307 replies to this topic

[Freddy Linn]

Royal Lytham & St. Annes has seen a ton of rain, so the rough and fescue will be extraordinarily difficult. I love the early starting times:

TV Schedule according to CBSSports.com
Thursday, July 19: 5 a.m.-3.p.m. ET on ESPN
Friday, July 20: 5 a.m.-3 p.m. ET on ESPN
Saturday, July 21: 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on ESPN
Sunday, July 22: 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Sunday, July 22: 3-6 p.m. ET on ABC (Tape Delay)

Ladbrokes's odds:

Tiger Woods 16/1 Luke Donald 20/1 Rory McIlroy 33/1 Phil Mickelson 33/1 Justin Rose 40/1 Ian Poulter 40/1 Rickie Fowler 40/1 Ernie Els 50/1 Matt Kuchar 50/1 Hunter Mahan 50/1 Jason Dufner 66/1 Steve Stricker 66/1 Bubba Watson 66/1 Peter Hanson 80/1 Ross Fisher 80/1 Nicolas Colsaerts 80/1 Thomas Bjorn 100/1 K J Choi 100/1 Bo Van Pelt 100/1 Alexander Noren 100/1 Jonathan Byrd 100/1 John Senden 100/1 Thorbjorn Olesen 100/1 Geoff Ogilvy 125/1 Tim Clark 125/1 Carl Pettersson 125/1 Jeev Milka Singh 150/1 Darren Clarke 150/1 Miguel Ángel Jiménez 150/1 Aaron Baddeley 150/1 Gary Woodland 150/1 Brandt Snedeker 150/1 Chad Campbell 150/1 Andres Romero 150/1 Richard Sterne 150/1 Troy Matteson 200/1 Angel Cabrera 200/1 Trevor Immelman 200/1 Charles Howell III 200/1 Greg Chalmers 200/1 Richie Ramsay 200/1 Lucas Glover 250/1 Thomas Aiken 250/1 Mark Wilson 250/1 Justin Leonard 250/1 Kyung-Tae Kim 250/1 Tom Lehman 250/1 Harris English 250/1 Alejandro Canizares 250/1 John Huh 250/1 Johnson Wagner 250/1 Marc Leishman 300/1 Jbe Kruger 500/1 Tom Watson 500/1 Mark Calcavecchia 500/1 Toru Taniguchi 500/1 David Duval 500/1 Justin Hicks 500/1 James Driscoll 500/1 Richard Finch 500/1 Brad Kennedy 500/1 Koumei Oda 500/1 Rafa Ecchenique 500/1 Yoshinori Fujimoto 500/1 Alan Dunbar 500/1 Troy Kelly 1000/1 Kodai Ichihara 1000/1 Juvic Pagunsan 1000/1 Anirban Lahiri 1000/1 Prayad Marksaeng 1000/1 Sandy Lyle 1000/1 Adilson Da Silva 1000/1 Andrew Georgiou 1000/1 Steven Alker 1000/1 Paul Broadhurst 1000/1 Morten Orum Madsen 1000/1 Elliot Saltman 1000/1 Sam Walker 1000/1 Ian Keenan 1000/1


Anyone up for a pool?

[FL4WL3SS]

Let's do a pool!

[cshea]

So Westwood's futility in majors is so bad the oddsmakers don't even bother listing him!?

I'd be up for a pool.

Edited by cshea, 17 July 2012 - 12:25 PM.

[FL4WL3SS]

I saw odds this morning that had Westwood as #2 favorite behind Tiger.

[skifast4524]

ESPN will come on the air at 430 am ET Thursday, Tiger tees off at 442.

[FL4WL3SS]

I can't stand ESPN's golf coverage. Usually I can handle it when it's on Thursday and Friday, but they have all four days of coverage again this year. Please no Van Pelt and Berman - I can handle Tirico, let's just go with him all four days.

[Lupe Whalewatch]

Is this the only major championship golf course that begins with a par three??

