TSE Week in Golf - The [British] Open Championship

The British Open Championship is well on its way as I type this, a fact that I only recently figured out, what with Carnoustie being five hours ahead of us here in the States. That said, I probably should have written this yesterday. But I was too lazy to do work, both here and at work so here we are.

Awfully boring tangents aside, The British Open is the year's third Major championship and we're coming off of two majors that have left a lot of people, myself included, wanting. First it was Zach "Jesus Jesus Jesus" Johnson winning at Augusta. Then it was the collapse of the field and the lone, chain-smoking Argentine on tour besting The US Open. So here we are, at Carnoustie for the first time since 1999's debacle (more on that later). Needless to say, things have changed a little bit in the last 8 years.

The fairways that seemed about as wide as my arm in 1999 have been widened. The rough that was about as high as the television tower has been cut. The wee burn that gave way to the greatest collapse in golf history is still there but after 1999, I doubt we'll ever see the kind of cringing delight that was Jean Van de Velde's demise 8 years ago. Simply put, it looks like the biggest factor, as is the case with most British Opens, will be the weather.

On Wednesday, it was sunny, calm and perfect golf weather, especially for the links-style of course that lay ahead of this year's participants. For round one, however, the classic weather of the British Isles, of which all golf fans are aware exists during late July, has returned. Cold and rainy was day one at Carnoustie, requiring the golfers to layer their clothing and even forcing Tiger into a pair of mittens between shots. This weather is supposed to continue into the weekend: welcome to Scotland in July.

Van de Velde's collapse on the 72nd hole in 1999 is still one of my favorite moments in golf history and provided some of the more lasting images from the tournament. Imagine, needing a double to win the Open and you card a +3. I still get a kick out of Rick Reilly's take on the end of the 1999 Open today, which is why the Open is such an important tournament. 8 years later we're still talking about Van de Velde. We still remember Daly's win at St. Andrews in 1995. Duval getting his major before his career went to hell in 2001. And Ostrander, Ohio native Ben Curtis in 2003. Tom Watson's utter domination of the Open in the 1970s and 1980s. Jack at St. Andrews...golfers and golf fans alike remember all of these things from this tournament.

So who's your winner this weekend? The obvious choice (go ahead and read any preview that's been published recently) is Tiger Woods, in search of his third consecutive Claret Jug. He has consecutive runners-up this year so a win certainly seems like it's due. So save for Tiger, who else can win this thing? To the leaderboard we go.

As of 1:00pm EST, your leaders are Paul McGinley (in the clubhouse with a 67) and Sergio Garcia who's matched McGinley's -4 through 12 holes. Both of these players are capable, but let's face it: you always see a name like McGinley's or Marcus Brier's (-3, 68) on the top page this early. Of those three, I'd stick with Sergio, unless he starts trolling for gallery ass again.

As for El Tigre? He's sitting pretty with a 2-under 69 (giggity), right where he wants to be. Though he's gotten some help in the form of a free drop early in the round and a 90-foot (!!) birdie toward the end of the round. Lephty is also under par on his round, at -1 so far.

My pick for the week is K.J. Choi. So far this year, he's won tournaments hosted by the likes of Jack Nicklaus (The Memorial) and Tiger Woods (The National), so it makes sense that his next win may be hosted by the Royal and Ancient. In round 1, Choi matched Tiger at -2.

The weekend at Carnoustie awaits...

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The Morning After on TSE - 7.12.2007

It's all downhill from here. In a good way. It's July 12th, the MLB All-Star Game is over and we past the slowest day in the sports world. From this day forward, every sport starts to pick up steam. Presented now is a schedule of what to expect in the coming weeks from different sports, different media outlets and the rest of the sports world.

Golf: The British Open

The event (called "The Open" by some, though I maintain that event is played in the States a month or so before and anyone who says otherwise is a Pinko-Commie nutjob who doesn't deserve the right to belt out the lyrics to "Proud to be an American" while shit-can drunk waiting to get into a bar. A little inside, I know) should be one of the most, ahem, open Opens in recent history. So many questions arise: Can Tiger win his first major as a father? Can Phil come back from his wrist injury and play as well as he did at the Tour Championships? Will the winner be an unheralded rookie like Ben Curtis (or Paul Lawrie, considering we're back at Carnoustie) or will it be an unheralded vet like Angel Cabrerra? We'll know in 10 days.

Baseball: August, September and (JTBI: Actober).

The All-Star break is where most teams can do one of two things. They can either use the break to rest up for the playoff push or they can fold like a cheap suit at Wal-Mart. The trade deadline is just over two weeks away and it should be a very exciting few days of transactions to say the least. At press, it seems like the best teams are in the American League, but that's what we said before the Cardinals won the World Series. Can Boston continue it's domination against the AL East (with 14 more games against the Devil Rays, I'd like to think so). Will the Yankees re-sign A-Rod and miss the playoffs? Who will come out of the very good AL Central? Are the LAAoA good enough to win the AL? Can any team from the NL hope to compete? Great teams cut their teeth on the end of July and August, getting ready for September. As Dane Cook tells us, there's only one October and the push to get there begins today.

Football: Hey, at least it's preview time...

OK, we're still pretty far from football, but at least we can almost see the football season in the distance. Several blogs and websites are beginning their football previews (most notably, the Gay Mafia at KSK, who's season preview is always funny). Here at TSE, JTBI has begun looking at his contenders and pretenders in the BCS conferences and college football is even in the news now, as Oklahoma went from 8-4 in 2005 to 0-4. We're getting so close to the beginning of the season that I can almost hear Big$Rich tuning up the band for the beginning of College Gameday*

*Aside to ESPN: please change the opening sequence this year. Big$Rich were kinda sorta popular when people liked watching poker on television a few years ago and it's time to shuffle loose their mortal coil as the intro to Gameday. Suggestions for improvement: I say go Old School and bring out Morris Day and the Time.

Basketball: I guess the summer league kind of counts.

The NBA has the luxury of being a nearly year-long sport, due mainly to the Draft lottery in May, the playoffs running into June and the actual draft after that, summer leagues after the draft and, this year, the FIBA Americas Championships, the qualifier for the 2008 Olympics, in August. Before you know it, NBA players will be reporting to training camps, playing in pre-season games and getting ready for the opening tip of the 2007-2008 season and the cycle will start over again.

Yes, it's just July 12 it's going to get better today. And tomorrow. And the next day.

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