I'll start off this preview by picking out some of the exciting groupings for the first 2 days at Royal Liverpool:
Selected Open Groupings: (Winning pick of each in bold)
Jim Furyk, Darren Clarke and Tom Watson - To match the legendary veteran in Tom Watson in this pairing we have what should be a good little battle between Jim Furyk and Darren Clarke. Darren has been struggling for form in the last couple of years but he did win this title back in 2011 and he certainly knows his way around these types of courses and the poor weather, as it was dreadful the year he won it. In my view though Jim Furyk has been playing the better golf this year and he has so much experience that no adverse conditions will bother him this week.
Luke Donald, Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia - This looks like a cracking little grouping, and in my view Rickie Fowler is at the forefront of it. Sergio Garcia didn't have a great time of it at the US Open and his form has been pretty inconsistent for a while and you feel his best chance at winning a major will be in the US rather than in the tougher Open Championship conditions. For Luke Donald though Britain may be his best place to attempt a major win. I thought he'd go well at the US Open but he struggled dramatically on the Thursday at Pinehurst and missed the cut. However, he did perform well at the PGA Championships at Wentworth making the top 10 and he showed some decent golf again at the Scottish Open with a good overall finish pointing this event out as a major that he should target fully. Rickie Fowler though is the man rising fast in golf at the moment in my opinion after a start to the season in the majors that has included top 10 finishes at the Masters and US Open followed by another at the Scottish Open makes him a strong contender for this.
Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson and Angel Cabrera - The return of Tiger Woods to major competition will be the major talking point here and he says that nothing less than a victory will do and I think he'll be disappointed this week so soon after such a lengthy time away from the game no matter how good he is. Angel Cabrera may have won his first PGA Tour event for some time last weekend but I'm not sure he has another strong major run in him these days. However, it's Henrik Stenson that is the man at the moment and clearly the strongest contender out of these 3 for the title having risen up the rankings lately while having stronger runs at the majors. Stenson certainly has the game to win multiple major championships.
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama - Matsuyama is certainly an exciting Japanese golfer but whether he has the game to compete with other hot younger prospects like Jordan Spieth and someone that's still young but has bags of experience at this level now in Rory McIlroy time will tell but on his weekend he can certainly play top quality golf. Spieth has had 2 decent runs at the majors this year and good runs at both the Players Championship and in an attempt to defend his John Deere Classic title last week show that he has a lot of talent for a young man. However, he's yet to prove himself in these conditions as much which is where McIlroy may have the edge on his 2 companions for the first 2 days. The only thing stopping Rory having strong runs left, right and centre is his consistency at this stage as he started like a train in Scotland at the weekend before taking several steps back on Friday as his Friday curse continued. Other than that Rory is showing some of the good form that he showed at Wentworth and his best in the majors this year is yet to come.
Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson and Jimmy Walker - For me this grouping is all about Dustin Johnson and Ian Poulter. Poulter did have an injury scare having to go for a scan earlier in the week on his wrist but he's declared himself fit to play and I like his chances of another strong major run as he just searches for a breakthrough after some consistent performances in the majors but nothing troubling the very top of the leaderboard. Dustin Johnson struggled at the Masters but he looked a very strong player at Pinehurst with a top 10 finish there and this is a course that will suit his big hitting game. Expect him to have a run this week as well.
Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar and Louis Oosthuizen - For me this grouping is all about McDowell and Kuchar as they are the guys in form with Louis struggling to put good finishes together in more recent times. McDowell won the Open De France a couple of weeks back but he did struggle at the US Open after a great start to the week and in the majors he's not been great of late. The win in France will be a confidence boost though and he can take that into this and do well here as he said he thinks it's all about mindset for an Open Championship and his will be in a good place. As will Matt Kuchar's whose taken 3 weeks off to prepare for this after making several top 10 and top 20 finishes this season including a top 10 at the Masters a top 20 at the US Open and a PGA Tour win. Matt's a great guy and will be well prepared and confident for this and in my view he has as good a chance of winning as anyone.
