The Open Championship

[mcfc_nick]

It wouldnt have mattered, he was heads and shoulders above every golfer out there the last 3 days anyways. Nobody else came close to how Oosthuizen played. No one closed the gap in good weather either. Oos.....dominated the field.

dont kid yourself, Oosthuizen shot a -5 67 on Friday in the very best of the weather conditions, had he had the later tee time and played in the wind i believe he would have struggled to shoot par (as everyone did) so lets say he shoots +2, we then have a play off. But overall he did deserve it, he was the best player over the week but it would have been nice to see him have to play in the conditions of friday and see how he would have coped

[CG031]

Congrats to Oosthuizen. He played really well, and like most "journey-men" leaders, he never cracked. I salute him for that.

With that said, I'd have to say that was one of the more boring Major Championships I've seen in a while. Not a lot of great golf shots (really because of the wind) and not a lot of big names atop the leaderboard, and it really was never close much of the way.

[MSDOGS1976]

dont kid yourself, Oosthuizen shot a -5 67 on Friday in the very best of the weather conditions, had he had the later tee time and played in the world i believe he would have struggled to shoot par (as everyone did) so lets say he shoots +2, we then have a play off. But overall he did deserve it, he was the best player over the week but it would have been nice to see him have to play in the conditions of friday and see how he would have coped

That is a good point. But I imagine other Open winners have had similar luck with respect to tee times. He certainly had a good golf swing and deserved the win.

[JWL1957]

dont kid yourself, Oosthuizen shot a -5 67 on Friday in the very best of the weather conditions, had he had the later tee time and played in the world i believe he would have struggled to shoot par (as everyone did) so lets say he shoots +2, we then have a play off. But overall he did deserve it, he was the best player over the week but it would have been nice to see him have to play in the conditions of friday and see how he would have coped

Kid myself? Where were the super stars when they caught the good weather? Other than Casey, they all folded up like lawn chairs after labor day. Tiger and Phil looked like a couple of chumps. Oos wasnt exactly having it easy in the down pours.

[mcfc_nick]

Kid myself? Where were the super stars when they caught the good weather? Other than Casey, they all folded up like lawn chairs after labor day. Tiger and Phil looked like a couple of chumps. Oos wasnt exactly having it easy in the down pours.

i think he'll be the first to tell you that he'd rather have the downpours (which there wasnt a lot of by the way during his round) than the extreme wind that was causing balls to move about on the green and forcing players to be very tentative when putting.

[Chilli Dipper]

Sometimes, the scheduling of the first two rounds benefit certain players. Oostie was in the second group of the afternoon/morning flight, so he his first round was mostly over when the wind hit on Thursday, and was long gone when the wind really hit Friday. He had scoring opportunities, and he made the best of them.

If you recall the US Open last year, the late Thursday groups ultimately played most of their two rounds in a break of weather Friday afternoon, while the earlier groups were washed out after a few holes Thursday, finished their rounds in the muck Friday morning, then played their second rounds just as the weather turned again early Saturday. Most of the top finishers came from those late groups. Again, these things happen in tournaments.

[senorchipotle]

Did the "Champion Golfer of the Year" really wear a hat during the awards ceremony

actually, the brits, at least the ones commentating on bbc sport, quite often referred to the tourney as the ''british open.''

[The Recreational Golfer]

umm... you really think nike ads had something to do with people liking tiger? i think the fact that winning 5 tournaments in a season is almost a letdown for him, and him crushing the field by double digit strokes, and the fact that he has, along with phil, the greatest short game ever has to do with people liking him. plus he's an athletic black/asian american, which was the antithesis of the cigar smoking fat white guy image most had in their minds eye of the avg. pga tour player. he made golf better, made people become athletes to compete with him, and forced everyone to up their game. all that is why people love tiger, it's got nothing to do with a nike ad.

For you and me, no, but for the casual fan, which is what the original comment was about, or the general public who has nothing to do with golf and wouldn't know a short game for a shortstop, the Nike ads were instrumental in parlaying his record on the course into making him one of the most recognizable and admired people on the planet.

