British Open comments

This was an interesting British Open. For some reason, Royal Lytham and St. Anne's Golf Club produces a top notch winner every year it holds the Open Championship. This year was no exception and the leaderboard was stacked with big names every day of the tournament. In the end, Ernie Els, who has been snakebit as much as any golfer, came out on top when he played clutch golf down the stretch and Adam Scott could not hold onto the lead. Ultimately, the best ball striker of the week won the golf tournament. Els lead in Greens in Regulation by a wide margin, and if he had putted well, would have won by a wide margin. Fortunately for him, he putted well enough, especially on the 72nd hole. Questions remain with Tiger Woods game. Again, he displayed a lack of confidence in the driver on a day when the course demanded he hit driver due to the wind. The most telling shot of the day for me in Tiger's round was when he pulled out a 2 iron on a tee shot on a 462 yard par 4 that was playing dead into the wind. He left himself 240 yards to the green for his second shot. This was at a point when you figured he had no chance at winning, so why not pull the driver? Stunning. Given that the PGA championship will be played at Kiawah Island next month on a course that can stretch to 7,900 yards, and where the wind will likely be a factor, it is hard to imagine Tiger winning there while hitting 2 irons and 3 woods on every tee. Compare Tiger's effort to what Els did on 18 when he had to make a birdie. With a quartering wind in his face and from left to right, Els hit a fade over the left fairway bunker that required a carry of 285 yards. This left him a little wedge shot into the green that set up his winning putt. Until Tiger can do this consistently, he is going to come up short in most majors and will struggle at Augusta, where he has not won since 2005. Merion may very well be his best shot next year, since it is not long. Of course, with his ability, Tiger will likely at some point confound us pretend experts! In any event, it is always fun to watch the Open Championship as it is such a different brand of golf. Compared to the True South Classic which wrapped up today with Scott Stallings as the winner at 24 under, well, there is no comparison. Typical PGA Tour golf can be bit boring to watch as many weeks simply turn into a putting contest. Scott Cole www.yourgolfswingfix.com

McIlroy Leads Open Championship, Woods in Hunt

Rory McIlroy took advantage of calm morning conditions to fire a 63 at St. Andrews Thursday, and leads by two shots. Tiger Woods also was among the morning group that benefited from a lack of wind, and fired a 67. John Daly is also a surprise contender after a 66.

Conditions at St. Andrews were unusually calm this morning, which allowed the players with early tee times to get a jump on their competitors. Phil Mickelson was among those unfortunate enough to have an afternoon tee time, and he stumbled to a 73. Still, some players who played late in the day were able to shoot decent scores. Mickelson still seems unable to solve the riddle of links golf.

Weather for the rest of the tournament is expected to be a bit rough, so it is unlikely scores will be nearly as low as today. There were 16 scores of 67 or better today, although only a handful of those players, such as McIlroy and Lee Westwood would be considered contenders for the title against tourney favorite Tiger Woods. Ernie Els did manage to fire a 69 and Vijay Singh shot 68.

From my point of view, the tournament is Tiger's to win. He apparently is on form with his swing, and if he putts well, I only see McIlroy and Westwood as having a chance.

Scott Cole
www.onlinegolfswingcoach.com
www.powergolftraining.net