Matsuyama Gets The Nod To Win The Open

Image Credit: BT Sport Okay, it’s time to unveil my choice to win the Open. Similar to the U.S. Open, I am staying away from favorites. First of all, when you pick a favorite and he wins, that hardly makes you a genius. When you take a long shot, as I did in the U.S. Open, there’s greater satisfaction if he wins.

Image Credit: Golf Digest What is wrong with Rory McIlroy? The 28-year-old native of Northern Ireland started the season ranked second in the world, but he hasn’t been playing like it and has slipped to fourth. He has only played in only eight events this season, including just seven since the new year, because of a nagging rib injury that had led to back issues. His best results have been tied for fourth in two of the tourneys, the last one in the Arnold Palmer Invitational back in March.

Image Credit: Reuters This year’s edition of the U.S. Open centers on Dustin Johnson, and for good reason.

The hype about recently-retired Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo joining the broadcast team as part of CBS’s coverage of the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational at the Colonial Country Club this past weekend took a rather ordinary tournament and provided a great sense of anticipation. And it turned out to be illuminating, although also a little disappointing.

Image Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images Good on the United States Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews for acting quickly to change the rules that will limit the use of video evidence to affect the outcome of an event. How many of us truly felt for Lexi Thompson, who entered the final day of the ANA Inspiration tournament with a three-shot lead with six holes to play and suddenly found herself penalized four strokes for committing a violation the day before in the third round? Yes, she broke the rules by marking a ball and then replacing it an inch away from the actual spot. But if not for some TV viewer alerting the tournament officials, no one would have known. Think about it, with all the tournament officials, none of them spotted the innocent mistake.

Image Credit: PGA No matter how many times I watch the Masters, I am always amazed by the ebb of flow of man versus nature, and man versus fate. As I look back on the 81st Masters, there are images that are stick in my mind for a whole bunch of different reasons. The ceremonial opening tee shots became far more emotional in the first tournament since the passing of the legendary Arnold Palmer. You could see the emotion on the faces of Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus as Billy Payne, Chairman of Augusta National, so eloquently talked about the man known as The King.

Image Credit: SB Nation Every year since 1960, the Par 3 contest at Augusta National is an interesting prelude to the Masters. It is full of fun and frivolity, in stark contrast to the seriousness of the Masters, which has announcers talking in hushed, reverent tones. There has never been a player who has won the Par 3 contest and the Masters in the same year, although Raymond Floyd came close in 1990, losing the Masters in a sudden-death playoff to Nick Faldo, who won the coveted green jacket for the second consecutive year. Floyd’s attempt to record the Par 3 and Masters win came undone on the second hole when his iron shot went into the water. Had he won, it would have been the first player to win a Masters in four consecutive decades.

Image Credit: PGA Tour Some random thoughts for the golf world: Jordan Spieth looks be to be back in form from two years ago after a somewhat disappointing season in 2016. His four-stroke win in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am was stunning, if only because he came into Sunday’s final round with a resounding six-shot lead and essentially had to play cautiously or, according to his caddie’s suggestion, “boring golf.”

Image Credit: PGA As Jon Rahm made a 60-foot putt from off the fringe to register an eagle on the final hole of the Farmers Insurance Open – a shot that would lead to his first PGA Tour victor – did you notice the brand name of the ball? It was a TaylorMade TP5x.