[brgolf]

It wouldnt have mattered, he was heads and shoulders above every golfer out there the last 3 days anyways. Nobody else came close to how Oosthuizen played. No one closed the gap in good weather either. Oos.....dominated the field.

He wasn't though. McIlroy was -9 after day one and the conditions were directly relevant to his deterioration. He has never shot a round in the 70s at St Andrews so supposing that he played in the conditions Oosthuizen enjoyed on Friday. A 66-71 would have been more than likely and that alone would have won him the tournament. Give Oosthuizen McIlroys conditions and his 67 likely become a 72.

McIlroy could have finished the tournament 22 under and Oosthuizen 11 under but for the luck of the draw. Edit: And if they had played identical conditions then it would have been very even in the end with McIlroys second round determining just how close it would be. Anyone who watched McIlroy on the second day, much as his 80 was fully deserved, couldn't help but think a record breaking performance had been snatched from his grasp.

[senorchipotle]

He wasn't though. McIlroy was -9 after day one and the conditions were directly relevant to his deterioration. He has never shot a round in the 70s at St Andrews so supposing that he played in the conditions Oosthuizen enjoyed on Friday. A 66-71 would have been more than likely and that alone would have won him the tournament. Give Oosthuizen McIlroys conditions and his 67 likely become a 72.

what would you suggest? a giant dome over st. andrews?

[CG031]

He wasn't though. McIlroy was -9 after day one and the conditions were directly relevant to his deterioration. He has never shot a round in the 70s at St Andrews so supposing that he played in the conditions Oosthuizen enjoyed on Friday. A 66-71 would have been more than likely and that alone would have won him the tournament. Give Oosthuizen McIlroys conditions and his 67 likely become a 72.

I agree with this for the most part, but hey, that's how it goes. You knew it was gonna be like that going in. Luck of the draw type of thing, and it's who can survive.

what would you suggest? a giant dome over st. andrews?

LOL.

[Stretch]

Whatever you care to conclude about factors over which he had no control, Oosthuizen played great golf.

For the week he was first in fairways hit (86%), tied for first in birdies (with 20), tied for third in total putts (with 121), fourth in driving distance (306 yards) and tied for eighth in greens in regulation (83%).

[Shorty]

McIlroy could have finished the tournament 22 under and Oosthuizen 11 under but for the luck of the draw.

Could have, should have, might have, didn't. What pointless conjecture. The results are in, and McIlroy is the last person who'd agree with you. You may as well say If Tiger had putted well he would have won.

Since when has the "luck of the draw not played a part in golf tournaments where weather is involved?

[Shorty]

Did the "Champion Golfer of the Year" really wear a hat during the awards ceremony

Some people just don't get it, do they, no matter how many times it is explained to them. Nobody cares if it is called the "British Open", in fact it is useful to do so as a point differentiation, but they are irritated when some moronic golf newbie thinks that the term "The Open" is a pretentious term, invented in the last five minutes.

[mcfc_nick]

Did the "Champion Golfer of the Year" really wear a hat during the awards ceremony

wow, at the end of the day if you go around asking people what tournament is 'The Open' 99 times out of 100 the answer you get would be that it is our open

by the way, who cares anyway?

[Dinovirus]

wow, at the end of the day if you go around asking people what tournament is 'The Open' 99 times out of 100 the answer you get would be that it is our open

Yeah well over here they keep calling the Masters the 'US Masters' and the PGA Championship the 'US PGA' so I think we can freely continue to call their tourney the British Open. Why not?

[mcfc_nick]

Yeah well over here they keep calling the Masters the 'US Masters' and the PGA Championship the 'US PGA' so I think we can freely continue to call their tourney the British Open. Why not?

all in all matey, i really could not care less, i dont call the Masters the US Masters or the PGA the US PGA because the tournament is not called that, the same as our open is called The Open Championship, not the British Open Championship

[sean_miller]

"The British Open" is what I'm used to hearing, but really, who cares!?!