Winner: Rory McIlroy by eight strokes over Jason Day

The U. S. Open starts tomorrow. It’s my favorite golf tournament of the year. In fact, I have told my family that I am available for them 364 days of the year, but for that one day, the one which they play the fourth round of the U.S. Open, I’m not there. It’s my day to spend watching the greatest golf tournament on earth.

This year it’s back at the Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C. , where Ken Venturi won in 1964 while almost having to be hospitalized for heat stroke. I remember watching on TV and wondering how on earth he was even staying upright, much less playing golf.

This year, the weather should be rather pleasant. The temperature forecast is for the mid-80s the entire week, though rain is possible on Thursday, and thunderstorms are possible on Friday.

Did you know that the Congressional CC grounds were taken over by the OSS during WWII to train teams of spies, saboteurs, commandos, and undercover agents? And that the fee paid to the course owners for the favor probably saved the course, which was in financial trouble at the time?

The USGA likes to play with its first- and second-round pairings. Part of the fun is trying to decode what the threesomes have in common. This year, Edoardo Molinari, Francesco Molinari, and Matteo Manasero are playing together on Thursday and Friday. Get it? Another group is composed of Brian Gay, Thomas Levet, and Gregory Harvet. For those of you who aren’t students of the French language, all those last names rhyme.

These might be a little harder. Charl Schwartzel, Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson. Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer. Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson.

Give up? In order, former Masters winners, the top three in the current World Golf Ranking, and three players who have blown a commanding major tournament lead.

The traditional pairing is Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen, and Peter Uhlein this year. The USGA always pairs the reigning U.S. Open, British Open, and U.S.Amateur champions the first two days.

The opening shots will be hit by this year’s dew-sweepers, Daehyun Kim, Chez Reavie, and Shane Lowry on #1, and Chad Campbell, Harrison Frazar, and Marc Turnesa on #10.

I know all the players love the Masters because of the gifts everybody gets and the lifelong adulation accorded past winners, but it really isn’t a major tournamant. It’s just an over-hyped invitational. The British Open is historical and the most cosmopolitan tournament, the dean of the majors. The PGA is a major because it is the championship of a major governing body, but it doesn’t have the same sense of a major, really.

It’s the U.S. Open title that carries the most respect. It’s the one that deep down, players want to win the most. It’s the one I won’t miss.

So who’s my pick to win? I’ll go with Alvaro Quiros. This is a long course, and he’s silly long, and straight. His short game is up to snuff, too. He has already won this year, and I think he is a force whose time will come. Maybe this week.

While you’re waiting for the Open to start, get the tips you need to become the best player you can be at www.therecreationalgolfer.com

The broadcast of the final round of every golf fan’s favorite tournament is a few hours away, as I write. Rory McIlroy starts off with a four-stroke lead. He has been exposed to fourth-round pressure at the top before (PGA, 2010). If he can cruise home with a 2-under 70, he will be awfully tough to catch.

Tiger? A 70 from McIlroy means Tiger needs to shoot 63 to tie. That party is over.

Playing with McIlroy, though is Angel Cabrera. This guy is an old pro, and sneaky good. He knows how to win, and he knows how to take advantage of an opponent’s slip-ups. A little stress could be added to McIlroy’s game by knowing that he is playing with the guy who can best pounce on his mistakes.

Some observers say the guard is changing, but I think it has already changed. The old leaders face too much pressure from younger players who are too good. That’s the way it is in sports. What better venue to see that happening than in the first major tournament of the year?

Remember the Big Five? (actually, Tiger and the Next Best Four). Phil is a footnote this week. Ernie Els tees off four hours before the leaders today and will be finished by the time they start. Vijay Singh is watching on TV, if at all, as is Retief Goosen. And Jim Furyk. Steady player, but never one of the guys you had to beat.

As for Tiger, I would not be surprised if he never wins another major. That edge he had is gone.

