The Open Championship 2011 Royal St. Georges

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My favorite tournament of the year is finally here.  If I had one event I could win it would be the Open Championship - I just love the effects of the weather and the truly brilliant golf courses on the Open rota.  

Last time at St. Georges Ben Curtis was the grateful recipient of Thomas Bjorn's untimely demise in a greenside bunker.  By the way - has anybody seen or heard from Mr. Bjorn since that fateful day?

This year I really like the chances of the young guns and were I a betting man I would have a hard time going against these five:

Rory McIlroy - Golf's new golden boy.  He simply must be on everybody's shortlist of champion golfer candidates.  After the dominant showing at Congressional and last years showing at St. Andrews and this year at Augusta...you get the picture.

Louis Oosthuizen - Not sure why I like him as he hasn't done much in the year since holding the Claret Jug (top 10 at the US Open), but I just feel he'll be inspired to be playing major championship links golf.

Rickie Fowler - a stellar showing at last years Open Championship after a horrible opening round.  He is due for something good to happen...

Dustin Johnson - he's got to show up at some point this year in a major right?  I believe he'll come from out of nowhere to challenge this week.

Charl Schwartzel - okay I know I have two young South Africans on my list, maybe I'm biased, but who can argue with this pick.  A win and a top 10 in majors thus far this year.....I look for the bantamweight to be there come Sunday!

We can only hope for similar weather to last year - firm, fast and a stiff breeze off the Dover coast.  I love it!

Tee Times and Pairings

What fabulous terrain for a golf course! Just watching the Open Championship inspires me to take a golf break and get out and play some links golf. There is no better style of golf to play.  Enjoy!

If you are interested in playing a few of the Open Championship courses check out - Golf Breaks UK

Read more about the Open Championship....

Masters Week 2011 Edition

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Major season gets under way this week. Thank goodness it's that time of the year again - Masters Week! Here are my ramblings and predictions for the week.

These sites will help you keep track of all the action:

Masters.com (this site is truly exceptional)

Which even includes a live feed from the driving range......!

Golfweek.com

Golf.com

Golfdigest.com

"Tuesday Clippings" /  "Wednesday Clippings" / "Thursday Clippings" /"Saturday Clippings" / "Sunday Clippings" segment from Geoffshackelford.com

Thursday's pairings have been released.

Here's the outlook for the weather:

A heavy storm rolled through Augusta early on Tuesday morning.

Here are the odds:

PHIL MICKELSON +600
TIGER WOODS +1000
LEE WESTWOOD +1600
NICK WATNEY +1500
MARTIN KAYMER +2000
DUSTIN JOHNSON +2300
LUKE DONALD +2500
RORY MCILROY +2800
HUNTER MAHAN +2500
PAUL CASEY +3300
MATT KUCHAR +3000
JUSTIN ROSE +2500
BUBBA WATSON +3300
GRAEME MCDOWELL +4000
PADRAIG HARRINGTON +4000
ANTHONY KIM +3500
STEVE STRICKER +4000
IAN POULTER +5000
AARON BADDELEY +5000
RETIEF GOOSEN +6000
GEOFF OGILVY +6000
MARTIN LAIRD +6600
ERNIE ELS +6000
RICKIE FOWLER +6000
KYOUNG JU CHOI +6000
JIM FURYK +6000
SERGIO GARCIA +6000
ADAM SCOTT +5500
FRANCESCO MOLINARI +7000
FIELD - ANY PLAYER NOT LISTED +150

Augusta National Snow

Augusta National 2011

Augusta National in Winter

This year I am having a hard time seeing how Phil can lose. I certainly would not have said that last week, but finishing with 63, 65 on the weekend in Houston must really have his confidence up. And he has always been a streaky golfer! For some reason I like Martin Kaymer too and my sleeper pick is Martin Laird.

The other majors this year are the US Open at the newly renovated Congressional, the British Open at Royal St. Georges and the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

If your weather is horrible and you'd like to get away and play a little golf of your own you may want to look to Hawaii. Of course you'll need Hawaii tee times.

Enjoy the golf and check back often for updates of interest.

2010 PGATour Season Notes

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Well - that's a wrap! The season finished with a whimper in Orlando today and I turned my thoughts to the year that was 2010. Tiger, Dustin, Rickie and players from Britain seemed to dominate the headlines this year and here are a few of my selections from the year with a handful of stats and predictions that should be of interest to you.

Player of the Year:  Dustin Johnson

Player of the Future:  Rory McIlroy

Money Leader:  Matt Kuchar $4.9 big ones

Best Day (in golf) of the Year: Phil's win at Augusta (closely followed by Ryder Cup Monday!)

Most Dominant Performance (in an event that matters):  Louis Oosthuizen

Feel Good Win of the Year: Robert Garrigus at Disney after giving up 3 shots on the 72nd hole at Memphis.

Sneakiest Player/s of the Year:  Retief Goosen (3rd in stroke average and 2nd in top 10's) and Bo van Pelt (13th Money)

Biggest Faders (player/s who started strong and vanished by mid year): Geoff Ogilvy, Phil Mickelson and Camillo Villegas.

Best Finishers (player/s who finished the year on a good note):  Matt Kuchar

Biggest Flops of the Year:  Tiger, Sergio, Padraig, Baddeley, Mike Weir and Boo

Biggest Surprise of the Year:  Matt Kuchar, David Duval (106 Money) and Jeff Overton (12 Money)

Best Hitter of the Year:  Joe Durant by a mile (1st in GIR and 2nd in FIR) Interestingly enough Joe also produced the most spin off the driver on tour...

Best Golf Course of the Year:  St. Andrews (The wind was a nice cherry on the top!)

Longest Yardage for Putts Made in any Round: 190' Fredrik Jacobson (Think about that...!)

Best Putter:  Brandt Snedeker (None of the top five putters were in the top 130 in GIR rank)

Consecutive Sand Saves:  Luke Donald 18

Holes Without a Three Putt:  Padraig Harrington 227 and counting...

Consecutive Fairways Hit:  Nick O'Hern 34

In a ten week span from April 29 - July 4 only two US golfers won on the Tour!

Rickie Fowler at the Memorial (Getty)

Player I would most like to be:  Rickie Fowler

Player I would least like to be:  Tiger Woods

Major Winners in 2011:  Retief Goosen (Augusta), Lee Westwood (Congressional), Rory McIlroy (Royal St. Georges) and Dustin Johnson(Atlanta)

Brightest Stars of the Future:  Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Matteo Manassero

Players to Watch in 2011: Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Ricky Barnes

Here are the Top 10 Shots of the Year according to PGATour.com

Thanks so much for your readership and support - I recently had my 100,000th hit here! Oh, and feel free to call me out on any of my selections or predictions for 2011....