Heading to the Open/ Predictions

[Wood]

Looking down at my tickets for Winged Foot, and thought I'd rub it in a little..... . Anyone else going?

As for everything I'm reading about the conditions, someone hitting the tee ball like Phil is gonna stuggle, even if he can dunk a full swing flop that never exceeds 6" in height from 5 yards. Even Magic Wedge Phil is gonna struggle with 5" of rough.

I'd love to see a Tiger charge, but he drives it like Phil, and I don't think someone who hits so few fairways is gonna get it done.

GOD, PLEASE LET THE ABOVE GOLFERS BATTLE IT ON SUNDAY WITH ME THERE TO WATCH!!!

As for me, I'm gonna take Luke Donald in the pool.

Others with a chance include Furyk and maybe Adam Scott. I guess you can't rule out Goosen any time in an Open, but he played pretty poorly at the Memorial. We'll see!

[FAHooGolfs]

Not to rain on your parade, but if Tiger and Phil are fighting it out on Sunday, you won't be able to consistently get anywhere near it. I went to Pinehurst last year and couldn't get anywhere near Tiger on a regular basis unless I was out for the practice round at 6:30 am (we did that, it was a lot of fun).

Are you going for the entire week or just for a few days? If you go for the entire week, I highly recommend getting to the course as early as possible for the practice rounds. We walked the first 5 holes with Tiger on Monday last year and there probably weren't more than 100 people watching... of course, he started at 630.

During the tournament, probably your best bet to see a lot of golf is to pick a neat spot on the course and just sit there. You can also see a lot if you find a relatively unheralded group towards the end of the day on Thursday or Friday.

We followed Jason Gore the final 3 holes on Friday at like 5:00. Very mininal amount of people there because most had left for the day.

[Thrash13]

I picked Jim Furyk at the beginning of the year, and I'm sticking to it. Furyk has a win in the past month or so, and he is always a contender at any U.S. Open.

Tiger will play well, but I just don't think he will win this thing.

I also think Goosen will be near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday, but unfortunately, Goose hasn't been able to close the deal with many good final rounds this season.

I'm putting my money on Furyk and Goosen until they prove me wrong.

Have fun at Winged Foot by the way!

[georgep]

I picked Jim Furyk at the beginning of the year, and I'm sticking to it.

I hope his back is feeling better. According to SI, he missed his own mini-event this week with back spasms. He tweaked it gargling. Sheesh!

I'll be pulling for Tiger. Dang the sentimentality! The Earl and Father's Day combination is pretty appealing.

Also, does anyone else have the sneaking suspicion that the Memorial introduced the furrowed bunkers in preparation for the USGA to trot them out at Winged Foot?

[nurseduffer]

I will be in Mexico during the Open...I'll find a sports bar to watch the final day. I am looking at the Reno Hilton odds sheet and was planning on betting on a few but I was thinking of taking one dark horse because of the odds. Olgivy...60/1? waht do ya think?
Who was having the back spasms?

[FAHooGolfs]

Don't take Geoff Ogilvy... he didn't qualify yesterday

[georgep]

Who was having the back spasms?

Jim Furyk

[Thrash13]

Don't take Geoff Ogilvy... he didn't qualify yesterday

Geoff Ogilvy is ranked inside the 50 and has been in the top-10 on the money list. Those are automatics aren't they?!?

It would certainly be a travesty if a golfer inside the top 20 in the world didn't get to play the U.S. Open.

As for Jim Furyk, my pick is looking worse and worse. But he is gritty, so I'll stick with him and take my medicine.

[georgep]

Ogilvy is exempt on two counts:

• From the 2006 official PGA Tour money list, the top 10 money leaders through May 29.
• From the World Rankings list, the top 50 point leaders as of May 30, 2006

You can find all the exemptions here:
http://www.usopen.com/news/2006_fact_sheet.html