Ten, not called Tiger, for the Title...."Champion golfer of the year ......"

Ok here are 10 players for your Open Championship pool sheet, although I warn you I can make the case for at least 40.

When selecting these 10, I take into consideration;  guys in form, the course and the weather, guys who play Muirfield well, guys who play majors well, guys born playing links golf, my favourites, great putters...

Muirfield will be playing fast and hard, Scotland is in a heat wave. The rough is long and wispy with a lush green base, in other words, punitive. The ball will run forever on the fairways and the greens will be firm, not soft and receptive.  There will be little wind and no rain, lord help scoring if the wind gets up, but it appears Mother Nature has already shown her hand..

Muirfield GamePlan ??  Stay out of the rough and bunkers off the tee, allow for the roll, land your approach short when down wind, it will run on, putt your brains out and be patient you will get some bad bounces...


Here are 10 not called Tiger for the title " Champion golfer of the year "....

1. Graham Delaet   Not just because he is Canadian, but he is #1 in GIR and Ball Striking and # 2 in Par 5 scoring (-99)..... Ok he's not the greatest putter and it's his first time at Muirfield but he is so good off the tee and that GIR will keep him in the game...


2. Jason Day    This young Aussie has had 3 top 5 finishes in majors, so shows up at the majors, has been practicing with no woods in his bag, using a 2 iron bent into a 1 iron off the tee, just a matter of time..


3.  Justin Rose  .. coach Sean Foley has him prepared, confidence all time high after win at US Open, has a complete game, one of the favourites... broke par when he was 11, grew up playing links golf..


4. Phil Mickelson   not usually on my list for the Open but last week changes all that, in form and in great spirits, and despite 3 putting the 72nd last week says he is putting as well as he ever has..must be patient...


5.  Lee Westwood   Best player out there without a major and has been oh so close. Has done 3 smart things. First moved to Florida so more practice, second signed up Baker Finch as his putting coach, three turned to Sean Foley in May to restore his swing.. All of those will pay off... question is will it be this week..



6.  Brandon Grace...   Yes that was him in the playoff last weekend with Phil, yes he won 5 times world wide last year, yes he has been the best South African player for the last 12 months and yes nobody over here knows who he is... That could all change this year...



7.  Zack Johnson  .. He is in form, lost in the Spieth, Hearn playoff last weekend, he is straight off the tee, he is a great chipper and a solid putter.... has won a major...this is the Johnson I am picking, not Dustin..



8.  Rickie Fowler    Learned the art of the knock down shot playing in the wind at OSU and look at these stats. He was fifth at the 2011 Open and finished 14th in his first Open despite a first-round 79. He's finished no worse than 21st in his past three PGA TOUR starts, including a T10 at the U.S. Open. Two-time All-America at Oklahoma State University. Named winner of the Ben Hogan Award as the nation's top collegian after his first year. Also won the Phil Mickelson Award as the nation's top freshman.......  Time he cashed in on all that promise..



9.  Henrik Stenson    Had the Scottish in hand with 2 shot lead but fired a 73 to finish T3 and must admit am a bit alarmed how he lost it on Sunday but the big Swede is in form, and has played on every big stage in the game...can't leave him out in this form..



10.  Adam Scott   He was so good coming back to win the Masters after blowing last year's Open, and yes it would be a fairytale if he finished up what he started last year, This, as he said to his friend Justin Rose "is our time " He has a great caddie on his bag in Stevie Williams who has been invaluable since taking the bag..


It kills me not to pick so many others like Ernie, and Luke Donald, etc but as I said I could make a case for about 40 of these guys..

Enjoy, I'll be up watching early and will be on the air from 7-10am as always to talk with you about it. www.nextsportstar.com  and on TSN Radio 1050 Sunday morning between 7am-8



Bryan Angus