DATES : August 7-10 COURSE : Oakland Hills CC South Course, Bloomfield Township, Michigan PAR : 70 YDS : 7,446
THE COURSE
Oakland Hills' South Course is now world-renowned and is consistently picked among the top ten tests of golf in the United States and, indeed, the world. Its reputation is well earned.
Although many tournaments have been held throughout the years at Oakland Hills, the one which gave the course its greatest reputation as The Monster was the 1951 Open. The result was a tournament in which only two subpar rounds were shot during the entire 72 hole affair. Ben Hogan won with a total of 287 by shooting a final round 67 after which he was quoted as saying I am glad I brought this course, this monster, to its knees. He also said that it was the greatest test of golf I have ever played and the toughest course.
Oakland Hills is a relentlessly tough course requiring pin-point accuracy on every shot. Here, the winner isn't always the player who makes the most good shots, but the one who makes the fewest mistakes. Perhaps Oakland Hills forces, indeed requires, defensive play, and perhaps that's why Oakland Hills often crowns good champions, but not great champions.
The course favors straight hitters over long-hitting superstars. It will play like Augusta National does now: long, tight, and rough covered with fast, undulating greens. Yes, you must be long, but more importantly the winner must be accurate and have a great short game.
11.00 Phil Mickelson 19.00 Padraig Harrington 19.00 Sergio Garcia 21.00 Jim Furyk 26.00 Anthony Kim 26.00 Ernie Els 29.00 Vijay Singh 29.00 Adam Scott 34.00 Lee Westwood 34.00 Kenny Perry 34.00 Geoff Ogilvy 34.00 Stewart Cink 41.00 Retief Goosen 51.00 K J Choi 51.00 Hunter Mahan 51.00 Henrik Stenson 51.00 Justin Rose 51.00 Luke Donald 67.00 Ian Poulter 67.00 Robert Allenby 67.00 Mike Weir 67.00 Robert Karlsson 67.00 Steve Stricker 67.00 Andres Romero 67.00 Justin Leonard 67.00 Trevor Immelman
USPGA on TV
Aug 07 - Day 1 - SS1 6.30pm Aug 08 - Day 2 - SS1 6.30pm Aug 09 - Day 3 - SS3 4.00pm Aug 09 - Day 3 - SS1 7.00pm Aug 10 - Day 4 - SS2 4.00pm Aug 10 - Day 4 - SS1 7.00pm
LIVE on SKY SPORTS
Please post any thoughts, tips, info and analysis below.
Very difficult to back one player with confidence before the tee off, but Stewart Cink at 42.0 betfair or 40/1 Paddy Power/Stan James looks worth including in any portfolio.
Cink has had a great year with 7 top 10's (ranked 1) and his first tour win for 4 years in The Travellers Championship. His T3 in The Masters was his best ever finish in that major, and his T14 in the US Open was his best since 2001. He missed the cut at Birkdale, but you can put a line through that event as a form guide due to the extreme conditions. He has only one top 10 in the USPGA and his finishing positions have been solid but not challenging for honours, however this is his best season since 2004, and could finish up his best ever.
In the pgatour.com stats he is No. 1 in the 'All Round Ranking' category. This stat is computed by totalling a player's rank in each of the following statistics: Scoring Leaders, Putting Leaders, Eagle Leaders, Birdie Leaders, Sand Saves, Greens in Regulation, Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy. The stat looks a reliable measure of quality as the top 10 include Scott (3), Kim (T4), Mickelson (T4), Perry (6), and Harrington (8).
1815 & 1305 Trevor Immelman (SA), Angel Cabrera (Arg), Padraig Harrington (Ire) 1825 & 1315 Rocco Mediate, Bubba Watson, Nick Dougherty (Eng) 1835 & 1325 David Toms, Vijay Singh (Fij), John Daly 1845 & 1335 Brandt Snedeker, Woody Austin, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 1855 & 1345 Ernie Els (SA), Fred Couples, Adam Scott (Aus 1905 & 1355 Justin Rose (Eng), Kenny Perry, Retief Goosen (SA) 1915 & 1405 Rory Sabbatini (SA), Chad Campbell, Ian Poulter (Eng) 1925 & 1415 Tom Pernice, Andres Romero (Arg), Mike Weir (Can) 1935 & 1425 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Dean Wilson, Sam Arnold 1945 & 1435 Vince Jewell, Johnson Wagner, Ben Crane
Starting at 10th hole Thursday & 1st hole Friday:
1255 & 1805 Steve Marino, Ross Fisher (Eng), Daniel Chopra (Swe) 1305 & 1815 Boo Weekley, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Paul Casey (Eng) 1315 & 1825 Jim Furyk, Colin Montgomerie (Sco), Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 1325 & 1835 Anthony Kim, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Camilo Villegas (Col) 1335 & 1845 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Lee Westwood (Eng), Zach Johnson 1345 & 1855 Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, Rich Beem 1355 & 1905 Justin Leonard, KJ Choi (Kor), Chez Reavie 1405 & 1915 Stewart Cink, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Nick O'Hern (Aus)
Can't write it all out again but my picks are as follows
P Mickelson E/W @ 10/1 Previous winner, should have won last week. Hitting driver well last sunday but had one of those days when the putts didin't drop, if they had he could have won by 3 - 4 shots. Would have been 10/1-14/1 with Woods playing so 10/1 without him seems a good price.
A Kim E/W E/W @ 25/1 Bit of an enigma. Has won twice but blew up in Canadian Open when in possition to win. Strieks the ball well and could well win this without any fuss.
L Westwood E/W @ 33/1 Playing well and could carry form from last week forward to this. D Love III E/W @ 125/1 C DIMARCO E/W @ 150/1
Top American D Love III E/W @ 50/1 C DIMARCO E/W @ 50/1
1 JM Singh Ind 68 -2 1 Karlsson Swe 68 -2 1 Romero Arg -2 (16 holes) 4 Duke US 69 -1 4 O'Hair US 69 -1 4 Garcia Spa 69 -1 4 Mayfair US 69 -1 8 Moore US 70 level 8 Pampling Aus 70 level 8 Gay US 70 level 8 Mickelson US 70 level 8 A Kim US 70 level 8 Wi Kor 70 level 8 M Allen US 70 level 8 Cabrera Arg 70 level
The 3rd rd suffered due to thunderstorms with the leaders not even teeing off. That will mean a lottery of a final day with some playing 36 holes, and the final Rd will be played in threesomes with 1 & 10 tee starts.
There were some good scores by those who did get out early on Saturday reflecting an easier set up and rain softened course. Romero (-5), Villegas (-4) and McDowell (-3) showed that low scoring was possible and when you have 25 players within 5 shots of the lead it really is wide open.
Play will resume at 12.15pm BST with the final Rd threesomes due to start at 5.20pm.
Well done to Sky Sports for scheduling 12 hrs+ of live golf.
Garcia making a surge, -4 for his final round and tied on -3 with Curtis for the lead. Stenson 2 shots back, and Harrington 4 shots back. Long way to go but its between these 4.
Another epic finish. Gutted that Garcia couldnt do it but you have to admire the player Harrington has become after finishing with successive 66's. The windier and wetter it gets the better he gets.
