Running British Open thread

The hope for Tiger has got to be that this is different from the US Open and PGA last year because he does not have to hit the dreaded driver at all and its not costing him any advantage; everyone else is being forced to abandon their drivers as well. I think that has led to more confidence in Tiger and that shows in his putting.

What's beautiful to see at Muirfield is that the players are being penalized for shots off-line and they are at the mercy of the bounces of the course.

 

As part of HIS rationalizations, Mickelson made the excellent point that all the contenders would be playing in the afternoon conditions from now on. What brought Woods up the board was that while he made bogeys, as did everybody, he didn't make any doubles, which many other contenders did.

 

Give Kyle Stanley some credit for even sniffing the cutline.

82-69, only missed it by 1.

 

Mickelson conveniently ignores that Woods played in the afternoon Thursday, when the conditions were even worse than today and almost nobody broke par.

Nobody has had an advantage because of the weather. But I'm not surprised that phony dick is whining. Not surprised at all.

 

That's not how it sounded to me, just him saying things would be different with all the leaders playing at roughly the same time. He was more cheerful in many ways today than he was after his 69 yesterday. Did you lose a big bet on the '06 U.S. Open?

 

No, I just imagine Mickelson as a real-life model for the David Simms character in "Tin Cup" -- the phony ass who smiles and says all the right things while the cameras are on, but treats people like total dogshit otherwise.

I guess I'm skeptical of anyone who has an "Aw shucks" demeanor when he's one of the most famous and well-paid athletes in the world. He's a gazillionaire Eddie Haskell.

Plus, guys like Mickelson who hold themselves up as devoted family men make me nauseous. You know he's pulling strange from coast to coast. He's just better at concealing his bimbo eruptions than Tiger was.

 

Or maybe you're the douche. Tough call.

 

The performances of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Angel Cabrera this week are the best ads for smoking that have aired on U.S. television since the 1970s.

www.youtube.com/embed/6PuO3y1DopM

Champion Golfer of the Year? Who knows. Champion Stretcher of the Year. Absolutely.

 

Had some interactions with Mickelson and he could not have been nicer or more accommodating. In fact, he stopped and talked one-on-one with me before the TV people spotted us and ambushed me. So you couldn't be more wrong, my friend.

 

Update on Shiv Kapur:

68-77-83 -- 228

That's tied with 55-year-old Sandy Lyle for dead last among players who made the cut. And for those of you scoring at home, he's 18 over since he birdied six of the first seven holes.

 

Too bad for Tiger, he was close, but I guess he can rack up another top-5 finish.

 

OK, I never said I knew the guy. I guess I'm just a little skeptical of anyone famous who seems "too nice."