U.S. Open, make yor predictions

This guy may not win but deserves special note.  "Alvaro Quiros aced Olympic's 291-yard par-4 7th hole today. That's badass."  That is per Golf Digest.  

This going to be some kind of a week in golf.

Ty Webb

Or umm Webb Simpson cuz he's probably named after Ty Webb

Oh and he's from central NC

I'll make a sympathetic vote for an older guy, less spectacular player but with a good short game suitable for tough US Open style courses: Steve Stricker.

And just for fun, my alternate younger pick would be Matt Kuchar who's having a very consistent year.

Looks like Tiger's doing the best of anyone mentioned in this thread.  Kuchar's pretty close too.  Donald blew up with a 79, but there's still a long way to go.

Sorry Chip - I'm now making the easy prediction that neither Phil nor Bubba will make the cut. I will also predict that this tournament will cause Bubba to realize he needs a coach. His post round interview was a blatant admission that he was not prepared to play competitively on this course.

Tiger wins by 2 with final tally of 5 under.

Berman finds a way to say the word "back" 3 times. Berman mentions only one golfer nick name (by accident).

We will see one live shot of the Golden Gate bridge from the golf course.

Zhang goes home today with his bag stuffed with candy bars.

I know I'm saying this after his first round, but was on a business trip and didn't have a chance to respond.  I already placed my bet on Tiger.  The way he was launching the ball so high at Memorial will be perfect for a US open setup.

Prediction?  You obviously have to put some money on Tiger, but I'll go out on a limb and go with Kuchar despite him being a few strokes back going into today.  He has been amazingly consistent during the past couple of years, and that is what is needed on the course.  I played there a couple of years ago (from the member tees), and I recall screwing up the 18th and a couple of other holes despite hitting a great drive.  A lot can go wrong fast there.

The winning score prediction is even par.

Thank God it's the weekend and we don't have to hear Chris Berman any longer - my ears were starting to bleed.

Johnny Miller can be abrasive, but it'll be great having him announce the weekend this year in particular, since he knows every little detail of that course so well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayT 

Thank God it's the weekend and we don't have to hear Chris Berman any longer - my ears were starting to bleed.

 

Johnny Miller can be abrasive, but it'll be great having him announce the weekend this year in particular, since he knows every little detail of that course so well.

We have to like Miller because he is currently the most knowledgeable announcer in golf.  He has obviously "been there, done that," and he is local, too. He is abrasive, but that comes from honesty and knowing what he is talking about. 

Some people should never go into the announcers booth for golf tournaments because all they can do is read what someone puts in front of them, adding nothing to the contrived "story lines".  Guys like Chris Berman and Brent Musburger are good announcers in some sports, but they should avoid golf.  They are almost as embarrassing as Chris Collinsworth attempting to entertain an audience during the last Winter Olympics. 

I can almost hear these clowns announcing the 2014 Sochi Olympics, assuming they all will work for NBC:

Musburger: There is an interesting story line developing about the women's downhill.  It appears the USA has the best downhiller in the world.

Berman: Brent, you twit, this is old news. Doing a story like that is as dumb as the time you brought a case of wine to Johnny Miller's house. Come on and join me for a couple of veal Parmesan dinners.  They can do Italian here in Russia.  I'll bet that waitress can "go.. all.. the.. way."

Collinworth:  Hey guys, I got an idea for a new special interest story.  I am going to calculate the distance in feet each 0.001 of a second in the DH represents.  Some of these races are close.

Doug Lewis:  Hey, Cindy.  Can you believe how stupid these NBC guys are?

Cindy:  Hey, Podborski.  You announcing the downhill again?

Podborski:  Nah.  NBC wants me to do 12 hours a day of curling.  Some exec found a story line about some 43 year-old mom who curls three days a week and just broke a finger nail. 

Musburger:  Hey, do you skiers want to join us for dinner?

Everyone from the Universal Sports subsidiary: No!   We hate you clowns.  Please, stay away from skiing!

These would be Double Diamond!

Those are intense
 

The old golf saying "Major's begin on the final 9 of the Last Day"

As a Pa. guy, I am a fan of Jim Furek.

If it has to be an International player, I'd love to see Lee Westwood leave the Best in World Who Have Never Won a Major club.

Trying to figure out where I'd make a bigger fool of myself by  a) playing Olympic Club as it is set up today or b) trying to finish a World Cup GS. Major fail in both cases!

Terrible U.S. open for those of us in the UK. The leaders only go out at nearly midnight and as I'm not a big golf fan I won't be watching. I would, however, love to see Westwood finally win one. There are so many inferior players who will retire with a major on their CV.

Why did Woods not just move over to the other side of the path when he hurt his hand instead of expecting the photographer to jump out of his way. Arrogance personified. I hope he never surpasses the record of the great Jack Nicklaus!

