Off The Tee: Picking a Winner at the British Open
Just like that, we're heading into the third major of the golf season - the British Open.
In this installment of 'Off The Tee', I talked with 4 Deep Golf's Joel Harrington about who's hot and who's not, going into this week's event at Royal Liverpool in England.
The latest winner on the PGA Tour is Brian Harman, who edged Zach Johnson by a stroke at last week's John Deere Classic. The win was Harman's first as a pro, in fact, he hadn't had the lead after a round in his career until last weekend.
The victory gives Harman a spot in the British Open. I asked Joel about Harman's chances at Royal Liverpool and what else we learned last weekend:
As for the course for this year's open, Royal Liverpool is a traditional links-style course, playing 7,350 yards. Par is 72.
This will be the 12th time the course has hosted The Open, the last coming in 2006 after a 39-year absence.
I asked Joel about what makes this course so special:
The last player to win The Open at Royal Liverpool was Tiger Woods, who shot 18-under par to capture a two-stroke victory eight years ago.
Tiger (16-to-1) is one of seven players listed at 20-to-1 or better to win according to the latest British Open odds. That despite Tiger appearing in just one tournament so far this year.
Rory McIlroy (10-to-1) is the odds on favorite to win this week, defending champ Phil Mickelson is 20-to-1.
So who does Joel think is going to win?
Back home, South Dakota crowned a pair of champions last weekend at the Golf Club at Red Rock, with Tyler Barrett for winning the SDGA Men's Match Play Championship, 4 and 2 over Scott Nowak, and Janice Baumberger taking the SDGA Women's Match Play Championship, 2 and 1 over Jordan Bormann.
Here's Joel's take on the tournaments: