Us Open Picks

[CG031]

bubba Watson

And You Heard It Here First.

[teal]

I would still say Tiger is the favorite.

Does anyone doubt that he owns a calendar or has access to one?
No?

So then I have to assume that he knew exactly how much time was between Augusta and the Open. Considering Tiger isn't the type to attend a tourney without intending to win or if he didn't think he could he wouldn't be there, he had to figure that the Open with whatever was floating around in his knee was worse than the Open after surgery.

Tiger cares about winning and doing so convincingly. I can't imagine he would ever say to himself "Well, I'll do the surgery, come back for the Open and if I shoot 75 78 70 69 and finish somewhere in the middle, no one will notice"

[MrKadash]

I'm going to go with Jim Furyk. I just have a hunch he's due given his recent close calls.

[Shindig]

Cink Imada and Kim, all in the top-10.

Kim grew up on public courses, IIRC, and will take great joy in posting a great score at a public course in an important tournament. It helps that he's been practicing and will be playing after a full night's sleep and sober.
That's not a knock on him, by the way. I was surprised to read that he let his partying get in the way of his golf last year, but seeing as how he's turned that around lately, it's AK time.

Imada has really broken through in the past 18 months, and had done well in U.S. Opens in the past. I remember watching disappointedly when he fell from contention at Winged Foot.

And Cink... if anyone who has yet to win this year is due for a win, it's him.

[Craig Mac]

I can honestly say I don't have a clue who to pick this year. I guess smart money would be on Tiger, simply because his win percentage is so high and he "gears" it up for these events. The US Open is a survival test, so if any golfer is sponsored by Coleman, he's my pick.

[hoofreak7]

Tiger cares about winning and doing so convincingly. I can't imagine he would ever say to himself "Well, I'll do the surgery, come back for the Open and if I shoot 75 78 70 69 and finish somewhere in the middle, no one will notice"

a 75-78 start would not make the cut....but i see your point

[michaeljames92]

gee i dunno. if it plays anything like oakmont then it could be good enough to make the cut. however i don't know how hard the course is and par etc

[Ruari]

Got a funny feeling that Cabrera will put up a good defence.
Would love to see Rose do well.
Mickelson - massive expectations may be too much for him.
Monty - you never know. Could either miss the cut by a mile and a half or be a real contender. He lost out to Tom Kite in (?) 1992 when the weather changed and Kite managed his first Major at the age of 42. Monty looks better, fitter now than Kite did then. Have the golfing gods finished their fun with him?
Furyk - can't be ruled out.
Boo Weekly - I so hope not.
K J Choi - has the game and the mental strength. Could be a sensational first for Korea.
Henrik Stenson - started the year very well but has faded a bit. But could be a force if this is what he's been aiming at.
Michael Campbell - er, no. Not at the moment. Nice guy, fragile temperament.
Vijay - can't be written off but I think things would have to fall his way.

That's enough picks for now.

[Ruari]

I quite fancy Garcia. His putting has always let hom down, agreed, but his performances havve been much, much better lately. And he did really well at Carnoustie last year (until R4, yes) and those greens are NOT easy...
Otherwise..
Luke Donald has finished second here twice but - I dunno, maybe the US Open setup will be too much for him. He's not the longest of hitters.
Paul Casey? If he's in the mood, could be there.
Phil Mickelson - I'd love to see him do it but he and the media are putting massive pressure on him. And he had deli-belly earlier this week, didn't he?
Dark horse - K J Choi.

[Caddyshack]

Ogilvy for me or maybe Appleby if the wind picks up, he is a great wind player.

[g-funk13]

I would love to see KJ make this his first major. I like his game!

[Ruari]

I quite fancy Garcia. His putting has always let hom down, agreed, but his performances havve been much, much better lately. And he did really well at Carnoustie last year (until R4, yes) and those greens are NOT easy...

I think I may be better at picking losers than winners!