I'd like to open a debate on the "fairness" of The Open Championship in deciding its winner.

This isn't quite the time or place for it. Join the forum if you'd like to discuss that sort of thing.

As an analogy, 8 guys line up for the 100m sprint finals but rather than all of them facing the same wind conditions, let's say wind conditions vary by individual lanes. So a guy in lane 2 might have a 2 mph tail wind, whilst a guy in lane 4 might have a 2 mph head wind. The guy in lane 2 wins by 0.1 seconds. The difference in tail vs head winds accounts for 0.2 seconds. Who really won the race?

There's always the element of luck in golf - lucky bounce away from OB, hitting a flagstick and the ball drops into the hole vs flying 30 feet away, etc. But that sort of luck is very different from the luck of the draw with respect to being allocated a tee time that puts you in the middle of a hurricane vs getting nice calm weather.

How can we make the game a more "level" playing field? Otherwise, the asterix on the trophy is not just about Tiger's absence but about whether you had a fortunate tee time.

What are your thoughts?

What's the beef with him?

Nothing about his golf skills. More to do with his flipping off of the hole when he misses putts, then cursing out photographers who did nothing wrong, in plain and full view of a few hundred fans, spectators, and children.

Thomas Rooney said on July 21, 2008:

I am so happy for Harrington. I have always rated him and followed his career very closely. With his victory coming after Tiger Wood's victory in the US Open, I say - 'Beware of the injured golfer!'.

People are forgetting, too, that Trevor Immelman was practically dead this past winter (I'm exaggerating, yes) and won The Masters. I think I'll have to pick the most beat up guy for the PGA Championship.

Great and entertaining blog.

As an Ian Poulter fan, I loved seeing him give it a go late in the tournament. Harrington went out and won the damn thing though. Congrats to him (I like Padraig as well).

However, I felt ABC's coverage was abysmal. I don't blame to commentators, who I feel were solid. I am a big Tirico fan. And in my opinion, Watson was spot on in his criticism of Norman.

But whoever directed that tournament for the television broadcast needs to be fired! What is it with only getting decent "coverage" of about 4 or 5 golfers all day? Hell, Poulter was invisible all day on Saturday on ABC's coverage as well. I understand the focus is always on the last group and leaders, but the lack of attention on focus on the other golfers (Poulter included) made for a poorly televised event.

Irregardless of your fascination with Mr. Poulter, I agree completely with your assesment of ABC's coverage. In a couple of words: it sucked. Where were the other golfers? A more complete coverage of the competion would have provided a more complete undestanding and appreciation of the tournament.

Wellput, RJ.

As an Ian Poulter fan, I loved seeing him give it a go late in the tournament. Harrington went out and won the damn thing though. Congrats to him (I like Padraig as well).

However, I felt ABC's coverage was abysmal. I don't blame to commentators, who I feel were solid. I am a big Tirico fan. And in my opinion, Watson was spot on in his criticism of Norman.

But whoever directed that tournament for the television broadcast needs to be fired! What is it with only getting decent "coverage" of about 4 or 5 golfers all day? Hell, Poulter was invisible all day on Saturday on ABC's coverage as well. I understand the focus is always on the last group and leaders, but the lack of attention on focus on the other golfers (Poulter included) made for a poorly televised event.