Heavy machinery was at the forefront in both golf tournaments last weekend with John Deere sponsoring the USPGA tournament in Illinois and diggers and trucks being brought in to clean up a landslide in Inverness as Luke Donald won the Scottish Open. This was Donald’s third win of the year and further cements his place at the top of the rankings. Across the pond, Steve Stricker won his third John Deere classic in a row as he birdied the final two holes having let his lead slip earlier in the day, eventually winning by one shot from Kyle Stanley. Stanley was in the group ahead of Stricker and was one shot ahead on the 18th tee. He took a 2 iron, with safety in mind, and sliced into the trees. He hit an impressive 9 iron out of trouble into the greenside bunker, chipped to 8ft and missed his par putt. Stricker hit a wood off the tee into the fairway bunker on the left and clipped a glorious 6 iron out just off the back of the green about 15ft away and proceeded to roll in the putt. Stricker called on all his experience over the final two holes whereas 23 year-old Stanley simply couldn’t handle the pressure. There is no shame in this and he will surely learn from this near miss. If he keeps putting himself in winning positions then it will click for him in the future.
Just ask 22 year-old Rory McIlroy who heads up the betting in this week’s Open Championship at 7/1. With Tiger a no-show all the golfing eyes of the world will be firmly focussed on the Holywood wunderkid. This will be his first tournament since his historic US Open victory and he has enjoyed himself since then, spotted in the royal box at Wimbledon and ringside at the Klitschko-Haye mismatch. He probably wouldn’t have gained much from playing in the weather shortened Scottish Open and he must surely be one of the freshest men in the field. However, he has more pressure than ever before resting on his shoulders because of the emphatic manner of his victory in Congressional. Golf is crying out for a new poster child and while the likes of Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson have flattered to deceive, McIlroy learned from his Masters misery and romped the second major of the year. The top two in the world (Donald and Westwood) have won zero majors between them and one can’t help but feel that the tournament lacks something by not having the world number 17 (Tiger) competing this week. The 3 time Open champion is still not 100% fit following knee surgery and his caddie, Steve Williams, will be on Adam Scotts’ bag. The Woods-McIlroy debate has been in full swing since the Us Open and this blogger has aired his opinion on this matter before, believing that he is too short to back for success in Kent. Jack Nicklaus has also called for calm and believes that it is far too early to be pronouncing McIlroy as a ‘great’ just yet, "Don't anoint him the crown prince just yet," Nicklaus told BBC Radio 5 live. "He has only just won his first major.When he wins two, three or four you can say this is the guy to watch."
Royal St George is not a straightforward course and be extremely unforgiving, even by links standards. Tee shots can pitch in the centre of the fairway and take an extreme bounce and end up in trouble and if the wind picks up then we can expect the links experts to come to the fore. Therefore, my recommendation is to go for Sergio Garcia ew at 30/1 at ¼ of the odds for the first 7 places. He has been there or thereabouts in Open’s before most notably when losing a playoff to Harrington. He has been brilliant tee to green of late, finishing 7th in the Us Open and losing out in a playoff to fellow country Pablo Larrazabal in Munich two weeks later. His putting is his achilles heel but I believe that of all the Open is the least testing of all the majors as far as putting is concerned. The greens are usually slower than those that are found stateside and the biggest asset that any golfer can have in the Open is imagination. We will see players putting from miles off the green and hitting plenty of knock down shots when the wind picks up. Garcia has creativity and imagination is spades and is cracking each way value. If he can convert a higher percentage of putts from 6-12 feet than he has done so far this season then he could well be drinking out of the claret jug next Sunday night.
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