Martin Kaymer, Jason Day and Zach Johnson - Martin Kaymer is proving himself once more to be one of the best players in world golf after the problems he's had in the last 2 years to then come back this year and capture the Players Championship and be in a totally different league in winning the US Open by several shots. Kaymer's game is so good right now that you have to fancy his chances of going well again this week. Jason Day is someone that's been a little quiet this season after the problems he's had with injury at the Masters, but he did have a much better finish in the US Open thanks mainly to a good final day for him there and he does have an impressive record when it comes down to the majors, but not an overly impressive record in the Open Championship which will make it harder for him to challenge if he can't step up. Zach Johnson had a good finish in a recent PGA Tour event but other than that he's not been as impressive this season and doesn't seem to have as much form behind him but he certainly has the big game to go well this week, but in this grouping I fell like he has 2 players that are better than him which he'll either thrive on or struggle with. Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Bubba Watson - This grouping for me is all about Masters champion Bubba Watson and last years champion Phil Mickelson more than it is the ageing champion of 2 years ago in Ernie Els who simply struggles to compete to the highest level now on a regular basis. Bubba Watson though is at the top of his game right now and you'd expect him to add to the 2 Masters titles he has in terms of majors. Watson does seem to struggle a little away from Augusta though and he missed the cut at the US Open so i'll be intrigued to see what he can do on British soil here having never made a top 10. Phil Mickelson as defending champion though will have all the confidence he needs that he can repeat the feat this year and even though he didn't do great at Augusta missing the cut and then never really looking in the running at the US Open he did have a good finish at last weeks Scottish Open and that was what gave him the confidence to win last years Open so why can't he have a strong finish again?
Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Jason Dufner - Due to Jason Dufners poor fortunes where he really struggled at the Masters and the US Open since last years US PGA victory and the fact that he has never had a top 20 at the Open and has only made the cut twice won't fill him with confidence to be a top challenger this week. Adam Scott will be confident he can avenge his final day meltdown in 2012 at the Open to win this week as the world No.1 and clearly the best player in the world. He's been consistent in the first half of the year without challenging for a major but he has won a couple of events on the PGA Tour and you'd expect someone like Scott to do well this week given his experience in majors and of challenging at the Open. Justin Rose is clearly the form man though as he has won the last 2 events that he's entered which is fantastic going for him and will fill him with confidence especially to win the Scottish Open like Mickelson did last year before winning the Open and someone with Rose's ability and confidence will believe that he can do exactly the same thing with his game being there or thereabouts ahead of the little run that he's been with him playing good golf in the last few months. Rose is one of the hot favourites now to win this, having climbed up as well to No.3 in the world.
Ryo Ishikawa, Lee Westwood and Keegan Bradley - This grouping for me is all about Lee Westwood and Keegan Bradley as you'd expect one of them to do a fair bit better than Ishikawa given their experience of these majors and being near the top of the leaderboard in them. Westwood is still searching for his first major and he hasn't been playing great this year to challenge in them as yet missing the cut at the US Open and his preparation hasn't gone great for this one having missed another cut at the Scottish Open. In my view there comes a point in someone's career when you come so close to winning majors that the mental damage must pile up and make your chances of actually winning one a lot less. Keegan Bradley though doesn't have the same damage, and even though his form hadn't been great he did manage a strong week at Pinehurst No.2 and I think he can take that nicely into this Open and while I don't think he's a main contender I think he'll make the cut and be found around the middle of the leaderboard on Sunday.
Now it's time for me to pick out the guys I think have the best chance of taking the title on Sunday evening:
8 picks for the Open Championship:
Henrik Stenson -Henrik Stenson has been in fantastic form lately and he'll be a massive contender this week for the title as I think he can't be too far away from winning a major championship. Before finishing tied for 4th at this years US Open he finished tied for 14th at the Masters as well as 3rd at last years US PGA Championship and 2nd at the Open a year ago as well which all shows his consistency across all of the majors demonstrating that he has what it takes to push on and win any of them, and that's all coupled with 3 tournament wins in 2013 alone which is a great record for the man that is now up to No.2 in the world. Stenson's resurgence has been very impressive and the only thing that's lacking from his CV having won the unofficial 5th major the Players Championship in 2009 is a full major championship and in my opinion there's no reason that this week won't be his week.
Adam Scott - As the new world No.1 you have to feel that Adam Scott is one guy who is a contender for every major he enters and he'll be out to avenge what happened in 2012 where he really went under the pressure of winning his first major and having finished tied 3rd last year he'll want to seal the deal if he puts himself in with a chance which he is consistently doing in the major tournaments. For Scott this year the best is yet to come but he'll feel confident knowing he can play in British conditions and put himself up there to win his 2nd major. As world no.1 now and a regular PGA Tour winner at the age of 34 this is the stage of Scott's career where he should be cashing in and adding to his major tally and this week is as good a week as any to start and there's no reason in my opinion why he shouldn't.
Phil Mickelson - The defending champion Phil Mickelson is always up there to win every major he plays in and it's no surprise to anyone when he does win a major as it was when he won his first Claret Jug last year. He won that coming off the back of a good win at the Scottish Open and I believe he felt that that was the perfect preparation for the big one and in my view you can't go wrong with a good run the week before a major in similar conditions. Mickelson had another pretty good run at the Scottish Open last week where he finished tied for 11th and that will really boost his confidence ahead of this week after a poor first half to the season which saw him miss the cut at the Masters and fail once again to win the US Open after struggling throughout the 4 days with his putting and he'll know that that was his area to work on ahead of this week and he'd have worked hard on that to make sure that he can match his ever impressive iron work with some good work on the greens to take the opportunities that present themselves. I think we can expect Phil to be nearer the top of the leaderboard at Hoylake this week.
