[Marc Haring]

So Guys, who's got the game for Shinnecock?

What are your top 3 picks and why?

Mine are Garcia for his driving and ball control, Faldo as an outside chance for his experience and brain power and Mickleson because he aint bad.

[Jfaspen]

I wouldnt disclose until after the open tees off.  Still time to enter the GCA bestball challenge, espn fantasy, group: The purists PW: GCA

good luck.

Jeff

[TEPaul]

I followed Syngh around for about half his practice round yesterday. If he's practicing what he plans to play it looks like he plans to be pretty aggressive---he was hitting a lot of drivers yesterday in a moderate wind and absolutely bombing it. Those long par 4s were just very short irons for him. The course looks good---fairways appeared to be rolling around 30+ yards yesterday and the greens were pretty firm with approaches taking a big high initial bounce on impact and then checking some!

If the wind stays out of the southwest like yesterday those guys could make a number of birdies. If the wind turns 180 degrees, though, the course will be really hard for them!

#7 particularly and probably #11 are going to be a bit of a problem. Many of the players may need to get up and down for par.

The first cut rough yesterday was interesting. It will tempt them to go for the green. It looks like the fairway widths and the first cut rough should be in the high 30s in width (probably the normal Shinnecock fairway widths). Outside that it'll be dangerous for them to try to approach greens out of.

The greens are fast----but chipping and putting from the wrong spots seemed to be doable but it will take real skill and touch. Some of those guys will probably go low unless the wind and wind direction really cooperate.

[Marc Haring]

OK Guy's, I'll level with you. We've got our own UK fantasy league goin on here and I need some inside info.

Do I need to look at someone that can out power the place like Vijay or are we looking at someone that can rip that low ball in there like Leonard/Verplank.

[Brock Peyer]

My 3 picks other than Tiger (watch out, he looks to be really close and you know he hates it that he hasn't won a major in nearly 2 years) are:

Singh - Just like you can count on the sun coming up everyday, you can count on Singh being there.

Campbell - I think that you will see him contend in many US Opens in the future.

Garcia - Dude is pretty hot these days, I am still not sure if he is mature enough though.  He seems to be hitting it REAL good.

There really aren't alot of Americans playing that great right now, Singh, Els, and Garcia have been running things since the Masters.

I would love to see Lefty win but I think that it is more likely for him to miss the cut, has he played well since the Masters?  I don't think that he has.  

I see Tiger winning on Sunday though, sorry to go so far out on a limb there.

[TEPaul]

Marc:

On all the par 4s (even the very long ones) through 12 holes yesterday it didn't look like Syngh hit any more than an 8 iron. Like every US Open there'll probably be a couple of unusual early "stories" but come Sunday it'll probably be one of the stars who's made the fewest real mistakes! I didn't see many of the big names yesterday but Syngh was looking very good in pretty favorable conditions. Yesterday most of the well known players were hitting their tee shots high and long even into the wind! But if the wind happens to double that could turn into a problem.

[TEPaul]

Campbell (the American) was the pick of one of the big name commentators. Apparently he naturally and very comfortably can and does hit all kinds of shots--high, low and both ways! And he definitely seems to have the kind of natual swing that'll stand up under the heat and the hole by hole intensity.

I don't know why exactly but I think we might hear from one of the Asians this week--like Maruyama or Choi.

[michael j fay]

Ernie Els
Tiger Woods
Nick Faldo-who might just sneak up on the lot of them. He is in his third Open at Shinnecock and experience counts on this course.

[JDoyle]

In 1995 Mickelson played #16 in +6.  He finished 4 stokes out of the lead.  Normally guys like Phil eat par fives for lunch, but this hole had his number.  I heard Phil address this hole as the key to his tournament.  If he can play 16 even or a couple shots under I think he can win the Open.  Especially if his new course management attitude is on display.  I hope to see Phil hitting some low irons to the center of this ribbon fairways while the rest of the boys and punching-out from the weeds.

I expect to see the big boys in the mix on Sunday - Phil, Ernie and Vijay.  Perhaps David Toms could be the Corey Pavin of '04.  Tiger and Love will be non-factors IMHO.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

D'oh!  David Toms was my dark horse!  

Now lemme see...  I predict Padraig Harrington will finish 2nd, one stroke behind Ernie Els.  My new dark horse is...  I dunno...  Jeff Maggert.

[Michael Moore]

Watch out for Casey Bourque, from Biddeford, Maine.

[A_Clay_Man]

Marc- Have you checked the weather forecast?

The eastern seaboard is green on the weather channel, for the entire weekend. Maybe it will turn-out to be scattered, but with the rain forecasted, I'd go with asomething similar to the leaderboard at Westchester.

[TEPaul]

"Watch out for Casey Bourque, from Biddeford, Maine."

You're right about that Michael---I definitely should've watched out for him---he almost killed me with a tee shot yesterday and I was well out there behind the ropes.  

[A_Clay_Man]

Shiv- It's likely that new swing of Appleby's they just showed. And, wasn't it Choi's 5 iron shot, on 11 at ANGC, that went in for a duece? Had to make Hogan's 2 iron look like a skull.

Definitly a vote for the best shot I've ever seen.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

My dark horse (Jeff Maggert) is currently leading the tournament, at -2 through 4 holes!

Ooops; in the time it took to write that, David Roesch went to -3...

And the two people who were supposed to withdraw are doing well:  Duval birdied his first hole, and Furyk birdied his first two.

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