It’s that time of year again.  On Thursday, the oldest major, The Open Championship (aka The British Open) kicks off.

This year, the Open Championship returns to Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England for the 13th time since 1894.  The last time the Open was held here in 2003, it produced one of the most unlikely champions in its history, Ben Curtis.

Is Curtis one of my picks this week?  Read on to find out.

1. Rory McIlroy – In what world could Rory possibly not be a favorite to win this week?  After one of the most dominant US Open performances in years, he seems to be primed to perform well at Royal St George’s.  Yes, he did take the last few weeks off, but have you seen his backyard practice facility?  I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s plenty prepared for this week.

2. Luke Donald – Last week marked the return of the Scottish Open to a links style course.  This made it an ideal last-minute tune up for the worlds best golfers, despite the fact that freak weather conditions shortened the event to 54 holes. And Donald showed that he was ready for the challenge that Links golf provides when he shot a final round 63 to win by 4-shots.  If Donald carries that performance over to the Open this week, he’s going to be hard to beat.

3. Matt Kuchar -Kuchar was one of several Americans that made the trip over to the UK early to get prepared for the Open.  I think it was clearly a smart move given Kuchar’s T10 finish.  As the American with the highest finish last week in Scotland, he is in my opinion, the American most likely to win the British this week.

4. Jason Day – Day is playing in only his 5th major championship.  But he’s finished 2nd in the last two and T10 in the PGA before that.  In fact his worst finish in a major is a T60 in last years Open Championship, his first major ever.  With another year of experience under his belt, look for Day to come through with a strong finish this week.

5. Nick Watney – Watney has already won twice this year.  He can flight the ball relatively low and has one heck of a short game.  Those are two keys to success at the British.  The only area of his game where he tends to struggle a bit is out of the bunkers.  If he’s able to keep the ball away from them, look for him to have a great week.

No, Ben Curtis isn’t one of picks.  He was a long shot when he won in 2003 and he’s a long shot now.  But links golf can be strange sometimes so it’s hard to count anybody out.  That said though, I’m willing to bet that the winner will come from one of the 5 players above.

Luke Donald defeated Lee Westwood on the first hole of a playoff at the BMW PGA Championship yesterday in Wentworth, England.  With his victory, Donald claimed the #1 world ranking from Westwood.  No, Donald hasn’t won a major (so I guess now he’s the best player in the world to have never won a major – AKA TBPITWTHNWAM), but he’s been playing incredible golf this year.

I also have to give him credit for the fact that earlier this week he told everybody he was the best player in the world and then went out and straight up beat the current #1 to prove it.

Donald is obviously excited about his new ranking:

“I’ve been runner-up a few times in my career, but to come through in these circumstances in one of the biggest tournaments in the world, going head-to-head with Lee for the No. 1 ranking was pretty special,” Donald said. “Not sure that will happen again. Unique history has been made. It will be great to tell the grandchildren one day that I was the best player in the world.

Congrats to Luke Donald, but you have to wonder how long he’ll stay on top.  The OWGR is a bit of a merry-go-round at the moment (the #1 ranking has changed hands 4 times since the Fall) and with so many good players near the top, whenever anybody gets hot, they have an opportunity to vault to the top of the rankings.

I don’t like the idea of a world #1 that doesn’t have a major to his name.  It just doesn’t feel right to me.  But with the way the points work, you obviously don’t need a major to be #1.

But I do think that in order for Donald (or whomever) to really establish themselves as a dominant #1 in the public’s perception, they need to go out and win a major.   I think that has always been true and will continue to be true for the foreseeable future.

Personally, I’m doing my best to just sit back and enjoy the ride, because it doesn’t look like the merry-go-round is stopping anytime soon.

Golf.com

[Image Flickr/photojenni]

This week the world’s best (well except for Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy) are gathered at the TPC Sawgrass for the so called “fifth major”, the Players Championship.  Like many others, I think the “fifth major” label is stretching it a bit, but if you just went by the coverage on the Golf Channel, you’d think the US Open was being held this week.

That said, the Players Championship is always a fun tournament to watch and the notoriously difficult island green on the par-3 17th is one of the most exciting holes in golf.  So who do I think will emerge victorious on Sunday?

Luke Donald – The world #3 is an easy pick this week.  He extremely accurate off the tee and a great putter.  According to the new Strokes Gained – Putting statistic, he was actually the best putter on tour in 2009 and 2010.

Because he’s not a bomber, there are certain courses where it’s difficult for him to contend, but last year Tim Clark showed us all that you don’t have to be a huge hitter to win the Players.

Adam Scott – Scott had an incredible week at the Masters and followed that up with a solid outing at the Valero Texas Open.  He’s taken the last couple of weeks off, so he should arrive at the first tee on Thursday rested and ready to go.

