Acropo

You mean: to 99% of folks in America, I think? DW has won in S Africa, the Middle East and contended all over the world. He's already got five Ws on the European Tour. He finished runner up in the order of merit (Race to Dubai) last year, second only to a certain R McIlroy. He is already pretty well-known; but I think it is fair to say he has been underestimated. Not entirely sure of that argument - Westwood was his closest competitor and was level with him shortly after Spieth finished the 12th. I think they were too busy competing to take much time supporting each other...!

You mean: to 99% of folks in America, I think? DW has won in S Africa, the Middle East and contended all over the world. He's already got five Ws on the European Tour. He finished runner up in the order of merit (Race to Dubai) last year, second only to a certain R McIlroy. He is already pretty well-known; but I think it is fair to say he has been underestimated.

He was runner-up in the Race to Dubai (European Tour) last year, as well; only Rory beat him. He's a pretty handy player.

It was awkward but remember Rule 1-3.

St Jean de Monts? and others down the Bay of Biscay - lots of sand, lots of beach, lots of ocean!

As I have said to rcwkent, we're going to Kintyre (Machrihanish - Old Tom Morris design and the GREATEST opening hole in golf!) in two weeks. Midges should all be dead and the weather should still be ok, if maybe a little bracing... I'm lucky enough to live in the UK and out of all the courses I have played at/visited so far, these are my favourites (from S East via the S West, through Wales to the North): West Course, Wentworth Sunningdale Old Bibury, Salisbury & South Wilts - for the 7th, especially: it's a 430 yard ribbon of downland challenge running alongside the racecourse. If you come off there with a Par 4, you have done really well! It's only a 9-hole course but has fabulous views over Salisbury and its Cathedral, as well as the newer Salisbury & South Wilts course. The Bibury is 128 years old, iirc. St Enodoc, Cornwall Marriott St Pierre, Chepstow, Wales Montgomerie Course, Celtic Manor (I prefer it to the the 2010 course - prettier and less 'staged', imho) Machynys, Llanelli, Wales Pennant, Holywell, N Wales. Nine holes of relatively straightforward parkland and then up onto the hilltops, for fabulous views over the Dee Estuary and North Wales coast. Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "elevated tee"! Mere, Cheshire St Andrews Old St Andrews New Machrihanish Machrihanish Dunes Carradale (another 9-hole gem) I would have had Turnberry on the list but I'll put it on the back burner for as long as Donald Trump owns it, I'm afraid... There are loads - you could JUST do those in a fortnight, with the odd 36-hole day... If I was really pushed to narrow it down to where I would spend my last week on Earth then I think it would be Kintyre, playing the two Machrihanish courses, along with Dunaverty and Carradale. But I would have to insist on good weather and absence of midges - so mid-April to mid-June and September to mid-October (living dangerously!). Otherwise... Bibury & its big sister at Salisbury with the odd excursion to Rushmore and to St Pierre. With maybe an outing to Bowood. Oh, Lord, why did you ask??? :)

reply to rcwkent: We're on our way to Machrihanish in two weeks. We'll be playing both, plus Dunaverty and Carradale! Kintyre is a fabulous corner of the golfing universe, isn't it??

That thought occured to me, too! (But I would have referred to 'the World Number One'!) :-D

