:00 am (CDT) and moves to ABC at 8:00 am (CDT). Tee times and pairings can be found here.

~Max

Catch The Leader

Even though 21 points separate first and last place, everyone is still mathematically alive for a prize. There are 10 golfers that are held by one entry and 4 golfers can be found on only two sheets. So, if you are behind - you just need some great rounds by your picks who aren't on anyone else's list.

I've posted a chart that shows every golfer in our pool who made the cut and the number next to his name shows how many entries picked him. Personally, I'll be rooting for Adam Scott, Andres Romero and Martin Kaymer this weekend. Who is your wildcard?

~Max

Cohen Leads After Two

Camilo Villegas' 5-under, 65, gave a lot of players hope - but, there wasn't a lot of scoring at Royal Birkdale today. There wasn't a lot of scoring in the pool either. Only ten points were registered in the entire pool for the second round, compared to 36 in round one.

While 83 players made the cut (low 70 and ties), we had 24 picked in our pool. Only Andy Cohen had all eight picks make the cut. Fannon, Ridge, Dwyer and Hasan all have seven players teeing it up this weekend.

Today we may have witnessed the resurgence of David Duval, who made only his second cut of the season by shooting 73, 69. He enters the weekend only three shots behind leader, KJ Choi. We also may have witnessed the demise of John Daly, who shot a two-day total of 169 - 29 shots over par. Daly will be looking for something else to do this weekend. Do they have a Hooter's over there?

Villegas Shoots 65, Norman Leads

Camilo Villegas finished his second round with 5 straight birdies to card a 65. I'm almost certain that score will hold up for the LRD, meaning that your players will need to shoot under par (69 or better) today to earn points for Round 2.

The Shark, Norman, is the leader in the clubhouse after shooting is second straight round of even par, 70.

The projected cut is 8-over par. Currently there are 81 players sitting within the cut-line.

~Max

Detailed Round 1 Leaderboard

If Birkdale plays the same way tomorrow, it's possible we'll be looking at a double-digit cut-line. Top 70 and ties make the cut to play the weekend. As you know, you receive 3 points for each player who makes the cut. So, ideally, you need your players to post a two round total under 149 to be within in the cut-line tomorrow. Anything can happen, and it probably will ;-)

In 1999, Aussie, Rod Pampling shot a 70, to take the first round lead. He followed that up with a round that you or I might shoot - an 86! He failed to make the cut.

I posted the detailed Leaderboard. The summary is in the previous post.

~Max

Rocco Rolls, The Shark Smooth

They don't give out trophies for this, but Rocco Mediate holds the best total score over the last five rounds of play in major championships. Rocco is tied for the lead with Graeme McDowell and Robert Allenby - all are at 1-under par, 69, and that was our Low Round of the Day (LRD). So, 69=5 points, 70=4 points, 71=3 points, 72=2 points and 73=1 point. If your player shot 74 or higher, they receive 0 points for the round.

Greg Norman carded an even-par, 70 today. He looked as if his game is in good shape (maybe he's hoping to get some back, after the $103 million divorce settlement). His new bride, Chris Evert, looked very pleased after Norman stroked a long birdie putt on 17. It's obvious that the Shark is still as smooth as ever.

Andy Cohen picked up right where he left off in the US Open Tigerless Pool, in the money. Cohen is tied for the first round lead with newcomer, Cary Petron. Amer Hasan and Mike Ridge are tied for 3rd.

There are quite a few tools on websites to track your favorite players. I like the one at The Open site slightly better than the one available at the PGA site. Check them out, it sure makes it easier to keep track of what's going on while you're in the office.

~Max

Sergio Appears To Be Our Favorite As Well

Not only is he the bookies' favorite, the young Spaniard can be found on over half the entries. It makes sense, he's probably the best ball striker in the field, and that will help him battle the elements at Royal Birkdale. The question is...will his putter be there? While 7 out of 10 entries have Sergio, the most picked player is Retief Goosen with 8.

Click on the image to enlarge. Please check your picks and let me know if there are any errors. Good Luck!

~Max

Harrington's Wrist Problem

Padraig Harrington, the defending Open Champion, said in a press conference today that he injured his wrist while hitting into an impact bag on Saturday. He said he is getting treatment, and hasn't hit a full golf shot since Saturday. He's hoping that his wrist will be at full strength to play come Thursday.

The entries are starting to trickle in, don't forget that because the quest for the Claret Jug is in Europe, your entry forms are due by Midnight on Wednesday, July 16th. Get your Blank Entry Form here.

The pairings for round 1 are out. You can find them here. If you want to familiarize yourself with Royal Birkdale's layout, go here.

TNT will have live coverage of The Open on Thursday and Friday, starting at 6:30 am ET.

Entry Form Ready For Download

Ok, the stage is set, the players are in position and the blank entry forms are ready to be downloaded, filled out and emailed back to me.

Read these directions carefully and if you are having trouble, email me for assistance. ENTRY FORMS ARE DUE BY MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 16.

When you click the Blank Entry Form link to the right (or the hypertext in this post) you'll be taken to a web address that should ask you to either Open, Save or Cancel. You should choose Save and download it to your PC. The file is in Excel and I've made sure that it is safe, and virus free. If you are having problems downloading or viewing the file, please send me an email and I'll simply email you the file directly.

