As a great summer of sports continues, the best golfers in the world converge on Royal Liverpool for the third Major Championship of the season. The U.S. Open and the British Open bracket the recently concluded World Cup nicely giving ESPN plenty to cover and sports fans plenty of great storylines to follow throughout the summer. There is sure to be more drama and excitement this week as players take on Hoylake.
If you’re interested in playing an extra fantasy game this week, ESPN has their Best Ball Majors all teed up for the week, and I’ll do my best to give you my daily picks for that competition on twitter (click here to join our group ). In our season-long Yahoo! group (details to join here ), Hoochblues claimed another victory at TPC Deere Run last week with a segment-high 198-point week. Meanwhile, the Harbour Dogs continue to hold on to the segment and overall lead after another solid week.
Here are my picks for the week across the pond at the Open Championship:
Adam Scott: Scott is remembered at the Open Championship for his collapse in 2012 which allowed Ernie Els to steal the victory after Scott appeared to have one hand on the Claret Jug coming into the back nine. Since then, though, the Aussie has consistently been among the best in the world and will be out for redemption this year as he looks to claim his second Major. In his last three PGA events, Scott has a string of three top ten’s including a win at the Crowne Plaza Invitational. Scott has a strong history at the Open and is coming off a t3 last season. He also played in the 2006 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool (this year’s venue) and finished in to top ten in that event as well. Look for a strong week out of Scott at Hoylake this week.
Henrik Stenson: No Phil, No Tiger–I’m going Adam and Henrik this week. Stenson last teed it up competitively at the U.S. Open where he finished t4 giving him top 15 finishes at the last four Majors after a t14 at the Masters earlier this season. Last year at the Open Championship, Stenson finished runner up and followed that up with a 3rd at last year’s PGA Championship before his run to the FedEx Cup. Stenson consistently has competed in the tournaments on the hardest courses with the toughest fields, so make sure he gets in your lineup this week.
Jim Furyk: Furyk has had a season of near-misses with a pair of runner-up finishes in back-to-back tournaments in May. He has made the cut in all 13 PGA events he’s played this season with nine top 20’s to show for his work. He has never won an Open Championship but has made the cut in six of the last eight years and finished solo fourth in the last Open at Hoylake. He did miss the cut last year but has four career top-5’s at the event.
Martin Kaymer: Starting Kaymer this week isn’t just chasing the last Major winner since he’s proven he can compete with loaded fields and is in top form. Kaymer won THE PLAYERS and the U.S. Open in his last three starts and also had a top ten finish at last fall’s WGC event in China with an elite field. Kaymer does have a pair of top-15 finishes in the last four years at the Open and finished 32 last year.
Rory McIlroy: The betting favorite this week, McIlroy has been steady this season although he hasn’t quite been able to put it all together to get a win. I’m going to start him on my bench only because I’m running short on Rory starts and will try and preserve him for the home stretch if possible. Last year, Rory missed the cut for the first time in his five straight years playing this event. In those five tournaments, McIlroy has finished in the top 20 just once with his third place finish in 2010. Rory is definitely a good pick this week, but I don’t think he’s quite as much of a sure thing as some people are making him out to be coming into the week.
Jason Day: Day’s a bit of a sleeper pick coming into this week coming off a missed cut at the Quicken Loans National. However, his Major Championship pedigree is unassailable and he has made the cut in all three of his trips to the Open although without a remarkable finish yet. Day finished in the top 5 at the U.S. Open and has looked good this season when injury hasn’t affected him. He’s definitely coming into the tournament below the radar, but I think he has what it takes to get the win here if he puts together a week of his best.
Graeme McDowell: G-Mac is always a threat at Majors and on courses like this one. He did miss the cut at the Masters but has been in the top 25 in three of his four PGA events since then. Last year, he faded to a t58 at the Open with a 77 on Sunday, but he does have three top-25 finishes in the last six years at the Open highlighted by a fifth place finish two years ago.
Brendon Todd: Since I’m going with G-Mac’s experience in my top spot, I’m going to go young with my second pick and go with Todd making his first trip to the Open Championship. Since winning the Byron Nelson earlier this season, Todd has finished in the top 20 in all five events he has played and is coming off back-to-back top-5 finishes at the Quicken Loans and the Greenbrier. Todd had success (t17) in his first U.S. Open, and I think he has another good week in him across the Pond this week.
Round 1: Graeme McDowell, Marc Leishman, Martin Kaymer, Matteo Manassero
