REMEMBER! THE FIRST TEE TIME IS 4:00 AM THURSDAY MORNING!
? COURSE: Royal Liverpool Golf Club, 7,312 yards, par
72. England's second-oldest seaside golf course got its start as a horse
track, laid out in 1869 on the race course of the Liverpool Hunt Club.
The Hoylake property served both sports for seven years before racing
was discontinued and Royal Liverpool began to take its place among
Britain's top golf venues. Hoylake hosted the first British Amateur in
1885, and the Walker Cup got its start there in 1921. The Open
Championship first came to Hoylake in 1924, and Bobby Jones' Open
triumph six years later was the second leg of his eventual Grand Slam.
Royal Liverpool enjoyed five decades as a regular part of the Open
Championship rota, only to endure a 39-year hiatus after the 1967
edition. The event finally returned in 2006 as Tiger Woods triumphed.
? FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 points.
? FIELD WATCH: New U.S. Open titleholder Martin Kaymer
and world No. 1 Adam Scott join defending champion Phil Mickelson atop a
lineup expected to feature 88 of the top 90 in this week's world
rankings. … Steve Stricker, No. 19 in the rankings, and Charles Howell
III will stay home for family reasons. … Openings remain for the John
Deere Classic's leading top-5 finisher not already in the field, plus
three highest top-10 finishers at the Scottish Open still without
berths. … Tom Watson tees it up for his 37th Open Championship, one shy
of Jack Nicklaus and Sandy Hurd for No. 2 on the all-time appearance
list. He'll likely join them next year, given a final exemption to next
year's Open Championship at St. Andrews. … Among the 12 survivors of
local qualifying is John Singleton, a 30-year-old factory worker from
nearby Wirral, England.
? 72-HOLE RECORD: 267, Greg Norman (1993 at Royal St. Georges).
? 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Mark Hayes (2nd round, 1977 at
Turnberry), Isao Aoki (3rd round, 1980 at Muirfield), Greg Norman (2nd
round, 1986 at Turnberry), Paul Broadhurst (3rd round, 1990 at St.
Andrews), Jodie Mudd (4th round, 1991 at Royal Birkdale), Nick Faldo
(2nd round, 1993 at Royal St. Georges), Payne Stewart (4th round, 1993
at Royal St. Georges), Rory McIlroy (1st round, 2010 at St. Andrews).
? LAST YEAR: Mickelson captured the major he was least
expected to win, collecting the third leg of a career Grand Slam with
his best final round in any major. Mickelson capped his 5-under-par 66
at Muirfield with four birdies in his final six holes, surging past Lee
Westwood and Scott over the final hour. It was the lowest final round
ever recorded at Muirfield, good for a three-shot victory over Henrik
Stenson. Victory also came just five weeks after Mickelson's sixth
runner-up at the U.S. Open, which left him so low he stayed in bed for
three days afterward. Westwood and Scott both faded down the stretch on
the way to 75s. Tiger Woods tied for sixth after a closing 74.
? STORYLINES: Is an unexpected Claret Jug in the cards
for another resurgent fortysomething? Mickelson's victory came at age
43, preceded by a pair of 42-year-olds in Ernie Els and Darren Clarke. …
Woods makes his first major start since back surgery in March, which
kept him out of the Masters and U.S. Open. His competitive return lasted
just two days at the Quicken Loans National, missing the cut with
rounds of 74-75. … Kaymer, a runaway U.S. Open winner at Pinehurst,
seeks to become the eighth man to capture both Opens in the same year.
Woods did it last, with record romps in 2000 at Pebble Beach and St.
Andrews.
? SHORT CHIPS: As in 2006, rounds will begin on the
members' 17th hole and finish on the members' 16th. The first hole has
been reshaped and rebunkered, with challenging runoff areas around the
green. R&A chief Peter Dawson calls it the "hardest opening hole in
the Open rota." … A purse increase now puts The Open Championship payout
at $9.24 million at current exchange rates. That's third behind the $10
million offered by the PGA Championship and THE PLAYERS Championship.
? TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 4 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (ESPN). Saturday, 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (ESPN). Sunday, 6 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (ESPN).
Last week's winners NoleMoreTears and dfs. Congrats NMT!
Updated Standings
1. dfs - 8474
2. Bill - 8364
3. NMT - 7201
4. 2952 - 7020
5. Sea - 6939
6. Bobcat - 6281
7. Ocala - 5975
8. DL - 5723
9. NiA - 5419
10. Lizard - 5395
11. 67810 - 4780
12. Ed - 4502
13. pdubb - 2947
14. g2f - 2758
Good Luck!
This post was edited on 7/20 5:22 PM by DFSNOLE
Field
