Dinovirus

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?

Funny story there, we were listening on the headsets when he played 17, and when he hit the approach I said to my friend, "if he makes that he'll have the course record for sure." So suddenly a grizzled old Scot beside us says, "ach, that's not even close to the record here laddie. Old Tom Morris carded a 52 back in his day." So we both look at him. "52? Are you serious?" "Aye, he did," he says, "of course, back then the course only had 12 holes!"

I agree with you to a point. However, I think that Phil is really pumped about making a run here, and he hits it far enough to have tons of birdie chances to do that. My feeling is that he'll either do really well and make a run, or he'll miss the cut. Either way I think it's worth a bet.

Im here all week and Just got back from Ladbrokes after placing all my bets. They totally let you be on pretty much anything here - it's pretty fun. I bet on Phil to win at 16-1, then took each way bets on Martin Kaymer and Sergio at 40 and 80 to one respectively, so I get the full payout if they win, or 1/4 odds if they finish top 5. I also took Harrington, Westwood, Chris Wood and Rose to finish top five, and for a real flier I took Paul Goydos to finish top ten at 25-1. I also went in with my buddy on a Tiger Woods bet on him shooting 74, 75, or 76 at 7-2. He tees off at 900am and if the weather then is like it was this morning that would be a pretty good score. Anyways if any or all of it comes in I could cash a nice ticket, and if not I'm not in for too much. Meanwhile I can tell you that the town is just an amazing place, and the course is totally awe-inspiring. The view up the 18th fairway with the clubhouse and grandstand in the background, and the buildings running up the right side is...well, breathtaking barely covers it. On thing that tv really doesn't show is how severe the bumps and undulations are through the fairways and up onto the green. The slope at the front of 17 is waaay more severe than i ever thought, and so is the slope between the green and the road. The right side of 18 is the same, it's a severe slope up there, and of course so is the valley of sin, and it's similar throughout the course. The greens by the way are HUGE! One takes up an entire acre I'm told, and almost all of them are compareable - except 17 of course. That green must look like just a sliver to the guys after all the room they've had up until then - plus pretty much anything that misses is going either in the road bunker or on the road. It's just a rough motherf**ker. Magnificent though. My complaint is that a lot of the course isn't very fan-friendly to say the least. It's really hard to see anything from behind the tees, or even to follow the groups because of all the swutchbacks. I think our plan is going to be to climb to the top of the grandstands next to the 11th green. Because of the crossover we'll be able to see like half the course - 6 green, then all of 7, 8, 9,10, 11, 12, and even the 13th tee. With the BBC headsets they rent that should keep us pretty informed with everything. Now we just need the weather to take it a little easy and we'll be set.

Yeah but I think the combination of the greens not being mowed (happens in the early morning) plus the dew will make them play quite a bit slower. When you also factor in that it's the guy's home course then I feel like the putting might be less of an issue than you think. Judging by the varied replies, this is a very interesting proposition though.

Browsing a gambling forum and this prop bet came up: What do you all think? Should he take the bet or pass?

Re: 2010 US Open | Pebble Beach Golf Links | June 17-20 Yes, Tiger is a mystery to me as well. Before the scandal broke, I cut him a bunch of slack because quite frankly if he felt that in order to take on the record he needed to have this closed off persona that never answers questions then so be it. I'd rather have an ******* Tiger who's contenting and winning majors than a nice guy version who is finishing T8. That said, since the scandal broke he's claimed that he wants to try and be more friendly and engaging, but save for a single press conference at Augusta that hasn't happened by all accounts. So what is the real deal? Is it possible he's struggling to find the mindset he needs to get past the scandal and get back to the business of taking down the record? I suppose that's possible. Or is it that the things going on in his family life are that distracting to him? That's easily possible too. Regardless of how he may or may not feel about his wife, you have to know he cares about his kids quite sincerely - is it possible that stuff is tearing him apart inside? I for one believe that something is, because in none of the tournaments I've seen so far this year has he looked anywhere close to the player he did before all this happened. Personally, I think a bunch of changes are in order. He's parted with Hank Haney, so maybe getting with someone new like Sean Foley (who's widely rumored to be the next coach) will be the ticket. New feeling, new approach, new eyes on his swing. Who knows, maybe he also needs a change in caddies, or even agents or something. I know that if it was me, all of those things would help - a lot. Steve Williams is great, and fiercely loyal no question, but the bottom line is that Tiger needs to rediscover a winning formula and soon, because that record is looking farther away than ever if you ask me. Of course he'll probably win the British by like 40 shots now, but somehow I don't think so.

Took the advice and picked up a camera, so here is my swing in action. I'm not sure if I'm doing everything right but in this particular sequence just about all of the shots are fairly well struck. I do have a problem with the odd push and when I hit some balls with my hybrid I also had on that went right off the toe, but generally I'm pleased with the results. However, like I said before, every once in a while I get trapped in total shank city, and I literally have NO IDEA why that happens. I wonder if possibly I'm moving the club too far inside, but in the video it doesn't look too bad. Anyways, I'd really appreciate any input from the S&T; gurus on this board. This is a really great resource.

Why don't they just let these caddies carry GPS units or lasers? Seems like it would speed things up a lot if they just had instant yardages.

Ok changing my prediction. KJ Choi is going to take it.

I think I like Sean O'Hair this week as a dark horse pick. Dustin Johnson also but I think O'Hair is ready to break through. Mahan's in a good mental place too imo.

Thanks so much for the help guys. It helped a lot!

What? .

I don't have a way to video myself right now. I really am at my wits' end, though. The last two days I've been using S&T; on the course and had some of my best ball striking ever - hit every fairway on the back yesterday and almost every green - but then I go to the range today to try and groove the feeling and I hit 3/4 a bucket of shanks. Can anyone give me anything to try? Why are the shanks happening? I mean, I can understand pulls and slices, and hooks, but I have no clue about these shanks. Is the club going too far inside? I see on another site an instructor who says that's a big part of the problem with shanks - that the hosel 'searches for the ball', and yet in S&T; philosophy you want the club to go inside. It's baffling.

I am also going this summer. We're staying in Crail, a town about three miles or so from St. Andrews, and playing Carnoustie, Balcomie Links, and the Castle Course at St. Andrews. Tuesday after the open the Old Course re-opens so we're going to make a try for playing there as singles. Unlikely, but maybe we'll get lucky. Has anyone on here been to Carnoustie? How sticky are they for those handicap cards?