On Thursday we have the second Golf major of the year starting at the Pinehurst course in North Carolina with the 114th US Open Championship. From the 12th-15th June we are going to be treated to some top quality major golf action, with Justin Rose the defending champion and the whole thing culminating on Fathers Day, but which golfer will be able to win a major championship and give their father the best Fathers Day gift they could have imagined?
First up then, let's have a look at how the groupings shape up for the first couple of days before the cut, and i'll be giving you a couple of predictions as to who will be the best player in each grouping.
Thursday and Friday US Open Major Groupings:
Sergio Garcia, Jason Day and Brandt Snedeker: Jason Day did have a good time in the majors last season and it doesn't seem like he's far away from one, but injury hampered him at The Masters and he seems to still be searching for a bit of form. Meanwhile Sergio has been in good form of late and always seems to play fairly consistently in the majors making him a good pick here.
Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar and Lee Westwood: All 3 of these players have been playing well lately, although Lee Westwood always seems to be around at majors he never quite seems to be good enough. Henrik Stenson has been playing well on the European Tour as well but for him it's all about how he can transfer this form to the US scene. Meanwhile Matt Kuchar has had a very strong season so far on the PGA Tour and he played pretty well in the last couple of days at the Masters whilst being consistently good over the season.
Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell: All 3 of these guys have won the US Open in the past but since then it seems like McDowell and Simpson really haven't pushed on and been able to find the same form. Meanwhile McIlroy hadn't been having a great time up until this season where he's seemed to rediscover his form and splitting from girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki has allowed him to really focus on his Golf in the last month. Both a good bet to win this grouping and to go far this week.
Ian Poulter, Miguel Angel Jiminez and Thongchai Jaidee: All of these players have had some good results over the last few months with Jimenez and Jaidee both having wins on the European Tour since the Masters where Jimenez was also playing well. But for me Poulter really has a lot of experience now both in Golf and the major tournaments and it's really time for him to use that to greater effect in these major events because he certainly has the attitude and the potential.
Nick Watney, Jonas Blixt and Joost Luiten: In this grouping for me it is between Jonas Blixt and Joost Luiten who have both been playing some decent Golf recently while Watney doesn't seem to have done too much. However, for me Blixt comes across as a brilliant talent and he certainly showed at the Masters that he has the game to go far in a major, just as he did at Augusta and hopefully he can bring that form here as well. Certainly seems to have bags of potential.
Patrick Reed, Ryan Moore and Kevin Na: Out of these 3 I think it's probably Ryan Moore and Patrick Reed that seem to have the biggest potential to do well this week. Reed has had a lot to say about how good a Golfer he is, but as he matures as a Golf player he may live to regret some of the statements he's made as really he is putting extra pressure on himself. Moore meanwhile is a very decent golfer with a decent world ranking and a decent overall game. All he really needs to add are some more consistent displays in the major tournaments and I think he has that in him.
Boo Weekly, D.A Points and Stephen Gallacher: Stephen Gallacher really is the stand out player in this grouping while Weekly and Points are both decent golfers, Gallacher just seems to have had a spark in his game in the last year or so as he has really risen as a golfer and started to challenge for bigger events. His display at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last month just showed he can compete with the best, and his form may just be too good for Weekly and Points if he can reproduce it this week.
Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera and David Toms: For me this grouping is all about Johnson and Cabrera as they have both been around a while within golf and they both have what it takes to win Golf tournaments. However, for me it's Zach who jumped out at me here as he has really started to build up a fair amount of major experience and with the talent he has it's time he started to produce top quality golf more frequently in the best events.
Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson and amateur Matthew Fitzpatrick: This group of course is all about Justin Rose the defending champion and one of the biggest names in the game of golf in Phil Mickelson. Rose may be defending champion but with that comes a lot of extra pressure that won't be on Phil and many of the golfers in the field. Rose doesn't seem to have reproduced too much either in too many events since winning the US last year, while Phil Mickelson has more experience in how to handle big pressure and his record in the US Open and every major on the calendar is simply brilliant.
Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama and Rickie Fowler: This group in my opinion is all about the young man Jordan Spieth. Jordan showed both at the Masters and then again so soon afterwards at the Players Championship what he's made of on 2 very tough courses. He's also had a lot of success on the PGA Tour and is certainly one young golfer who could go on and dominate the game for years to come.
