Here are the latest World Golf Rankings:
1. T. Woods
2. R. McIlroy (NIR)
3. J. Rose (ENG)
4. A. Scott (AUS)
5. P. Mickelson
6. M. Kuchar
7. G. McDowell (NIR)
8. B. Snedeker
9. L. Donald (ENG)
10. S. Stricker
Tomorrow, these guys -- and lots of others -- will be teeing off at Muirfield, home of the 2013 British Open. I judge golf courses by the quality of the players who win there. By this measure, Muirfield may be the greatest golf course in the world. Here are the British Opens played at Muirfield since 1950:
1959: G. Player (RSA)
1966: J. Nicklaus
1972: L. Trevino
1980: T. Watson
1987: N. Faldo (ENG)
1992: N. Faldo (ENG)
2002: E. Els (RSA)
Now that is a remarkable list. In fact, every single golfer on that list has won at least two British Open titles. And that's not all in favor of Muirfield. Jack Nicklaus, who knows a thing or two about golf, loves Muirfield so much that when he built his own course close to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, he named it Muirfield Village.
So I'm very hopeful that we will get a good winner this weekend. I don't see Tiger or Phil getting it done, so I don't think we'll have an American winner. (American golf fans have to hope nothing happens to Jordan Spieth, who appears to be our next great hope.) But given the history above, I'm eager to see who the winner will be.
BOOM! Zach Johnson--age 37, 2007 Masters champ and No. 2-seeded player on the 1992 Iowa-state champion Cedar Rapids Regis High golf team (Kurt Warner also went to Regis)--is going all U! S! A! in the first round: 6-under through 12 holes and two strokes ahead of the rest of the field. BOOM!!!
ReplyDeleteI see that Jordan Spieth of Dallas turned pro midway through his sophomore year at the University of Texas ... 1.5 and done.
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