Scott has always been a solid ball-striker and has historically been held back by his putting.  He definitely seems to have found something with the long putter though.  So if he’s able to maintain that, we’ll likely see him in contention on Sunday.

Tommy Gainey – Gainey is definitely a bit of a dark horse pick.  He had two consecutive 3rd place finishes at the Heritage and Zurich but then followed that with a MC at Quail Hollow.  It seems like Gainey is either in the mix or misses the cut.  That’s just a reflection of his go-for-broke playing style.

It’s a lot of fun watching Gainey and his home-made swing out there amongst all the picture-perfect swings on Tour.  I’d love to see him walk up to the 17th tee with a chance to win on Sunday.

Ben Crane – Ben Crane was one of my dark horse picks at the Masters.  That didn’t turn out so hot.  But I think he actually has a great chance at the TPC Sawgrass.  In his last 3 years here, his worst finish is 6th.  For whatever reason, he just plays really well on this course.

Martin Kaymer – Wow, Derek, you’re taking such a risk picking the world #2 and #3 players this week.  I know, by world ranking, Kaymer should be a favorite to win this week.  But after his missed cut at the Masters, he’s not at the top of many people’s list this week.

At the end of the day he is the #2 player in the world and got there for a reason.  He’s got something to prove after Augusta and I think this could be the week he does it.

Lee Westwood regained the world #1 ranking on Sunday by defeating a power-packed field at the Indonesian Masters after Luke Donald lost to Brandt Snedeker in a playoff at the Heritage.  OK… OK… I’m sorry for the sarcasm. I just couldn’t help myself.

Westwood beat the second place finisher, Thongchai Jaidee (ranked 75th in the world), by 3 strokes. The rest of the leaderboard included such international heavyweights as Hyun-bin Park and Thitiphun Chuayprakong (both ranked outside the top 300), Siddikur (just one name like Madonna – ranked 120th), and Marcus Both (ranked 233rd) and a bunch of other guys who’s names even hard-core golf fans have never heard of (and couldn’t pronounce).

I wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of Lee Westwood’s ascent to #1 last time, and I can’t say that I’m more enthused this go-round.  The math is what it is, but it just doesn’t seem like you should be able to step into the #1 ranking by defeating a field that for the most part wouldn’t qualify for a Nationwide Tour event.

The problem is that the OWGR gives too many points for winning an Asian Tour event.  Asian Tour and Nationwide Tour events are guaranteed the same minimum points for the even winner, basically placing them on equal footing in the eyes of the OWGR.

I don’t think anybody else actually believes that the tours are equal in reality.  And even if they were, should you be able to earn the top spot in the world of golf by winning on the Nationwide tour?

But regardless, Westwood is still the only player to be ranked #1 without a major win, although to be fair the same  could be said of Donald if he had won.  For those of you keeping score, Westwood has now stepped into the top spot by not playing, and by defeating a less-than-impressive field in Indonesia.

If he loses and regains the #1 ranking again, my bet is that he’ll show up at a Canadian Tour event to try to reclaim the title.

I know there are some people out there that are saying, “You just want an American to be #1.”  Not true.  I don’t care about the nationality of the #1 player.  I just want him to be the #1 player.

I was perfectly happy for Martin Kaymer to be #1 after the year he had in 2010.  As for Luke Donald, at least he would have earned the ranking by defeating a solid field at the Heritage.

Regardless, Westwood is #1 again, but nobody knows for how long.  My guess is that we’re going to see a game of musical chairs atop the OWGR for the near future.  Who knows, maybe Westwood will pick up his 3rd win over the past 13 years on the PGA Tour and really cement himself as #1.  Or not.

[Image Flickr/zrim]

With Martin Kaymer missing the cut 78-72, the #1 world ranking is officially up for grabs this weekend at the Masters.  Lee Westwood (#2), Phil Mickelson (#3), Luke Donald (#4), and Tiger (#7) could all take over the number 1 spot depending on how the other contenders finish.  Graeme McDowell (#5)  missed the cut and because of the math, Paul Casey (#6) can’t move to #1 even if he wins.

You’d have to be a statistician to figure out all of the possible scenarios, but thankfully the Golf Channel’s Randal Mell has laid out the possibilities for the rest of us:

No. 2 Westwood and No. 3 Mickelson can become No. 1 with a Masters’ victory regardless what anyone else does.

No. 4 Donald becomes No. 1 if he wins and Westwood finishes worse than solo second.

No. 7 Woods becomes No. 1 if he wins and Mickelson finishes worse than solo second and Westwood finishes outside the top three.

No. 5 Graeme McDowell missed the cut. No. 6 Paul Casey by virtue of divisors and OWGR rolling two-year math has no shot to become No. 1 this week.

My head hurts now.

