2018 British Open

[Don Wassall]

I turned on Golf Channel's Open coverage last night, just in time to hear (((Rich Lerner))) the Urbane Caste Buffoon, give his closing essay on Tiger. Tuned in again just now, as Lerner was directing Brandel Chamblee and Frank Nobilo to dissect virtually every shot of Tiger's first round. Worried that Woods might actually be in contention, I went to ESPN and found their banner headline "Tiger Cards Opening Round 71 at Carnoustie." He's tied for 32nd. You just can't make this stuff up. It really is the old National Lampoon magazine come to life, and then some. What used to be humor and satire is now presented as serious coverage.

As for the actual tournament, Kevin Kisner leads at -5. A fair amount of obscure names near the top of the leader board but that will undoubtedly change as the event unfolds. Carnoustie is a very tough course, and the weather will also play a big factor, as always in British Opens. I'll root for Phil, but more realistically, if Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy or any of the other young guns or big names wins, I'll be happy. Just don't wanna see some unknown or near unknown come out of nowhere, ala Ben Curtis in '03.

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Here's hoping he's out by tomorrow and the worship and drivel can stop, at least for this tournament. Majors should focus on realistic contenders.

 

[Don Wassall]

Remember the "British Invasion" of the 1960s, led by The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and The Who? The British Open leaderboard after three rounds can aptly be called the "American Invasion," as Yanks hold six of the top seven spots and seven of the top nine. It's been a long time since Americans dominated this major as they've started to in recent years (Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, who's in contention again, and Jordan Spieth have all won it since 2013). The British Open was barely considered a major until Arnold Palmer crossed the pond and won it in 1961 and '62 and revived it as a big-time event.

Jordan Spieth played magnificently today, and at -9 is tied with Kevin Kisner and Xander Schauffele. Schauffele at 24 years old is another of the many excellent young American golfers who has emerged of late. Like Ricki Fowler (and Jason Day) he's half White half Oriental, yet another prototype of how many if not most Americans will look in a couple generations (blacks will be swamped in the breeding contest to replace Whites by the sheer number of Asians pouring into the U.S.).

Tiger Woods shot a 66 and is tied for 6th at -5. The spotlight rightly should be on Spieth trying to accomplish the rare feat of winning back to back British Opens and to win yet another major at his young age, but of course the main narrative will revolve around Woods. At any rate, for golf fans it promises to be a great finish to watch tomorrow.

 

[white lightning]

Let's go Jordan Spieth. Watching or hearing about Tiger is like taking Nyquil cold medicine.

 

[Riggins44]

Woods was in the lead 30 minutes ago when I turned it on.

But now the wheels are falling off.

 

[Riggins44]

Francisco Mollinari is the British Open champion. The first Italian to do so.

 

[Don Wassall]

Molinari was like a machine, not a single bogey Saturday or Sunday, which on Carnoustie is just superb playing. He's not a household name but he's been a good player in Europe for a number of years and was the hottest golfer in the world the past six weeks, including a blowout win on the PGA Tour, it was a well-earned win.

 

[Leonardfan]

Woods was in the lead 30 minutes ago when I turned it on.

But now the wheels are falling off.

LOL. I am beginning to enjoy seeing him get hype during every event he plays in just to fall flat. It is beyond pathetic anyone still roots for him after all of the sexual deviancy and HGH abuse.

 

[Riggins44]

It is amazing it has been 10 years since he won a major. I will give him his due as a golfer; he is one of the best ever on the basis of his 14 majors, and he was on such a pace that in 2008 it looked like he would shatter Nicklaus' record of 18. Ah, but then his body gave out due to as Leonard said his HGH abuse, and probably the toll of his sexual deviancy. It doesn't look like he will ever win another major, much to the teeth-clenching chagrin of the (((sports media))).

I agree that it is enjoyable to watch him fall flat in every major tournament.

 

[BeyondFedUp]

Congrats to Molinari. Hard work paid off and he may be a steady challenger now among the more household names usually at the tops of leaderboards!

 

[referendum]

I'm sure the media establishment will be so excited that an Italian has won a major, a true victory for diversity.

 

[Don Wassall]

Well, Tiger did sniff the Claret Jug for a bit in the final round, the closest he's come in ten years to winning a major. He was paired with Molinari in the final round and had the outright lead when I tuned in before recording a double bogey and bogey on back to back holes (sure, I'll take credit for his demise lol). Molinari won by not making any bogeys, an amazing feat given the course and the windy conditions.

Tiger is actually human now; he is one of the best at acknowledging the galleries' applause, even after he bogies, and he's more obliging and revealing with interviews than he used to be. I think he's appreciating that he can compete again at a high level, in sharp contrast to what a prick he was during his heyday. It's the media's absurd overkill, always pretending it's still his peak year of 2000, that makes it impossible to root for him.