John Senden, Nicolas Colsaerts and Brooks Koepka: For me I think this pairing is all about Nicolas Colsaerts and how he goes. Last seen he seemed to burst onto the scene with some very good results and he seemed to have quite a lot of talent. Things haven't quite happened for him yet this season but now wouldn't be a bad time to start.
Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker and Victor Dubuisson: This grouping is packed full of talent with the large experience of Dustin Johnson, though he has really been struggling with his game in recent times. For me Victor Dubuisson is a man that has burst onto the scene with plenty of potential and he certainly seems to have what it takes to have a good performance in a major, and once he has his first great major display then he will be able to kick on. Hopefully that breakthrough is this week.
Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel: Three real quality players lining up here in this grouping with this years Masters champion Bubba Watson but also the 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott. Adam has been in impeccable form of late on his rise to world no.1 while Bubba Watson doesn't seem to be someone who can produce on as regular a basis as Scott seems to be. That's why Scott is my pick here.
Ernie Els, Darren Clarke and Louis Oosthuizen: This grouping is full of experienced players who have played in a lot of major championships in the past. For his age and how long he's been around Ernie Els still seems to be able to produce good golf at the highest level and he has more experience than some players could dream of having. Ernie also has a brilliant record in the US Open unlike Darren Clarke while Oosthuizen seems to have fallen away in recent years making Els my pick of this group.
Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley and Martin Kaymer: After Keegan Bradley's good runs of 2 or 3 years ago his game really seems to have gone downhill and at the moment he doesn't seem to have had very many high finishes at any tournaments at all. Meanwhile, Jason Dufner doesn't seem to have much consistency to his game, on some days playing really well and on others he can fall apart. On form Martin Kaymer is probably the best player of these 3 but his form had also gone missing in the last couple of years before he won the Players Championship recently and since then he seems to have really got back close to the level he was playing at when he won his first major.
Hunter Mahan, Jamie Donaldson and Francesco Molinari: In this grouping we have 2 golfers that always seemed to have been consistently average in Molinari, whose form is really plummeting and Hunter Mahan. However, Jamie Donaldson has been on the rise for some time and has started to play some good golf at some of the bigger events on the calendar as well as the small ones and I expect him to impress again this week.
Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Bill Haas: All of the guys in this grouping are very experienced golfers who all know there way around the US courses in particular and you expect them all to go ok in the US majors. However, Jim Furyk just seems to have that extra bit of quality that can sometimes be the difference between missing a few cuts and finishing in the middle of the leaderboard to having more stronger finishes and getting nearer to the top of the field as he did at the Masters this year without any real fuss.
Brendon De Jonge, Kevin Stradler and Shane Lowry: All of these players in this grouping generally look average and Shane Lowry has often been looked upon by some as a player that is alright but not a good or a great player. For me though some of the form he can show at events, just as he showed at the BMW PGA at Wentworth is worthy of making him a good player and it only takes one good week at a major for more and more people to think that and this could well be his week to do that.
Luke Donald, Harris English and Paul Casey: The clear stand out player in this section is of course former world no.1 Luke Donald who simply has that extra bit of quality compared to Casey and English and his return to form in some of the latest events including that BMW PGA Championship could make him a real force to be reckoned with this week right at the top of the leaderboard.
Now I'm going to look at who the 10 Players to Watch for this weeks US Open title are going to be and who my tips are for the tournament and why.
9 Players to Watch at the US Open:
Jason Day: I though Jason Day would've been a big player to watch for The Masters and perhaps without that injury he had shortly beforehand he might have been able to get inside the Top 10. He hasn't quite yet hit his straps after that injury but he would've been preparing well for this tournament, he has a good record from previous US Open championships and he is a player that does seem to play his best golf at the major championships. Due to the injury he had though and his slow return to form since I don't think he can win the tournament outright but I certainly think that with a strong start he'll make it into the top 10 and who knows how high he can finish from there.
