Kansas Crimson

Royal Portrush looks amazing. Should be an exciting week.

Contenders:

Rory: he is the hometown favorite and will have tremendous crowd support...that support will also create an intense amount of pressure. How he handles it will be key. He's playing pretty well, and has finished top 10 in this event several times over the last 5 or so years (maybe every time)...his putting is still a question mark, but slower greens might help him. His caddie has a lot of experience around this track also, which will be an advantage.

Koepka: he hasn't played well in this event historically, but he's a beast. Hasn't played much since US Open, and with most players that would be concerning, but not with him. Conditions are said to be relatively soft (relatively being the key word). Much like Rory, he's got a caddie with a ton of local knowledge as he grew up here. If scoring conditions are tough he's best equipped to grind it out. He always seems to rise to the occasion and I don't see any reason why he won't be able to do that again this week.

Rahm: coming off a big win in Irish Open with an extremely low final round coming from behind the leaders. He's not been great in the Open in his short career, and I always worry about his attitude in bad conditions and with the bad breaks that inherently come with links golf....but he's had a week off to rest and prepare. He's going to win a major eventually, it's just a matter of when.


Outside of those 3 it's a packed bunch....

Tiger: hasn't played in a month or so. Says game long game isn't very sharp, but short game is right where he needs it. Sporting a new putter this week, but it's indentical to his famous Scotty, just with some added weights at the bottom for slow greens. Can he pull off another miracle? I'd say doubtful, but I will be pulling for him if he gets in the mix on the weekend.

Stenson: he's hot and he's good in bad conditions and on links style courses.

Rose: hasn't played. Not much buzz around him yet, but he's always dangerous.

Jordan: who knows. If he can avoid acting like a whiny baby he should have the creativity around the greens to contend even if he's not dialed in completely. So talented, but he's been awful outside a few week stretch a few months ago.

DJ/JT: any week they tee it up they've got a chance because of their talent, but neither have great track records in this event. JT did play well last weekend in Scottish Open, which is encouraging.

Rickie: hasn't played well lately, but he's good enough to contend. Seems to get a lot of 2nds and hasn't quite figured out how to win the majors.

Phil: didn't sound optimistic in press conferences. Just lost 15lbs in a hurry doing a 6 day fast. Too wild off the tee for this course and punitive rough. I'll cheer for him if he gets in contention, but he's not in good form.


Euro guys I like to contend (and for draftkings):

Bernd Weisberger: might be the hottest euro guy out there. Couple of wins already this year.

Rafa Cabrella Bello: he's got a string of top 10-15s going. Played well in last handful of events.

Eric Van Rooyen: playing well lately.

Michael Lorenzo Vera: playing well lately.

I like the following for little to no reason
Rory - Has course record from when he was like 17 and shot a 61
Spieth - Has always done well at The Open. Made the cut every year.
Stenson - Like the way he plays. Probably the best pure ball striker in golf. Helps with the Open always.

And now my big time flyer. For no reason really, but I think he's due to have a big major soon.

Hideki Matsuyama. Has been top 30 at all majors this year. One of the most talented guys on tour. If he's patient and plays smart, could do really well. He can be too aggressive at times.

Love Hideki. High ball flight makes me nervous though. If -8 is going to be the winning score then I don't love him, but if -17 is going to be the winning score I like his chances more.


Also:

Didn't mean to leave out our guy Gary Woodland....not sure he's completely focused, and how could he be. Apparently considered withdrawing due to his wife being pregnant and on bed rest. Hopefully golf can be a 5hr+ a day mental break for him from the stressors of life/pregnancy for the next few days. I'd love to see him get in the mix. His ball flight and length even with irons off tees makes him an intriguing play. He's played well this year. And now has the confidence that comes with being a major champion.

Yeah. I purposefully left off Woodland. I think he's got too much going on. I think he's going to be fairly irrelevant for the rest of the year. And will start next year fresh and ready to go.

Rory opened with a quad on 1. Yikes.

Spieth is -3 thru 6 at the moment.

Woodland +2 after 16.

Leader is Shane Lowry is -4.

Interesting first day. I felt terrible for Rory. Worst start imaginable. Fights all the way back and then crumbles on 16, 17 and 18.

Golf is just not a sport where you can try extra hard. Wanting it too badly can send your score spiraling the wrong way.

I hope he can go low tomorrow and at least make the cut.

Spieth making a run. -7. One shot back. -2 thru first 3 today.

Pulling for Westwood or Fairway Jesus

The luck o the Irish is strong this week so far. Shane is putting on a show.

I was pulling for Westwood, but he needed tougher conditions where guys couldn't go low.

My guess is Lowry shoots a +3 tomorrow

Not gonna lie, it's nice not to have to listen to Jim Nance's mawkish commentary.

Cascadia wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2019 4:28 pm My guess is Lowry shoots a +3 tomorrow

Weather is supposed to be bad, so +3 might get it done. Fleetwood (fairway Jesus) hasn't been stellar in 4th rounds historically (obviously neither has Lowry in majors when holding a big lead after 54 holes)......

my guess: Lowry or Koepka (but Fleetwood wouldn't surprise me and I like him a lot). The worse the weather and higher the scores the more Koepka gains an advantage even though he's well back. If he'd have made a few of those putts that burned the edges today he'd only be a shot or 2 back. If scoring average is 75+ tomorrow then he could shoot -1 and win.

Going to be a fun Sunday morning/afternoon.

Fun to watch Lowry do well in what was somewhat of a home tournament for him.

I thought Koepka was going to kill JB Holmes. Slowest player on tour matched with the fastest. And the slowest shot a freakin 87. He was in the 3rd to last group, and ended up 3rd to last of those who made the cut. Karma Holmes.

Fleetwood tried to make a run out of it, just couldn't get there.

Fleetwood is amazing, but until he gets that putter working better under pressure he's going to struggle in the big time events....I can never trust a golfer who putts with that claw grip.