After you've saved the file, you can open it and complete the form. The cells that say "Pick A Winner!" are dropdown menus that contain the names of the players for that category. Once you've chosen all of your players (2 from Group A, 3 from Group B and 3 from Group C), save the file and attach it to an email and send it to me at max_rose@sbcglobal.net.

Make sure you send your entry fee at the same time, unless you've already done so (thank you to those who already have).

ENTRY FORMS ARE DUE BY MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 16.

It should be a very exciting tournament. Be sure to pass this on to all of your friends, co-workers and associates.

Good Luck!
~Max

Villegas, Kelly In, Donald and Toms Out

Jerry Kelly found out yesterday that he's going to the British Open. Kelly was the second alternate. Luke Donald withdrew yesterday because of a wrist injury that he suffered at the US Open (who says golf isn't a rough and tumble sport?). David Toms also withdrew, giving Kelly a spot at Royal Birkdale.

Camillo Villegas was the first alternate, and got his invitation when Kenny Perry made his decision not to compete at The Open.

To see the entire field, and how each player qualified, check out this Sporting News article.

Entry Forms Available This Weekend

154 players have qualified for The Open at Royal Birkdale, so there are only two spots up for grabs. One will come from the John Deere Classic and the other will come from the Scottish Open, both are playing this weekend.

There will be 27 countries represented this year at the 134th British Open, 41 from the US, 27 from England and 18 from Australia are already in and will be teeing it up next Thursday, July 17.

The rules will be just like we used for the US Open this year and here they are.

Rules:
Entries must be in by Thursday, July 16, 2008 at Midnight. Email sheets to max_rose@sbcglobal.net.
No handwritten picks will be accepted, everyone must use this Excel form (will be posted by Sunday, July 13).
This is the "Tigerless" British Open Pool, so Tiger Woods' scores will not affect the outcome of our contest (not that it matters).

How To Complete An Entry Form:
Select a team of 8 players from The British Open Field (listed on the left). Your team must be made up of players based upon the following criteria:
- 2 different players from Group A ( World Ranking 2-11)
- 3 different players from Group B ( World Ranking 12-30)
- 3 different players from Group C ( Rest of the field)

Scoring:
The LOW Round of the Day (LRD) will earn 5 points. Every golfer will be compared to the LRD and will earn points based on how far behind the LRD they were for the day.

Example: If the LRD is 2-over par, then every golfer who shoots 2-over would receive 5 points, 3-over would get 4 points, 4-over would get 3 points, 5-over would get 2 points, 6-over would get 1 point and every other score would get 0 points. So, to earn points, your golfers must shoot a score within 4 strokes of the Low Round for the Day.

3 Bonus Points will be awarded to each player making the cut.
8 Bonus Points will be awarded to the actual winner of The Open.
Ties: Ties will be broken based on the entry with the most players who make the cut; if still tie, the shares effected will be split.
Scoring Updates: I will be posting scoring updates on a this blog.

Please be sure to include your phone number and e-mail address on your entry form to be updated.
SPECIAL NOTES:
1. Multiple entries are welcome.
2. Your picks are not officially entered into the pool until we receive your entry fee. Entry fee must be received or postmarked by Thursday, July 17.
3. Payment can be Paypal, cash or check. Check must be made out to "CASH". Any checks made out to "The Administrator" will not be accepted and your entry not activated in the pool.
4. Include a copy of your entry sheet with your payment.
5. Entries will be turned off if we do not receive your entry fee in time. Yes even if you are in the money. So send your entry fee to us before the tournament starts.
6. Deadlines are firm!! (If you know me, feel free to call me if you are having a problem, I may let you slide for a day :)
7. The Administrator will play one entry for free.
8. Mailing Addresses for The Administrator:
Max Rose, 627 Forest Ave., River Forest, IL, 60305
Email Address: max_rose@sbcglobal.net
Void where prohibited.

Rocco Is In

By virtue of his play the past couple of months, journeyman Rocco Mediate has qualified to play in The Open at Royal Birkdale.

Rocco came ohhhh so close to winning the US Open, only to lose on the 91st hole of competition to a one-legged Tiger Woods (geez, how far behind are Phil, Adam and the rest if they can't beat Tiger when he's injured??). Now he'll have a chance to compete for the Claret Jug without the number one golfer in the universe in the field. Rocco hasn't played in the British since 2002.

David Frost (48), who was often in the hunt back in the 80's and 90's, will return to The Open for the first time since 2005, where he placed 15th. He also recorded 3 top-ten finishes when he was in his "prime". Frederik Jacobson from Sweeden also sealed a spot by placing 2nd to Anthony Kim at the AT&T last weekend.

So, the entire field is almost set. A top-5 finish at the John Deere Classic this weekend will earn a meeting with the Queen. Some of the notables who haven't yet qualified are: Katayama (ranked 47 in the world), Villegas (50), Perez (51), O'Hern (55), Kelly (58), Olberhoser (65). For the most part, the field is pretty much set - with the exceptions of Tiger and Kenny Perry, the top golfers in the world will all be at Royal Birkdale next week.

Once the field is set, I'll post the entry forms. Feel free to send your entry fee ($25) in advance. You can give it to me in person, drop it off at The Beacon or O'Sullivan's in Forest Park (send me an email or call me if you do that), mail it or use Paypal.

Watch your email for future announcements.

~Max