It was good to see Darren Clarke win The Open and for Northern Ireland to produce another Major Champion. The sports fan in me though would’ve like to have seen  him pushed a little more to make the whole thing more entertaining. Dustin Johnston’s slice out of bounds at the 14th and Phil Mickelson’s putting stoke deserting him meant that Clarke ambled to victory. Great win, just not very entertaining or exciting which in the end is what professional sport is all about.

Related articles

• Darren Clarke: Ulster pride (telegraph.co.uk)
• Darren Clarke’s dream of hometown course hosting Open may come true (guardian.co.uk)
• The Open 2011: Darren Clarke looks forward to Portrush homecoming after all-nighter celebrating triumph (telegraph.co.uk)

Related articles

• McIlroy rejects Tiger treatment but still tees off in the spotlight (independent.co.uk)
• Nicklaus: No rush to crown McIlroy as next star (sports.espn.go.com)
• Win prepares Donald for Open bid (news.bbc.co.uk)

Injuring yourself by accident is always a bummer. Doing something stupid and injuring yourself is just foolish. Wasting your chance to become Champion Golfer is unforgivable.

Related articles

• Injured Levet to miss Open (mirror.co.uk)
• Wet an idiot! (nypost.com)
• British Open 2011: Thomas Levet May Miss Tournament After Celebration Injury (sbnation.com)

There can be no doubt that the best golfer won the Championship this week. Oosthuizen simply played better than everyone else. The challenge did not materialise from any of the chasing pack and Casey after his calamitous seven never looked like clawing the lead back. Whilst you can admire Oosthuizen’s play, it made for a very dull finish to the Championship for no one to come out of the pack and challenge him.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Open 2010: star quality dips as Tiger Woods is relegated to a walk-off part (telegraph.co.uk)

Having visited the crucible of humiliation myself last week, I know how Tom Watson feels. It’s feels hard to fail when you’re so near to winning but in the end it’s just a game. Watson speaks very well in the interview and comes across as a very decent man.

The final day’s play was generally pretty exciting but it all sort of fizzled out in the playoff. I’d wanted Westwood or Fisher to win, although as their challenge faltered, I started to side with Watson. In the end Watson just seemed to lose all momentum and Cink, deserved his win. Watson was a bit unlucky on the 72nd hole when his second shot shot through the green. Perhaps he should’ve chipped it rather than putted it to get it close and really his putt back was a bit feeble. Still it shows that there is life after Tiger.

The quest for the Gold Medal Winner and Champion Golfer 2009 begins tomorrow at Turnberry. It looks like the course has been setup perfectly and the pros seem to like it so let’s hope we have a great Championship. Woods is the favourite and you can get him at 5/2 with Garcia as second favourite at 25/1 which in a 156 man field is ridiculous.

You have to hand it to Harrington. He played absolutely brilliantly over the last few holes to win the Open by four shots. Poulter gave it his best shot, although it wasn’t enough. Three putting 17 didn’t help his cause.

I wish I could play that well with a bad wrist !

Tags: Golf

Related articles by Zemanta

• Harrington retains British Open in style
• The Open: Top show at Royal Birkdale even without Tiger Woods

Image by earmuffboy via Flickr

It’s been said on plenty of occasions , that the draw is vital if the weather is bad. Everyone toiled in the morning but there were some decent scores in the afternoon. My two picks, Garcia and Jimenez ( I got 28-1 for Jimenez) are there or there abouts. Tomorrow should be interesting when the draw changes it all around. It’s still a wide open Championship.

There can be not doubt that with The Man missing this week, there is a great opportunity for a British player to win The Open. Westwood is probably best of the bunch but I fancy either Sergio Garcia or Miguel Angel Jimenez to be the Gold Medal winner.

Tags: Golf