Not that he has forgotten how to play. Friday’s 66 was an amazing display of iron play. He was sticking shot after shot so close to the pin that I could have converted the birdie putts. It’s just that he can’t expect to do that every day. No one can.

What won all those majors for him was his putting. Saturday, he missed putts of two, four, and six feet. His legendary ability to convert every must-make putt he faced is history. That’s enough to stick him in with the Rest of the Pack. And yet his focus is on changing his swing. Go figure.

It’s time for a new set of heros to emerge, and quite frankly, it’s more than overdue.

The weather forecast for Augusta today is sunny and 88 degrees. It will be time well spent to watch the final today. While you’re waiting for it to start,

visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com

This morning I’m going to the range for my bi-weekly workout, down to the stadium to run the stairs, then home to watch the opening round of the Open. Really pulling for Phil this week.

Here is my list of great/memorable/pivotal/ Opens:

1913 – American kid Ouimet beats the English giants Vardon and Ray and American golf is off the ground.
1932 – Sarazen plays the last 28 holes in 100 strokes to win.
1951 – Hogan plays it safe for three rounds, then decides that strategy is getting him nowhere and attacks during the fourth round, wins.
1960 – Arnold Palmer becomes ARNOLD PALMER and professional golf takes off.
1964 – Ken Venturi was barely able to stand up in the afternoon round because of the heat. This one is the triumph of courage over pain, not Tiger having an owie in 2008.
1966 – Palmer’s shocking collapse. Gave back what he took in 1960. The end. Deflated. Had he won this, he could have won five or six more majors.
1973 – You just don’t shoot 63 in the final round to win the U.S. Open.
2009 – Not one for the ages, but the final round was High Drama. So many players challenged all day, not just on the last few holes, and Glover didn’t flinch.

Enjoy the Open. It’s the people’s major.

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It seems to me that a major tournament has to be the championship of something. The USGA has the U.S. Open. The R&A has The Open Championship. The PGA has, you could guess, the PGA Championship. Three major governing bodies in golf each have their championship and it’s a major. Makes sense to me.

Then there’s the Masters. It’s a tournament held by a single golf club, albeit one that runs a fabulous golf course. But still, it’s the championship of nothing. There’s a lot of tradition, they’re real good at self-promotion, and its exclusive nature and the way its run give it an air of it being a privilege to even play there and walk around the grounds. But that doesn’t make it a major. It has a weak field, top to bottom. And did I say it’s the championship of nothing?

Maybe I’m put off because it’s run by a bunch of stuffed shirts and marshaled by thugs. Jeff Rude, a prominent golf writer, was standing on a golf cart to get a better view of the 18th green one year when he was pulled down and told he would be escorted from the course if he did that again. Stuffed shirts. Thugs. This is a tournament that is famous for being famous. But it’s not a major.

The fourth major really is The Players, the final round of which is being played today. It has a strong field, probably the strongest of the three real majors. And it’s the championship of something – the PGA Tour. It’s a tournament the Tour players want to win, want to have on their resume.

The Masters is a local golf tournament that has sold the public on itself. But The Players is not the fifth, but the fourth major.

The Masters will begin tomorrow, the first men’s major of the season, although why it’s a major escapes me, because it’s not the championship of anything. Kind of like the Kraft Nabisco on the LPGA circuit.

I’m picking Sergio Garcia to win this year. It’s about time for him to win his major, so let’s get it done. Since you can’t win the Masters without putting the lights out, a win here would be a big monkey off his back.

My other favorite is Rory Sabbatini. He does things for people behind the scenes that are exemplary. He should be rewarded for that with a big win.

Were I the defending champion, I would select this menu for the past champions dinner:

Potato-leek soup
The romaine salad they serve in the restaurant of the OGA course in Woodburn, Oregon
Spring chinook salmon (you have never tasted fish this good)
Polenta
Green beans
Reine de Saba cake (see Julia, volume 1, page 677)
Wine by St. Innocent of Salem, Oregon

Let’s eat, let’s play.

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