I quite fancy Justin Rose - who, by a remarkable coincidence, is -3 after 16. Re: The Absentees. Not sure I understand Arnie's annoyance. that Donald guy isn't even in the Top 10 of he FedEx Cup, and that's what really counts, right? ;-) they're not playng the Trophee Hassan II on the European Tour this week, either. I understand (in part) the Great Mr P's annoyance; everyone wants the best possible field for their tournament. I can also assure him that the British, in particular, are grateful for the fact that he came over and played the British Open when a lot of Americans didn't. So did Sam Snead. And Ben Hogan, come to that. And Jack Nicklaus. And Gary Player. And Lee Trevino. But Arnie put a lot of promotional effort in, as well, and that effort is reflected in the fact that he kept on getting a big gallery and huge cheers right up until he couldn't play any more. It only took the PGA Tour another 34 years after Arnie's first trip over to add the Open to the PGA Tour schedule and I have no doubt that he and Jack were in no small part responsible for that. it was a great relief - we didn't have to pay start money to get them over here any more. Shame more Americans didn't show up (and still don't show up) for other events, such as the Scottish Open, the Irish Open, French, Spanish, etc, and the WGC event at The Grove a few years ago (but Tiger did). They're all quite big events in their own right, with history and heritage and everything. But I guess these guys are independent contractors, they have a heavy schedule and you cannot make them play every week. Something has to give, I suppose.

It was a fascinating final two rounds and more engaging than the Nedbank Challenge, tbh (after G-Mac's challenge faded) - the excitement of that was all on Saturday and Lee's fantastic 62. It was a good win by Tiger, no doubt about it - not least because he actually came back from a deficit after R3, having lost a 3-stroke lead. When did we last see that? Kudos to Johnson - he played very well. Also to Paul Casey to climb back from dead last and umpteen shots behind to finish solo third. One thing I am pzzled about, though. How on earth did winning this event lead to a 30-place leap in the OGWR? And not as if from 420th to 390th, say, but within the Top 50... Strange, and thinking about it gives me a headache...

Yeh. Stop rubbing my nose in it!

I thought Darren did great - it was wonderful to see him come back, hold on and then stretch his lead. All the 'it was boring too much of a lead' guys - are you not the same people who were drooling in admiration when tiger spreadeagled the field? If you can't find any excitement in a challenger eagling a hole to get level with the leader, and that challenge being responded to with an even more difficult eagle, and in filthy conditions, then maybe you are watching teh wrong sport. What did you expect? A real shoot-out, with Colt 45s and big hats? This was a fascinating, interesting Open, with some edge-of-the-seat moments, ultimately won by one of the genuinely nice guys. ChrisG - go and write out 50 times 'It is have, not of' - (would have, should have, may have, could have - not should of, etc. We wouldn't want these Yanks to think we are uneducated, would we?) Deasy, PaddyHarrington, etc - could you keep these exchanges where they belong, to bottle-throwing and petrol-bomb chucking parties on the Falls Road and Shankhill? Sheesh.

I take your point but Bubba's quotes weren't selective, taken from a longer interview - those selected quotes that have gone round the world were representative of the whole thing. I'm not sure those 'wind as a lottery' quotes, though - I didn't hear him say that, but he did say 'We visit a links course once a year and I'm not going to change my whole game just for one tournament'. Guess that means he won't be playing the Scottish Open, then... It's a fair point - one shouldn't do that change for one tournament thing: if in doubt, ask Martin Kaymer how his 'Masters Swing' thing is working out! Another point: Rory seems to have forgotten how well he actually played for 3 1/2 of the four rounds at St Andrews last year, in the wind. What seemed to uspet him was the delay; he didn't understand why play had been suspended for the gale and it was exactly the same when he went back to his ball later. Perhaps he has never been told that it was because balls were being blown around on the greens at the Point and that it had nothing to do with the overall strength of the breeze. He also played pretty well on Thursday and Friday this year, imho. On Saturday he was out during the worst of it - and scored better than most of the field - and on Sunday he seemed to lose patience. Maybe he'll never win a British Open - and maybe he'll grow into it. Bobby Jones famously walked off the course on his first visit to St Andrews but returned to win there twice. Tiger Woods was nearly blown into the Firth of Forth at Muirfield with that 81 and returned to win twice at St Andrews and a third time at Ainsdale. Anyway, I had a really nice round on the West Course at Wentworth yesterday. My first ever. Managed to break 100!

So, we're all agreed then - Di Dougherty is well fit (as the ad had it).