Early birds get the birds in round one

The way that St. Andrews is set up this year the weather is forcing players to play the back nine differently than they play the front nine, so you can just imagine the adjustments the late groups are making to adapt to climate changes in the late afternoon. That’s been the story of the Open thus far, as the early groups gained a decided advantage as scoring opportunities dried up the moisture increased. As the last group completed their round, umbrellas were abundant and the birdies had all left the course. Lefty was one of many that was taken out with the tide as he finished +1 for the day, ten shots back. Heath Slocum and Gareth Maybin are the only late afternoon players to break par (-2) a further confirmation that Mother Nature is the clubhouse leader. Although it would be almost impossible to match last year’s drama with Tom Watson’s miraculous run only to lose in the playoff, but if Daly can manage not to implode and make it to the weekend it would set up an amazing storyline that could possibly rival if not top Tom’s from last year, but let’s not get crazy and remember it’s Thursday not Saturday. In the event that the JD saga doesn’t interest you then perhaps the tribulations of the number 1 player in the world might, as he did manage to shoot a -5 for the first round and any time Tiger is remotely close after round one you have to think that he will be around in the end. After losing 7(insert 8 zeros) to a divorce settlement then losing his swing in the same month, TW is in need of a comeback of his own as for the first time in a decade his perilous hold on number one is now on a tournament by tournament basis and a finish outside of the top ten could spell the end of an era. Normally a five under par may not put you on top of the leaderboard but you certainly don’t expect to be out of the top 10, actually he’s tied for 8th with nine other players (which makes perfect sense), but for all intent and purposes he’s 12th but only 4 strokes off the lead, which would be half of the front nine for the “old” Tiger but I’m not sure who this new guy is yet, I just know he has a new putter. So who would make a better comeback story for you? Tiger or JD? Let us know here and in any of the quick links.

Did anyone really wDid anyone really want to win this thing?ant to win this thing?

For a tournament that is hailed as our National Championship it sure wasn’t very impressive. It’s not so much that none the American top players were on top of the leader board at the end, or even because we let someone come into our house and take our National Championship trophy back with them on a plane, but because the play was so poor for a tournament of such high prestige. I understand the Pebble Beach as been revised to be the equivalent of the Green Monster with water hazards, but no course can or should make the winning score an even par. None of the top 5 players had cards with red ink on them in the final round with the best coming from Frenchman Greg Havret and even that was still +1 for round. The best player in the world still can not seem to regain his prior form although he gave us a tease with a 3rd round 66, but it’s clear that Tiger is not the dominating force that he once was and it will take more than criticizing his caddy and changing swing coaches to get him back to form. The old Tiger would have taken this tournament bull by the horns in the last round and immediately crushed any dreams of an underdog coming on to his turf and walking out with his hardware. Not anymore. The stigma of TW being within striking distance on day 4 is all but folklore now. And where was Lefty with his chance to wear the national crown for the first time in his career in addition to taking over the world’s top spot? He also got the better of the course for one round of 66 but paid it back with interest over the other three, including a choke filled final round of +2. I’ll tell ya, this year began with some of the best sporting climaxes American sports has to offer (Super Bowl, NCAA Championship, even the Masters) but this was a major. A major disappointment. What was your take on the final round of the 2010 US Open? Let us know here and in any of the quick links.