Louis! Louis! Louis!

Yessir! Louis Oosthuizen (as far as I can tell it is pronounced "oost-hey-zen") from South Africa won The Open Championship on Sunday. Not only did he win, becoming the 5th South African to win a major, he ran away with it, winning by 7 strokes.
Oosthuizen has fellow South African, and former Open champ, Ernie Els, to thank for his victory on Sunday. As a junior Oosthuizen was enrolled in the Els Foundation for aspiring junior players who may not have the means to pursue the game at the high level. The work paid off.
Oosthuizen, the man they call "Shrek", maintained his lead after round two and was never surpassed. When Paul Casey got close on Sunday, Louis calmly drained a 50 foot eagle putt. The youngster who had never won a tournament of this magnitude seemed cool and collected and flourished when the lights were brightest.
His victory was the topper on an eventful weekend of golf that saw Rory McIlroy shoot a record 63 in the first round, follow it up with an +8 80 in round two and battle back to finish at -8 in a tie for third. We saw Tiger start the tourney with a new putter, only to see his putting woes continue and go back to the old putter for Sunday - which didn't help anything. Phil was all over the place and the wind was a major character as usual. The 4 Major Championship trophies now rest on 4 different continents, which speaks to the global power of the game. (Phil has the green jacket, U.S.A.; Graeme McDowell the U.S. Open trophy, N. Ireland; Y.E. Yang the PGA Championship, South Korea; and now Oosthuizen the Claret Jug, South Africa)
All in all this was everything we've come to expect from an Open Championship.
The next major, and final of the year, will be next month for the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits Golf Club in Wisconsin.

British Open Update

For a handful of hours yesterday, the Old Course at St Andrew's was very vulnerable, and many players took advantage. None more so than young Rory McIlroy who shot a 63 to finish as the leader after day 1 at -9. McIlroy's 63 tied a record for the lowest opening round score in a major champiosnhip. The young stud, only 21 years old, was booming drives down the fairway and draining putts from all over the place.
Other players took advantage of the fair weather as well, including Tiger Woods and John Daly who came in at -5 and -6, respectively. Daly is a surprise to many, but he has played well at this course, winning here in 1995. However, it has been about 7 years since John Daly had a win on tour, so don't expect him to keep it up. Tiger played well but left quite a few birdies out there. He'll be hoping the new Billy Baroo can drain a few more of those today.

At the time of posting, play is about to resume in round 2 after a delay of about an hour. The leader in the clubhouse is Louis Oosthuizen, from South Africa. He's in at -12, and looks like everyone will be chasing him. The winds are howling, so don't expect too many low scores today unless it calms down or someone can manage to put up a nice score hitting low knock down shots.

I will update this post as things change throughout the day.

2010 British Open Preview

It's about time this blog got a little dignified. Leave it to Jesus to bring you a little action on the "Gentleman's Game" - although there's plenty of Tiger haters out there that might dispute that title!

Without further ado...let's take a look at the 2010 British Open, or as the Brits like to call it, "The Open Championship." *By the time this posts rounds should already be well underway across the pond, barring any weather delays.

This year's Open will take place at the storied, Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrew's - The Old Course. The Old Course is a favorite of golf enthusiasts, and always generates the most interest out of the other rotating Open sites. The earliest historical record of golf being played on these grounds is 1552! And some believe it may have happened even earlier.
There are many unique features at The Old Course, but most notably are the huge double-greens (two holes share the same green). The Course can also be played in either direction. You may think of golf when you think of Sunday, right? Well, at the Old Course Sunday play is only allowed 4 other times a year...one of which is for the Open final round if it is being played there. This is the 28th time St Andrew's has hosted the Open, with Tiger Woods winning the last two in 2005 and 2000.

No course can be affected by weather quite like the Old Course. Graeme McDowell even joked that "They should try playing the Open during the summer on of these years." Indeed, wind and rain and freezing temps can be a mainstay here, and the course can seem like two different places depending on the weather. Good weather and there will be plenty of low scores, maybe even some in the 60s. Bad weather...well that's when you start seeing a few 80s popping up. On tap for this week??? Looks like lots of rain and wind. Good luck, boys!

Las Vegas has Tiger as the favorite to win this week, and he has historically played well at the Old Course, even saying that it is his favorite major championship site "by far." Tiger though, has been playing, well, not very Tiger-like since his return from hiatus due to personal life issues. Golf just doesn't seem the same without Tiger in contention every Sunday. He has shown flashes of the brilliant old form at the two majors played this year, The Masters and U.S. Open but eventually fell out of contention over the weekend. The smaller events have been another story. He's been downright awful by his standards even going a whole tourney without a round under par, a new first for him as a pro. His loyal fans are hoping this is his comeback week.

Phil has played well this year, winning the Master's and would love to add a Claret Jug to his trophy case. However, the Open Championships in both Britain and the U.S. have eluded Phil thus far in his career. The long rough, narrow fairways and tricky greens associated with both majors have proven problematic for the risky style Phil likes to play. Like, the U.S. Open avoiding those disastrous rounds over par is what winning here is all about.

The rest of the Vegas favorites are mostly Brits or Europeans who are familiar with the links style play and have fared well in previous Opens. Out of the top 10 favorites in Vegas, only Phil, Tiger and Ernie Els are not from Europe. Lee Westwood, Paddy Harrington (2 time winner) Rory McIlroy (young phenom) Graeme McDowell (U.S. Open winner) Ian Poulter (flamboyant dresser), Paul Casey and Luke Donald round out the list.

No Brit has won at St. Andrew's since Nick Faldo in 1990, although I would put Poulter and Westwood near the top of the favorites list. Westwood has been in contention a lot in recent years and Poulter always seems to be in contention at the majors, and should get one before long.

My prediction for the Top 10.

Ian Poulter -11
Tiger Woods -10
Lee Westwood -10
Justin Rose -8
Jim Furyk -7
Ernie Els -7
Geoff Ogilvy -5
Paul Casey -4
Luke Donald -3
Camillo Villegas -3

Sleepers
Phil Mickelson (the wild card)
KJ Choi (always around the leader board)
JB Holmes (John Daly won at St Andrew's in his day, and Holmes is a big boomer with soft touch as well.)
Rory McIlroy (I think nerves will get to him on the weekend)
Francisco Molinari (St. Andrew's game, has been playing well on Euro tour)
John Daly (Won here in 1995. Can still bang it, and power players do well here.)