Open Preview

Jay Monahan and the Good Old Boys (a great name for an acapella group) caving to sponsors and moving the PGA Championship to May was a terrible decision. But terrible decisions are his forte. Especially if the LIV merger happens and the PIF money is added to the mix, there is no compelling reason to keep the PGA in May. It bars Northern courses from hosting. It shortens the season. It belongs in August. Move it back to August. That won’t happen. So, this is my last Major preview of the year.

I love links golf. Howling winds. British bunkers. Playing in severe weather on the edge of a cliff in the middle of nowhere. Give me more links golf. I wish NBC had The Links Golf Channel in addition to The Golf Channel. My favorite little pitch and putt by my house is technically a links course. People use the expression ‘hitting the links’ too loosely. If you aren’t playing a links course, don’t say that.

Open is organized by The R&A, whom insist on being called The R&A. They have a longer legal name, have had other affiliations in the past, and it still sounds weird to say “The R&A” if you ask me. But that is what they call themselves. Since 2004 The R&A has been a distinctive entity from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. Gives off PGA Tour and PGA of America vibes. Anyway, once again they have put together Open. Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland hosts this year.

So, who’s going to win Open? Robert Duncan MacIntyre. The best Scotsman on Tour is going to win Open. Because it is not in Scotland. He’s damn good. Might be the most underrated player on the PGA Tour. Winning at the Old Course would be the icing on the cake for him. But just winning, adding his name to golf lore, is enough. The Scot is winning the trophy at Open. Also, they need to bring back the giant championship belts they had in the 1800s. Wrestling doesn’t have a monopoly on them. That needs to come back, post haste.

I can’t see Rory getting it together and blowing away the competition on Northern Irish soil. It would be a great story, and I hope he’s in contention on Championship Sunday, but it still seems a bridge too far for me. I think Rory probably has a couple of three major wins left in the tank. Not this time. I’ve been wrong before. Most of the time, actually. I specifically think he does have another Open win in him. In fact, I’d bet on St. Andrews if I had to pick which venue.

I’m also going to throw out that no old guy is winning. Sorry Justin Rose. Sorry Adam Scott. Sorry Ian Poulter or Lee Westwood if either somehow end up in the field. It just isn’t happening. I wanted Tom Watson at like age 99 or whatever he was to win. Like so bad. But it just ain’t happening. I root for old guys. But let’s be realistic. This is Open, not some Country Club Men’s League. Best of luck anyway, chaps.

Bryson has to finish top 10, maybe top 5. He’s going to be on the Ryder Cup team regardless, but if he could somehow get enough points here to earn an automatic selection instead of a captain’s pick, it would be amazing. I’m not even sure if it is mathematically possible. I hope it is. That way Keegles or Tiger or whomever the final final captain is can use the captain’s pick on Patrick America Reed. Duh. Reed is also an underrated contender who could easily finish top 10. His record at majors is often ignored, when it shouldn’t be.

Xander could defend his title. He’s proven he can play links golf with the best of ‘em. I don’t think he runs away with it, but if he’s within five of the lead when he tees off Sunday, he could catch lightning in a bottle again. We’ll see. Winning is really hard. Repeating is harder.

I don’t have a prediction, but low amateur is always a fun thing to watch. I hope a bunch of them make the cut and one of them finishes in the top 25. That would be great. My underdog is Aaron Rai. I’m also writing this a little under a month in advance, so anything could happen between now and ahem Open.