[FL4WL3SS]

That's what they've been saying - I think it's pretty cool. Additionally, they were saying that the hole is away from the public and surrounded by trees, so it's basically nothing like the other holes on the course as the conditions are calm. So it's a weird starting hole for sure.

[FL4WL3SS]

No pool?

[BigMike]

Am I bad in that I m hoping for the rain and high winds that have apparently been pelting the course today to continue for another 4 days. It just isnt the British open if everyone isn't completely miserabe out there on the course, and many of these courses completely lose their teeth in calm weather

[FL4WL3SS]

I agree - for the same reasons I like seeing them struggle at the US Open. The weather is the utlimate equalizer and we could see a random first time winner this year.

My rooting interests are Tiger and guys that have never won a major (Westwood, Sergio, Adam Scott, Justin Rose) or good stories (Daly, Watson, Duval) or young guys (McIlory, Fowler, Mahan, Bill Haas, DJ, Woodland).

[cshea]

It sounds like the bunkers are going to be an issue again this year. There are over 200 bunkers on RL & SA, and from some reports, they're mostly all death traps. Azinger was tweeting earlier that you can't play to the green out of any of the fairway bunkers. Seems wrong to make the fairway bunkers on a links course that difficult, but we'll see how it goes.

Zinger also said he had never seen rough as deep as it is now (mostly due to all the rain they've gotten). The tough course conditions coupled with the poor weather could make this a really entertaining event.

[mic99]

View of the course...flyovers for each hole

http://www.theopen.c.../TheCourse.aspx

[Red(s)HawksFan]

I can't stand ESPN's golf coverage. Usually I can handle it when it's on Thursday and Friday, but they have all four days of coverage again this year. Please no Van Pelt and Berman - I can handle Tirico, let's just go with him all four days.

GolfDigest.com:

And for those who might be wondering, Chris Berman will not be part of a broadcast crew that will include Mike Tirico, Scott Van Pelt, Terry Gannon, Paul Azinger, Curtis Strange, Andy North, Tom Weiskopf, Judy Rankin, the BBC's Peter Alliss, Sean McDonough, Bill Kratzert, Olin Browne, Tom Rinaldi and ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski.

Personally, I don't care that it's ESPN doing the coverage as long as there is saturation live television coverage. Love having it on all day and seeing more of the field than the hand-selected headline group.

[Sheets]

So Westwood's futility in majors is so bad the oddsmakers don't even bother listing him!?

I'd be up for a pool.

Yeah, those odds listed are incomplete, obviously. Here's a link to the Ladbrokes site:

http://sports.ladbro...Open-t110000187

I put a small bet on McDowell @ -120 to beat Els for the tournament for the fun of it.

[Freddy Linn]

I agree - for the same reasons I like seeing them struggle at the US Open. The weather is the utlimate equalizer and we could see a random first time winner this year.

My rooting interests are Tiger and guys that have never won a major (Westwood, Sergio, Adam Scott, Justin Rose) or good stories (Daly, Watson, Duval) or young guys (McIlory, Fowler, Mahan, Bill Haas, DJ, Woodland).

I would love to know your affinity for Sergio. I can't stand the guy.

Pulling for Westwood, but I have a feeling Tiger is going to 3-iron the place to death. This may not still be true statistically this year, but historically his accuracy from 175 plus is a big advantage over 72 holes.

Sorry for boofing the odds. Not the first time cutting and pasting from their site (hence the shitty formatting).

Edited by Freddy Linn, 19 July 2012 - 02:14 AM.

[fletcherpost]

Tiger -3 after 6
Rose +3 after 6
Bubba -2
Paul Lawrie -2

I'm hearing the second cut of rough is quite severe ie no shot to the green. There's a fair few bunkers too but there needs to be some wind to make things really interesting and the weather report isn't saying much of anything other than maybe some wind on Sunday,

Edited by fletcherpost, 19 July 2012 - 05:27 AM.