Phil Mickelson: Phil Mickelson is pretty much one of the players to watch at every major on the golf calendar simply because of his sheer brilliance and the experience that he has from winning so many tournaments in the past. He wasn't necessarily playing his best golf prior to his Open Championship win last year, and he hasn't been playing stunning golf in the lead up to this, missing the cut at the years first major at Augusta. However, he does have a very good record at the US Open and if anyone can turn up and play well without necessarily having much form behind him it's Phil Mickelson. I wouldn't rule him out for the title but once again a top 10 finish is slightly more likely.
Matt Kuchar: Matt Kuchar has been one of the leading players on the golf circuit this season with a silly amount of top 10 finishes so far in 2014 including a win at the RBC Heritage and a strong finish earlier in the year at the Masters. All of these events of course have been on US soil, and with that RBC win under his belt, Kuchar really will believe that he can go on and win this one after a series of good weeks golf that haven't always produced the desired result but he has consistently played well.
Jordan Spieth: Jordan Spieth is a brilliant young player who has burst onto the scene in the last year already with one PGA Tour victory under his belt giving him plenty of confidence to know that not only can he compete but he can win. That helped him a lot at his first Masters where he finished tied for 2nd and he also had a strong event at the Players Championships and all of these strong tour performances and major performances can only be leading up to one thing and that is Spieth's first major championship and I think that it will certainly come sooner rather than later in his career.
Adam Scott: Adam Scott has been so brilliant and so consistent since his first major win at the 2013 Masters that he is now one of the top forces in world golf. He has climbed the rankings at a sharp rate to reach the world no.1 spot recently and he is definetly a player that will win multiple major championships in his career now and having done the hard work it's about time he was cashing in now and he really should be winning a major or a big event every season knowing what he's capable of. There is a very strong case for him winning at Pinehurst this week.
Bubba Watson: Big hitting Bubba Watson's 2nd Masters win at Augusta in April just confirmed to everyone how good a player he really is in the game right now, right up there with the best in the world. There is certainly no arguing with Watson's form at the moment and his game is one that can get him a win anywhere in the world. If he's on form with his putting as well as his longer game then he has to be a force at any major championship and it could be time either this year or next that he started adding some different major titles to his collection to go with his 2 Masters. A top 5 finish this week would really be a strong foundation for some of the big upcoming events to come in the rest of the golf season and could tee him up for further major wins before the end of 2014.
Stephen Gallacher: Stephen Gallacher has really been one of the most improved players on the golf tour in the last couple of years. Stephen has won the Dubai Desert Classic 2 seasons running picking up 2 of his 3 European Tour wins in the last 2 years, losing out in another 2 events in the last 2 years in play-offs including the very recent Nordea Masters which has been part of a real spike in form for Stephen that has also seen him finish in the top 5 at the BMW PGA at Wentworth. I'm not sure if he has the game to ever win a major championship, but he certainly has the game to start producing some bigger results and continue to climb up the rankings.
Henrik Stenson: Henrik Stenson seems as though he has reached the peak years of his career at this stage with some fantastic results he has been having in the last couple of years. Henrik won two tournaments in September 2013, another in November 2013 he finished 2nd to Mickelson at last years Open Championship and 3rd at last years PGA Championships. He finished tied for 14th earlier this season at the Masters and his rise in form has really showed that he can continue to find these top 20 and top 10 finishes in major championships which I expect him to play his way to again this week.
Rory McIlroy: Rory McIlroy had had a tough couple of years since his win at the US Open and things for him had not been straight forward with a change of clubs for him not working out last year and people saying that his relationship with Caroline Wozniacki was distracting him from his golf amongst other things. However, since the turn of the year things have started to settle down for him with his golf and ending his relationship with Caroline has really allowed him to focus on his Golf, rediscover his form and it led to a huge win for him at the BMW PGA Championship which would also have given him plenty of confidence to go on and perform better at the majors. I Expect at least a top 10, maybe even a top 5 or a win for Rory this week.
My 3 Tournament Tips:
Jordan Spieth
Matt Kuchar
Adam Scott
Whatever happens this week and whoever gets the win at this weeks US Open in North Carolina there will be some brilliant golf on display and I'm sure we will have a winner worthy of winning such a huge event on the golfing calendar.
I hope you've all enjoyed my preview and that you will all enjoy watching the event as much as I will over the next 4 days.
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