 

[Flint]

From what I've heard the media is in "Tigers back!!" mode. Predictions are that he will win a major this year. They make a lot of way he played in the tournament but really wasn't it a horrible collapse? If this had been any other golfer: take the lead mid way through the first nine, then bogey it away and let an unknown in your group come back to steal it from you. The narrative would have been of a major choke job. Yet somehow this shows Woods is going to be a winner? I think it shows he still doesn't have what it takes to win a big tournament even when he's playing the best golf of the last 8 years.

 

[CrazyFinn]

There's one guy in particular amongst all the columnists, analysts, and announcers in Tiger-worshipping media who has taken it to another level with his commentary. He's Ian O'Connor of BSPN and he appears to have made it his mission in life to try and literally will Woods to another major victory.

I make a point to read his columns before and after majors and other important tournaments strictly for amusement purposes. It's disturbing and creepy how much this guy is rooting for Woods, it has turned into some sort of obsession.

It was too close for comfort today, almost Serenaesque I'd say, but thankfully he didn't win or there'd be 24/7 coverage of it. Heck, we may get that anyway because of this almost-win.

I just look forward to the day when both Woods and the obese lineman are retired for good so I can truly enjoy tennis and golf without any worries.

 

[Fighting Pride]

There's one guy in particular amongst all the columnists, analysts, and announcers in Tiger-worshipping media who has taken it to another level with his commentary. He's Ian O'Connor of BSPN and he appears to have made it his mission in life to try and literally will Woods to another major victory.

I make a point to read his columns before and after majors and other important tournaments strictly for amusement purposes. It's disturbing and creepy how much this guy is rooting for Woods, it has turned into some sort of obsession.

It was too close for comfort today, almost Serenaesque I'd say, but thankfully he didn't win or there'd be 24/7 coverage of it. Heck, we may get that anyway because of this almost-win.

I just look forward to the day when both Woods and the obese lineman are retired for good so I can truly enjoy tennis and golf with any worries.

Check out O'Connor's Twitter feed. All Tiger all the time.

https://twitter.com/Ian_OConnor?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

[Freethinker]

To me the biggest story is Spieth collapsing on Sunday after sharing the lead. Seems he hasn’t been able to get the job done lately in the clutch unfortunately.

 

[Carolina Speed]

To me the biggest story is Spieth collapsing on Sunday after sharing the lead. Seems he hasn’t been able to get the job done lately I’m the clutch unfortunately.

I agree. I was really pulling for Spieth, as he is probably the only young golfer right now that could take some of the attention from Woods.
Spieth has led a record 6 times with the 54 hole lead in Majors before the age of 25 which he will be next week. If he could have closed on just half of those we could be talking 5-6 Majors at the age of 24! He has 3 Majors, two of which he went wire to wire and only one where he came from behind, I think?
Looking forward to the PGA where Spieth will have a shot at the career Slam!
One other thing, and to Spieth's credit, he hasn't mentioned it. He had Mononucleosis in December and it does take some time to fully recover. He looks to me like he has lost weight?
Other disappointments were the failures of Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas to make the cut.

 

[Shadowlight]

Most of the posts above covered everything but I too want to get back to Spieth. In an eerie approximation of what DJ did at the US Open it looked wide open for Jordan going into the final round but similar to DJ, Spieth couldn't make the short putts that are required to win and just couldn't turn it up another gear. For a top player I want to see a more positive set of body language. Relax and take charge. Instead he seemed to be drooping and dragging.

A friend of mine thinks these big guns are getting too tight down the stretch of these majors. For sure Rory M looked like a contender after his eagle on the back nine but he has not won a major in four years and it looks like that streak will continue. Too leisurely and scattershot. The theme is the superstars aren't showing that burst we expect to see from them down the stretch of majors. If they want to be known as the stars of the game they will have to amp up their game when it counts.

With the PGA three weeks away can anyone one of these stars reestablish their dominance.

Two Brits were in the mix. Exciting and rising star Tommy Fleetwood looked primed early Saturday but fell by the wayside. And Justin Rose was magnificent down the stretch but just fell short. In short the Italian was the steadiest and deserved to win it.

Then there was Tiger sitting on top of the leader board on Sunday for a few brief seconds before he hit an oil patch for two holes that derailed him. Several other players suffered that same fate. It was very congested at the top so I never felt the old Woods would charge and take over. Still it was a bit surprising and to be fair he played very well especially the final two days. Is he primed for another major victory? I still suspect not but he played very clean golf here.