Post British Open Thoughts

I thought Tiger struck the ball much better than the last few events, but it was shocking to see him miss so many putts...and Sunday, he hit it in places where he never has before (bunkers, etc.). Although I would bet he would win another major eventually...with his length off the tee no longer dominant and putting just average, he will have to play great now to win versus having just his B game.

By the way, I know ESPN will like to brag about their 40+ hours of "golf coverage", but I was thoroughly disappointed. Too many guys on the announce team, too much talk and not enough showing actual golf shots. I wonder if it was because Louie Louie was way out in front, but it was disappointing.

Unreal play from Louie O. and I am sure the Golf Channel will have their talking heads like Chamblee, Hawkins and Rude analyzing all week if he is the next big thing, like Glover, McDowell, etc. But the more we start to re-look the list of major winners lately, the more I start to think it's time we took a step back. We put some much stock in winning these events, but a large portion of the list of winners in the last decade or so is quite questionable: Curtis, Micheel, McDowell, Louie, Weir, Zach Johnson, Cink, Hamilton, Immelman - none of these players has more than 8 wins on Tour or in Europe, if that many. I'm not saying majors are overrated by any means, and these guys have a chance to still add to their legacy but c'mon...even Brian Watts, Bob May and Thomas Levet almost won one (playoff losses) recently. Tiger's record speaks for itself and VJ, Paddy and Phil have won numerous other events around the world to back up their wins, but it's not like the list is a who's who of Hall of Famers lately. Is this the deeper field argument or the fact the top tier players -- or those we consider top tier players - can't get out of their own way to collect a trophy?

You know who impressed me the most this week besides the winner? Rory McIlroy. I totally thought this kid wouldn't get it done this year and quite frankly, he has been sporadic and shot basically 3 good rounds all year, but man, have they been great ones. But the way he handled his 80 Friday at age 21 was absolutely impressive. Rickie Fowler finishing T-14th after starting out with 79 was also pretty stout.

One last thing: Get ready for the onslaught of articles on the state of American golf. PANIC TIME! We didn't win one of the last 2 and this particular singular event, we didn't have anyone is the top 5! We have NO CHANCE to win the Ryder Cup the way things are going. I mean, Ian Poulter said it himself. There would be nothing better for our squad to go over there are kick some can.