The best player without a major used to always be Monty, these days it's world #2 Lee Westwood and I pick him over Luke Donald because he is older and has been in contention in majors more often.
He has certainly been knocking at the door when you consider he was 3rd and 2nd at the last 2 Opens Championships, and was 3rd at Congressional last month. He's was 3rd at the 09 PGA and US Open championships, in all 5 top 10's in his last 9 starts.
I always look for guys in form when predicting winners and he was T12 at Castle Stuart GL last weekend. He drives the ball as well as anyone in the game, is a great iron player so he just needs it to be his week with the putter..
He has just finished his post practice round interview..
"I like the golf course. There are a few places where you accept you might get a bad break but you get good breaks as well,” he said.
“Strategically, it’s a good golf course. You have to plan your way round it. It’s not necessarily a driver off every tee, which is quite nice. There will be a few 5-irons or 6-irons out there. Conversely, if the wind gets up, the green might be driveable on some holes. So, it makes you think constantly and adapt to the situation.”
He was pleased to see some wind during practice and hopes that it remains a factor throughout the Championship.
“Links golf is determined by the weather so you don’t want it flat calm,” he said. “These courses are designed with a 15 or 20 miles-an-hour wind in mind and I want it like that because ball-striking becomes a prerequisite
Right there in that brief interview is the very essence of links golf, and that wind he mentioned is in the forecast every day this week, but it is slowly shifting from the NNE as it was today around to SSW by Saturday when there is more rain in the forecast.
Westwood has a late, early draw, off at 210pm local time on Thursday, and I will tell you another thing the players watch for. The time of the tides..
In general, as the tide rolls in, the wind picks up with it, getting stronger until high tide, then as the tide recedes leading to low tide, the winds die down.
High tide in Sandwich is at around 1030am and 1030pm on Thursday, so when he tees off at 2.10pm the tide will be receding, which usually means calmer winds.. Low tide is at 6.30pm.. On Friday however with his early time 9.09am, the tide will be rolling in.
I remember like it was yesterday spending a week's holiday in July up in Fraserborough which is on the NE coast of Scotland. It was a cold and windy week, so we had the "beach" to ourselves and my beloved dog Rusty the red setter.
I learned all about tides as we went fishing in the north sea and had to go when there was "slack" tide so that our lures would go straight down when we were "ripping" for the cod..Slack tide is between coming in and going out..
I also spent the rest of my time when the tide was out on sand that is packed so hard I was hitting my 3 iron on it while dear old Rusty would run after and fetch it. It took him a couple of days to learn he couldn't lap up the salt sea water !!
That sandy base is what links courses are built on, it is the best for striking a golf ball, and Lee Westwood does that better than most.
Will it be his turn at Royal St Georges. (or RSG as the tweeps say) We will have to wait and see..
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles
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