[Image Flickr/Keith Allison]

The US played a great match and has nothing to be ashamed of.  Playing in Europe is always difficult.  In fact the US has only won in Europe twice in the past 30 years (1993 and 1981).  When a match comes down to the final few holes of the final pairing, you really can’t ask for anything more as a golf fan.  Yes, it sucks that the US lost, but they gave it 100% and the Europeans won fair and square.

The Good:

Tiger - The #1 player in the world seems to be coming back into form.  This was his best Ryder Cup ever.  Who would have actually thought that the #1 player in the world would be the #1 points earner on the US team?   Working with Sean Foley is apparently paying off.  He wasn’t tack sharp over the weekend but he dropped the hammer on Monday shooting 9 under through 15 holes against Francesco Molinari.  If that’s any indication of what he is going to do the next time he tees it up on tour… well, look out because 19 majors will come very quickly.

Rickie Fowler – The Ryder Cup looked like it might be over with 4 holes left to play in his match with Eduardo Molinari, but 3 straight birdies allowed Fowler to halve the match and keep the American’s chances alive.  No, he didn’t play well overall, but the moxy that he showed on Monday will be a valuable asset to future US Ryder Cup teams.

Hunter Mahan – You could tell how much this all meant to Mahan during the press conference.  Hopefully he will be able to come to terms with the fact that he didn’t lose the Ryder Cup.  The US team lost the Ryder Cup on Sunday.  They almost won it on Monday, but that certainly wasn’t when they lost it.

Phil Mickelson – He showed his class stepping in to help out a heart-broken Hunter Mahan in the press conference.

Steve Stricker – They should call him Super Steve or something.  He played solidly all weekend, as usual.  He and Tiger should just be permanently paired together at the Ryder Cup.  Their 6-1-0 record is outstanding.  Maybe we should give them a celebrity couple name like Striger.

Lee Westwood – He played some great golf coming off of his leg injury.  He took over the #2 spot in the world (although the Ryder Cup didn’t really have anything to do with that) and now has a shot at becoming the next world #1 (that’s a subject for an entire new post).

Graham McDowell – Wow.  A US Open win at Pebble Beach and then being the guy that closes out the final match in one of the closes Ryder Cups in recent memory?  Life is good.

Luke Donald – He played exceptionally well, going 3-1-0 and continuing his unbeaten foursomes record.  He was clearly the best pick Monty made and I am eating some crow over his performance.

The Bad:

The Captainess - Raingate.  I realize this probably wasn’t actually Lisa Pavin’s fault, but if you want the title, you get either the credit or the blame that comes with it.  Did it not occur to anybody that they needed functional rain gear for an October Ryder Cup in Wales?

Phil Mickelson – Yes, he showed his class in the press conference.  He also played some pretty poor golf last week.  I wouldn’t expect the world #2 to have the worst record of any US player in Ryder Cup History.

Jim Furyk – I think the FedEx cup just took too much out of him.  I know that he denied any effect during the press conference, but the Jim Furyk we all saw this past week, was not the same Jim Furyk we saw at East Lake.

Molinari Brothers - They got beat like drums without a single point between the two of them.  Not much else to say.

Colin Montgomerie – Yes, his team won so he can’t be completely awful.  However, he’s paranoid and I still contend that the Europeans won despite his captain’s selections.  Does anybody think that it would have come down to the last pairing on Monday if Eduardo Molinari and Padraig Harrington had been replaced by Paul Casey and Justin Rose?

Corey Pavin – Honestly I think his captaincy was a mess.  I know they almost staged one of the greatest comebacks in Ryder Cup history, but honestly I don’t get the impression that he had much to do with it.  He never seemed to exude leadership.  Apparently he even expressed some confusion during one press conference about the total number of matches that were played.  Really????  He just seemed overwhelmed and unable to take the helm of the US team.  I wonder if he will ever lose the nickname “Borey Pavin”.

Photo by Torey Wiley

Colin Montgomerie is certainly experiencing a little bit of indigestion today.  He made some controversial picks for the Ryder Cup team leaving Justin Rose and Paul Casey off of the team.  Rose has won twice on the PGA Tour this year and Casey is currently ranked 9th in the world.  Obviously both players were upset but handled it like professionals. The scuttlebutt is that Casey was snubbed left off because Faldo selected him instead of Montgomerie for the 08 Ryder Cup team.

So today Paul Casey went out and almost won the BMW with 4 straight 69′s, while Luke Donald, one of Montie’s picks, folded like a lawn chair closed out the week with a 77.  And while he didn’t play his best golf of the year, Justin Rose finished 3 strokes ahead of Donald in a tie for 21st.  Unconfirmed reports (ie I made it up) placed Montgomerie at the local pharmacy buying Pepto Bismol to deal with a huge case of heartburn.  If the Europeans win, it will be in spite of Montgomerie, and if they lose, well, the Americans should probably name him MVP.