Matt Kuchar - Matt Kuchar has been mister consistency in the last few years as possibly the nicest guy on the golf tour and one of the most hard working has hit so many top 10s that it's quite staggering and a particularly good run of form around April saw him lose a play-off at the Shell Houston before finishing tied for 5th at the Masters and winning the RBC Heritage. He also finished tied for 12th at the US Open and the only thing that seemed to let him down in both of the years first 2 majors that for me were the difference between a top 10 finish and winning the title was the way he finished picking up late bogey's every time after a lot of hard work that had gone before, and that wasn't simply down to the latter holes being tough because every hole on a major course is. His record in the last 2 years at the Open Championship is also pretty good finishing tied for 15th last year and tied for 9th in 2012, showing he has the game to compete at the Open and possibly win a claret jug. If you look at Matt Kuchar I think you see a pretty consistent player who almost has the complete game with great iron play and some more than handy putting to boot. Over the course of the last 3 years Matt has challenged for a lot of major titles and my view is that he can't be all that far from winning his first ever major championship and I'd actually be amazed if I'm sat here this time next year saying that Kuch hasn't won a major. There's absolutely no reason that coming into this event fresh after about 2 or 3 weeks off won't help him as long as he's well prepared and that means that there's no reason for this to not be his week.
Rickie Fowler - Rickie Fowler has really impressed me this season and whether he can win this tournament or not is one question, but I certainly feel like he can secure a top 5 finish. Now that his coach is Butch Harmon who also coaches the likes of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson I feel like we'll start to see more of the potential come out of Rickie and that his all round game will improve which makes him a solid contender for this week. After finishing tied for 5th at the Masters and then tied for second at the US Open Rickie is clearly in good form and his best finish at an Open championship is also tied 5th which isn't bad for a 25 year old. Finishing tied 8th at the Scottish Open also confirms that he can certainly play in British conditions and has the form behind him on what was a pretty solid weekend that finished with a 65 on the Sunday. He'll be confident that he can keep his form going and as a young man of 25 he shouldn't be necessarily be thinking about winning majors as much as getting strong finishes which he is doing.
Martin Kaymer - It was always going to be hard for me to not include Kaymer as a contender this week with him winning both the Players Championship and of course last months US Open by quite a large number of shots showing his dominance and there is certainly a case right now that even though he is ranked at 12 in the world that he is certainly one of if not the best golfer in the world right now. His best finish at the Open is tied for 7th but that doesn't necessarily reflect his return to form which has been taking place in 2014 after a couple of years of him struggling a little and working hard to change and tinker with his game. With him in the right place now though he has to be a contender for most golf tournaments he plays in and that will be the case with this Open Championship. All it's about now is whether he can play the conditions as well as the course with that being a big challenge in Britain.
Justin Rose - Justin Rose right now is at the top of his game after winning in Scotland just as Phil Mickelson did before winning the Open last year but Rose has also won a PGA Tour event just a couple of weeks ago too at Congressional in the Quicken Loans national so he'll be one of the most confident players coming to Hoylake which will be fantastic for him. However, he has missed the cut in the last 2 years at the Open and that will be in the back of his mind as well although of course winning his first major last year will give him all the confidence he needs to go on and win more and I'm sure that he can. As I say he'll be full of confidence and he certainly has the game and the form to do well on this course because he'll always have confidence in the shots he'll play which is key.
Rory McIlroy - For me Rory is always a contender for any major that he's playing in these days but there is still a lot for him to work on in order for him to put the perfect week together at the Open Championship. Rory has showed off some good Golf this year at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth where he won and then again last week at the Scottish Open where he opened up with a round of 64 only to take all of that back with another typically bad show on Friday where he shot 78 before a good weekend eventually meant that he finished on 7 under par on a week that could've been so much better than it actually was. We know that Rory has the power in his game that will serve him well on this course and he's been working hard to try and get his game in better shape for the links courses that the Open Championship throws up. However, the thing that has let him down in the majors so far is his putting where he hasn't been able to take his opportunities and his general lack of consistency over 4 days where he always seems to open a weekend nicely before struggling on Friday and I'm not sure what it is about the second round of a golf tournament that seems to get to McIlroy but if he can work it out and fix it he's a really hot favourite to take away the title on Sunday in my opinion.
It will be a great weekend of Golf and for me my 3 picks for the week are Matt Kuchar, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler as I think they all have very good chances and I'm looking forward to how it all pans out this week at Hoylake.
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