British Open preview blogging

A lot of speculation says that Phil Mickelson can’t win the British, by pointing at his previous results and his American-geared style of play. However, Royal Liverpool is closer in design to American courses than most of those on the regular Open rota. Plus, the weather forecast seems to call for fairly light winds, overall, through the four days.

So, no matter what you think about Phil the person (and I’m of a mind with people like David Duval, who, without naming names, seemed to say earlier this week that Phil is a big, fat phony), this could be his year for the Open. At least, it could be more his year than any year before.

Tiger Woods, meanwhile, has the rap that he can’t win outside of St. Andrews. And, looking at his Open record, the rap is well-deserved.

That said, many of the arguments in favor of Phil favor him, too.

Meanwhile, putting together a quietly strong year, Vijay Singh has one win and 10 Top 10s on the PGA Tour this year. Could this finally be his year to overcome indifferent play at previous Opens? He has incentive, of course; a third different major and fourth overall at his age would raise him another level among golfers of all time. And, this year, with a second win and a major, it would make Player of the Year a horserace.

Luke Donald’s my favorite among the British/Irish contingent. Before last year, Monty didn’t do that well in the Open; in fact, outside of Lawrie’s win at Carnoustie, that’s been the theme for many a year for golfers from the isles.

Internationally, besides Vijay, look out for Ernie Els. He’s played the Open fairly well several years in a row. I’m sure he’d love to add another title to his list.