Write up by Hunta The Punta.The Open Championship (18th-21st of July 2013)
This year’s open is set at Muirfield in Scotland, where Ernie Els won the first of his two Open championships at in 2002.
Comments on the course from the events website:
"The course is renowned amongst golfers as being perhaps the fairest test of all the Open venues, with few of the quirky bounces and hidden danger that links courses often contain. Two circuits of nine rotate in opposite directions, the back nine looping inside the front nine, ensuring that the golfer is never faced with the same wind direction on two consecutive holes. As Jack Nicklaus once put it, “What you see is what you get."
Whether the honesty of the layout has had anything to do with it or not, the fact remains that Muirfield has an astonishing record of identifying the greatest golfers of the age, with a roll of honour which reads like a Who’s Who of golf over the last century, with winners including Els, Faldo, Watson, Nicklaus, Player, Hagen and Vardon."
The British summer has been surprisingly dry of late and will mean that the course is playing extremely fast with the fairways being rock hard. Greens should hold up though as they will be regularly watered. However, take a look at the rough at Muirfield in the picture below- as posted by Ian Poulter to twitter.
Unlike most Open championships - this years is forecasted to have very little wind. This is something that will really open up the field in my opinion. Usually when the wind blows on the typical links tracks it sorts the men from the boys.
It will be important I feel to back those that are comfortable in these types of conditions - hard and fast courses where accuracy and scrambling will be key. But also the ability to be creative when faced with difficult shots that will rarely be found in any other event on tour.
Two players that have already caught my eye are:
Thorbjorn Olesen.
The youngster is showing great potential with a great showing at this years Masters where he narrowly missed out on the playoff with Scott and Cabrera. He also finished in the top ten at Lytham in last years Open. He won the extremely windy Sicilian Open in 2012 and has had good showings at other links events.
(Thorbjorn playing with Tiger in the 2012 Open at Lytham St Anne’s - He fared well considering the hype around Tiger!)
The second player in my ante post picks is - Branden Grace.
Grace won four times last year, the only player to do so on the European Tour, several of which were on links courses. He also just missed out on winning the Scottish open following a playoff loss to Mickelson. Which may not be a bad thing - no winner of the Scottish has gone on to win the Open in the following week.
Above - Branden Grace loves at good links course! Wins at the Dunhill Links Champ (based on three links courses in Scotland) and the links at Fancourt in South Africa - a true test of golf.
My third pick is:
Sergio Garcia at 30/1 1 pt Each Way - Seven Places
Ah Sergio, the man who should have won so many majors already. Only one thing has stopped him in my opinion and that is himself! He came so close at Carnoustie when Padraig went on to triumph.
He is playing some solid golf at the minute but truth be told he always has done. It comes down to his mindset in the week of tournament. He hit the lead at Augusta in April, very briefly, that is and capitulated almost instantly. However, I feel that it is now or never for Sergio. If he does not win one in the next year to 18 months I do not think he ever will.
He won the amateur championship here in 1998 and finished in the top ten back in 2002 when Ernie won - so he knows how to play the course.
His putter is arguably the best it ever has been with his unconventional style that works so well for him. His ball striking is still top drawer. The biggest risk is if he hits the front early - can he hold out?! I think he is worth the risk, especially with the seven places.
His Open form reads:
8 (2002) 10 MC 5 5 2 51 38 14 9 MC (2012)
Fourth Pick:
Dustin Johnson at 45/1 1 pt each way - Seven Places
Dustin’s length will be a great advantage at this years event in my opinion for one simple reason - he can leave the driver in the bag. Dustin will be able to play the majority of the holes at Muirfield only hitting a long iron off the tee to ensure he stays out of the long stuff.
He has proven that he can play on these links style courses - he finished second in 2011 to Darren Clarke and 9th at Lytham last year. He also relishes the links at Pebble Beach whenever the tour visits in the US. He can play in the wind - he won at the crazily windy Kapalua earlier this year so don’t be afraid if the forecast changes and the wind gets up come Sunday.
He is not in the greatest form of his life currently but the hype of the Open should focus him - well if it doesn’t, nothing in golf will. He does have two top 20s in his last three starts though.
My Fifth pick is:
Miguel Angel Jimenez at 175/1 0.5 pts each way - Six Places
Top continental European at 25/1 1 pt each way - 4 places
This is a bit of an outside bet considering Miguel’s not in the greatest form:
4 14 19 26 58 MC
He missed the cut last week at the Scottish but this does not overly concern me. Miguel’s ability to keep the ball in play and make putts if he gets on a run really makes his price attractive.
He is also not too shabby on the links courses - he has been in the top 25 in three of the last four Opens including a tie for ninth at last years event at Lytham.
Since his injury at the end of last year he has shown glimpses of his old self - peaking with a top 4 at Wentworth.
What is attractive is his impressive putting stats - averaging under 29 putts per round this year as well as hitting almost 70% of greens in regulation.
Who knows what can happen at the Open - especially with the current trend of 40-somethings winning! (Clarke in 2011 and Els in 2012).
Good luck and enjoy the golf!
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