[BigMike]

Wow this course is completely defenseless at the morning. Not a hint of wind, soft slow greens. The only realy damage out there is from self inflicted wounds

[fletcherpost]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...0/golf/18896430

Monty says on 4 can win The Open.


Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Paul Lawrie are the players equipped with the abilities needed to succeed at Royal Lytham & St Annes, Montgomerie told BBC Radio 5 live. "There are three technical systems they've got to have and they need all three to win," said Montgomerie."There's only a few that fall into every category. One of those four is going to win."

Rose now +4 and he's not reached the turn. Can he handle the Monty kiss of death?

Edited by fletcherpost, 19 July 2012 - 05:37 AM.

[Lupe Whalewatch]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...0/golf/18896430

Monty says on 4 can win The Open.


Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Paul Lawrie are the players equipped with the abilities needed to succeed at Royal Lytham & St Annes, Montgomerie told BBC Radio 5 live. "There are three technical systems they've got to have and they need all three to win," said Montgomerie."There's only a few that fall into every category. One of those four is going to win."

Rose now +4 and he's not reached the turn. Can he handle the Monty kiss of death?

Paul Lawrie's record in majors since his 99 Open win is fucking terrible...no idea what Monty is talking about where he is one of only four that could win...

[cshea]

The Ian McShane intro is pretty damn good.

Anyway, got to watch for a bit before going to work. With the weather being so dead guys are just throwing darts out there. Tiger could've easily shot a 28 on the front, he just missed birdie putts on 8 and 9.

[fletcherpost]

I think an American wins this week. Woods looks very solid. Bubba seems to be having fun and playing well. I'd like to see Phil have a good round.

Yo Lupe, I agree Monty is talking out his ass but, Lawrie has shot up the world rankings of late and this course sets up well for him. He's just gone -3, playing solid tee to green.

[FL4WL3SS]

I would love to know your affinity for Sergio. I can't stand the guy.

Pulling for Westwood, but I have a feeling Tiger is going to 3-iron the place to death. This may not still be true statistically this year, but historically his accuracy from 175 plus is a big advantage over 72 holes.

Sorry for boofing the odds. Not the first time cutting and pasting from their site (hence the shitty formatting).

I think Sergio is misunderstood, but I would also love to see him fulfill his potential.

I don't really care much about personalities, I root for the guys I like watching play.

[BigMike]

Bubba starting to implode a bit, Misses a very short birdie putt on 12, then bogies 13, and is now way off in the deep rough off the tee on 14.

Adam Scott has a tap in for -7

[Lupe Whalewatch]

People not taking advantage of these conditions today may get left in the dust.

[BigMike]

People not taking advantage of these conditions today may get left in the dust.

Yeah, -1 must feel like +1 or even +2 on this course.

Westwood must be sick to his stomach throwing up 3 bogies and a double through 14 to leave himself at +1. That's just flushing the tournament away

[fletcherpost]

It's really hard to root for Westwood.

[BigMike]

Scott is making a mess of 18,but will have a 10-15 footer for 63. And more importantly the wind is clearly starting to spring up

Scott bogies 18.

And Zach Johnson just left an easy 7 iron from the middle of the fairway 40 yards short. No idea how that happens

[FL4WL3SS]

The all day coverage is awesome.

[johnmd20]

It's really hard to root for Westwood.

Yet, it is really easy to root against him.

[FL4WL3SS]

Yet, it is really easy to root against him.

I don't get this, why? He's one of the good guys on tour, always is gracious in defeat and is an amazing ball-striker so fun to watch.

You guys are racist.

[FL4WL3SS]

What a great shot from Tiger out of the wheat field.

[cshea]

Part of why I used to not like him is because he's indestructible in the Ryder Cup, but then just throws up all over the place in majors. I've come around on him a bit though, I wouldn't mind seeing him win.

[johnmd20]

I don't get this, why? He's one of the good guys on tour, always is gracious in defeat and is an amazing ball-striker so fun to watch.