I spent the night in the City, and it was windy and cool this morning (24 degreee difference between SF and my house in the East Bay).  It looks like there is still some wind on TV, so the scoring may not improve.  Westwood can certainly play well in the wind, and Furek is consistent as ever (How can anyone copy that backswing?).  Toms has been there before.  A lot of golfers can win this thing...it should be fun.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayT 

Thank God it's the weekend and we don't have to hear Chris Berman any longer - my ears were starting to bleed.

 

Johnny Miller can be abrasive, but it'll be great having him announce the weekend this year in particular, since he knows every little detail of that course so well.

I'd love for them to move Dick Vitale from college basketball to golf.  That would be hilarious!

Quote:

Originally Posted by crgildart 

Ty Webb

 

Or umm Webb Simpson cuz he's probably named after Ty Webb

 

Oh and he's from central NC

^^^AHEM!!   Looking like this might just happen

Quote:

Originally Posted by chip inderhol 

 Rusty, no one is going to get to 5 under. It's only going to get harder and faster.  Maybe someone (like EL Tigre) finishes 1 or 2 under, but not 5. I said 3 over and I will stick to it for now, although I will need some wind for it to come true. And please stop watching and listening to Berman; it justifies his existence. He should have been taken out behind the barn a long time ago.

It should have been obvious my predictions were for entertainment only, but 5 under was out there to be had. Bubba Who? It was good to see Phil keep his streak of open cuts made stay alive. News Flash - Tiger is actually human. Now if he had sunk the shot from the lip of the bunker....

I did listen to a couple of Berman's segments, but only to hear if my predictions had any chance of being true (before I made them). I respect him for the career choice he made (going to ESPN when it was a career crap shoot), being part of the rise of the network and sheer staying power. So I give the network a pass for using him for golf. After my prediction, Berman was fast forwarded. It looked obvious that Berman's style was "managed" (aka short leash). You have to fun make fun with the material you have to work with. Berman & Costas = WHY???? Barkley doing golf would just be "horrible". It would be funny to do a highlight clip with different voice overs including a Barkley horrible for a bad shot, a Vitale (that's awesome baby), a "going, going,gone" for balls lost in the trees, etc. If Jonny Mosely does well enough on Ultimate Ninja Warrior, maybe he can move on to golf?

Not sure if we saw a golden gate bridge shot from the course (instead of the blimp). I think there was one shot on Friday. My DVR is to small. I could not watch all of the coverage fast enough. But I did play 18 every day of the tournament. Golf at 3x speed is almost watchable. 

I loved hearing from Mike Davis and Jacobson's BillBurger bit. Loved the pin sheet.

What was a photog doing inside the ropes NOT looking at Tiger? Those guys are supposed to be invisible. A lot of those rope lines are so narrow that it's easy to not see what's inside the ropes. With their caddies/entourage they can kind of just move like a blob.

It is patently obvious that British golf fans wrapped in Union Jacks are for the birds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philpug 

Berman has NO business doing golf, keep him on Sunday Morning Countdown or whatever ESPN's football show is. 

Is this kind of like when Fox broke up Speed's team and had Jason Priestley commentating on F1? (I nearly shot my TV)

I'm laughing at the "Webb who?" talk I keep hearing after his win yesterday.  Dude was already #14 in the world and played well for the US Ryder Cup team last year - not exactly a nobody.  He also won twice last season.

However, with 2 of the last 3 major winners using long belly putters (the other was Keegan Bradley at the PGA), expect this debate to heat up big time.  Personally I don't think they should be allowed as the anchoring / hinge motion is against the basic spirit of holding a golf club with your hands together and hitting the ball.  Rumor has it the R&A will strike first and ban them from professional events, so by the time the 2013 British Open happens they won't be allowed.

Jay,

Have you seen the over shoulder, putt facing forward long putter? Ay yi yi!

If I make a stroke with my belly putter without it touching anything other than my hands, would that be ok even if the hands were "split"? Would you prefer to outlaw split grips for all clubs?

It's nice to see one of Homer's sons finally make good after all these years.

Pffft, ban long putters?  You guyz are starting to sound like the FIS  Why not start by banning "METAL" "woods".  There are tons of gear changes that take away from the spirit of the game and make it significantly easier for noobs than it used to be much less dialing it down for experts.  As long as we're comparing scores and records to people from Jack's and Johnny's era why not make them use the same equipment they did?  If you ban long putters, should also ban metal woods and graphite shafts.

My issue has to do with a separated grip and/or anchoring involved.  It's completely different.  Metal woods isn't comparable as that's a material change, not a completely different type of club.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayT 

My issue has to do with a separated grip and/or anchoring involved.  It's completely different.  Metal woods isn't comparable as that's a material change, not a completely different type of club.

These are completely different clubs

You should be able to put with the club in your teeth if you like.