British Open Preview

By Chad Hollingsworth
Love of Sports Correspondent

When my editors here asked if I would be interested in doing a preview of the 2008 British Open, I jumped at the chance.

Why not? This could be the easiest piece to write all year!

At this moment, it’s even easier to write than if Tiger Woods was still healthy and in the field.

Wait, I take that back. It’s easy to say Tiger will win. The hard part is figuring out how to find approximately 500 words explaining how and why he is simply the best golfer in the world. At this point, if he shows up for his tee time, he’s the prohibitive favorite.

No, friends, this will be easy because the hottest golfer in the world is not named Tiger Woods … it’s Kenny Perry! The guy’s won three PGA tournaments this year, he’s secured his spot on the Ryder Cup Team, and … and … he’s playing in Milwaukee this week.

All right … well … I’m going to have to actually do some work on this one. However, I’m going to make a bold prediction and say Perry wins the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee. How’s that for bold!?!

Luckily, the Open Championship field is still loaded with 156 professional and amateur golfers. That’ll make it so much easier for me to narrow it down and take a stab in the dark at several golfers I believe can take advantage of Tiger’s (and Perry’s) absence.

CONTENDERS

The player in the World Golf Rankings Top 10 who I like most? Stewart Cink. The guy hasn’t finished worse than a tie for 30th in his past eight tournaments. He’s finished second twice this year, won at The Travelers Championship a month ago and has been resting up for the Open this weekend. He also earned a Top 10 finish at Carnoustie last year. He’s playing some of his best golf of his career, and I believe he can step up and get his first major this weekend.

Also, keep an eye out for Sergio Garcia. El Nino has already shown what he can do when Tiger’s not in the field (The Players Championship), and if he can putt like he did at Sawgrass, there’s no reason to bet against him. Finally, Justin Rose and Geoff Ogilvy deserve consideration as well. Rose made noise at Royal Birkdale 10 years ago as an amateur and will likely try to recapture that magic. Ogilvy’s a guy who performs well on tough courses, and Birkdale will almost certainly challenge the field this weekend.

Two players ranked in the Top 10 I don’t anticipate big things from? Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker. Historically, Phil hasn’t done well at the British, regardless of the course it takes place at. As for Stricker, he’s yet to recapture the momentum he had late in the 2007 season. If either of these guys want to kickstart his respective season, they can fly under the radar and do it here.

BORDERLINERS

Lee Westwood hasn’t had a finish worse than a tie for 19th on the European PGA Tour. His PGA events have been decent (only two missed cuts), and he finished tied for 11th at the Masters along with a third-place finish at Torrey Pines last month. In other words, he’s ready to win a major, and I believe he’s Great Britain’s best chance to win the country’s Open championship.

Jim Furyk’s had a quiet year, but he finished just three strokes behind the winning Mark O’Meara back in 1998. If he can use his familiarity with the course to put together a consistent four days this weekend, there’s no reason to think he can’t be near the top of the leaderboard. Finally, I’m going to pay attention to Anthony Kim and Aaron Baddeley. Kim has the creativity and shot-making ability to deal with the unpredictable weather conditions at Royal Birkdale. Baddeley’s one of the best putters on Tour, and if he can contend until Sunday, he won’t be in a final pairing with Tiger (like Oakmont in 2007).

Two players in the field I don’t anticipate big things from? Padraig Harrington and Rory Sabbatini. In Harrington’s defense, repeating as British Open champion is a big enough challenge in itself. However, he revealed he’s nursing an injured wrist which could obviously affect him this weekend. He could conceivably join Luke Donald on the sidelines (also nursing a wrist injury). Coincidentally, Harrington and Donald are vying to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team. Their respective wrist injuries won’t help them at all in achieving that goal. As for Sabbatini, he seemed to play better when he was a thorn in Tiger’s side. He hasn’t had a Top 10 since January, and Royal Birkdale likely isn’t the place where a struggling golfer will find his game.

NAMES TO WATCH

Five more players I feel could make some noise this weekend:

1. Justin Leonard – He’s having a great season and has won a British Open before. Why not add another one?
2. Martin Kaymer – Get used to seeing this kid. He’s only 23 years old and has two European Tour wins already this season. Don’t be shocked if he makes casual golf fans remember his name this weekend.
3. Retief Goosen – Goose has quietly performed well at the past few British Opens (2005 – T5, 2006 – T14, 2007 – T23). He’s slipped to 37th in the World Rankings, but a good showing at Birkdale will vault him back into a feared major championship contender.
4. Hunter Mahan – He had a Top 10 at Carnoustie last year and hung around the at Torrey Pines until Sunday. A good finish here could get him on Paul Azinger’s radar as one of his four captain’s picks for the United States Ryder Cup team.
5. Graeme McDowell – Could be the hottest golfer in the world not named Kenny Perry. He has two European Tour wins, including one last week, and has two Top 10s in his past five starts. This Irishman might just be holding the Claret Jug on Sunday evening.

Regardless of the winner, the British Open is one of the most entertaining golf tournaments viewers can watch each year. Be sure to expect the unexpected and give some love to the player that survives the challenges Royal Birkdale has to offer.

Related: Surviving Treacherous Royal Birkdale