You guys are racist.

I guess it's always because he has to be gracious in defeat because he never wins. And he seems prickly. And douchey. These feelings are not rational. For example, I like Sergio and always want to see him do well and, by all accounts, he is really a douche. But I never mind when Westwood falls apart, as he always does, on Sunday. Or he falls apart on Saturday, knocking himself out of contention and then rolls off like 47 straight birdies in a row after it means nothing.

That rough is brutal, watching Tiger trying to club it out of there hurts my arms and shoulders.

[FL4WL3SS]

Glad to see Adam Scott doing well, but rarely do first round leaders go onto win, so in a way it's a bit unfortunate at the same time.

[FL4WL3SS]

Gotta admit, I love ESPN's use of the shot tracker instead of showing the useless "ball in air" shot; they've figured out a way to do it during the live shot. I hope more networks consider doing the same.

[fletcherpost]

I don't get this, why? He's one of the good guys on tour, always is gracious in defeat and is an amazing ball-striker so fun to watch.

You guys are racist.

He's dull. He has a gormless look about him. He's a bottler. He's wall paper. Rory or Graham McDowell on the other hand are very easy to cheer on. McDowell does some very nice things this his neck and jaw when he's in the mood and i like that sort of thing. Westwood is just uber solid dishwater.

[BigMike]

He's dull. He has a gormless look about him. He's a bottler. He's wall paper. Rory or Graham McDowell on the other hand are very easy to cheer on. McDowell does some very nice things this his neck and jaw when he's in the mood and i like that sort of thing. Westwood is just uber solid dishwater.

I can't say I disagree with this. None of this makes him easy to hate though in my book. I can see how he may be hard to like, but there is just nothing to hate about him

[Freddy Linn]

Phil drops 2.5 shots to the field with a double on 7.

[Papelbon's Poutine]

I feel like they did this thing on the announcer last year, no?

[drtooth]

Phil +3 through 13

[johnmd20]

Rory McIlroy hits someone on the head on 15 and the ball takes a bounce out of bounds. Rory has to retee and the dude who got hit on the head gets a huge bump and hopefully not a concussion. Bad news all around.

[cshea]

Course toughening up a bit today. Only 10 players under par on the golf course, 1 being Luke Donald who has birdied 4 of his last 5 to get to -3. Brandt Snedeker has also been playing well, moving into a tie with Scott.

And then there's Lefty who will be catching the first flight back to the US today. +3 through 8 holes today, +6 for the tournament. Thanks for playing, Phil.

Edit: I should note it's somewhat surprising the players aren't scoring well right now. Zero wind whatsoever, and the greens are still incredibly soft from all the rain.

Edited by cshea, 20 July 2012 - 06:02 AM.

[BigMike]

yeah the announcers keep talking about how these players have had the wind in the face all day, as it apparent just switched directions. But I am not seeing any evidence of wind. The flagsticks look dead calm, the trees dead calm, maybe just the slightest wobble from the random tall grass.

Seems like maybe the pin positions are a bit tougher today. yesterday it seemed like almost every pin was in the dead flat. Today it seems like there is break on some of the putts

[PaulinMyrBch]

Lefty with the upside down right handed swing and it runs around the rim of the bunker. Only Lefty.

I used to practice that ball in the water shot when I was a competitive golfer. It was an easy shot if about half of the ball was out of the water, impossible if it was close to 100 submerged.

[Zomp]

Just woke up to Snedeker raping the course. Hopefully GMac, Tiger, and Bubba can go low and make it interesting.

[Zomp]

Does Zach Johnson use a bimatrix putter shaft?

[Zomp]

I love the ball flight tracker. I'd watch youtube videos all day of that shit.

(btw I'm not working til 4pm and its raining so no golf for me. so you get commentary from ZOMP all day)

[Freddy Linn]

FIGJAM is twenty shots off the lead.

[cshea]

It's those damned European vacations. They really take a lot out of you.