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Saturday, June 18, 2005

The Open: Day Three- is the open closed?

Singh and Woods excel from Tee to Green but are next to last and dead last in the field in putting. World # 1 a toss up between the two on Sunday.


Day Three of the US Open produced some drama on the back nine but when the dust settled two time champion Retief Goosen had a three stroke lead over two guys who are nice feel good stories (Olin Browne and Jason Gore) but who are never going to win a US Open. Goosen sits four strokes clear of Michael Campbell who at one time was one of the world's most promising golfers but has never contended for a major and Mark Hensby. The only guy I can see realistically winning besides Goosen is David Toms who had a disastrous back 9 for the 2nd straight day and sits 5 strokes back. Toms does have the game to keep up the heat should Goosen falter. World #1 Tiger Woods who played very well tee to green but had some awful reads on the green sits 6 shots back. World #2 Vijay Singh is last in the field in putting this week and sits 7 back. Tee to Green, Singh has easily been the best golfer this week but seems to be incapable of making a putt from outside of 3 feet. Tomorrow's real drama could be as to who leaves the week ranked #1 in the world. Tiger Woods entered the week three tenths of a point ahead of Singh- basically they are in a dead heat, and the player who finished ahead of the other tomorrow will leave the US Open without a Championship but with the #1 ranking.

Tomorrow could be a snoozer like the 2000 Final Round where Tiger Woods lapped the field. I have no reason to believe anyone will come close to touching Goosen. My prediction: Goosen shoots a safe 72 to win by 3 shots over Toms and Hensby.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Turn the lights out. The party's over.

Anonymous said...

How about those Marlins, Kartik? You're boys are in last place just like the Dolphins. And you claim the Marlins are much more successful, ha! Trying to divert us with Golf so you don't have to face the music about the last place Marlins. And by the way, I am confident we will finish somewhere in between 8-8 and 10-6 this season.

Kartik said...

JK- This is forum about Golf not the Dolphins or the Marlins. For starters the Marlins have been more succesful because they have won two World Series since the Dolphins last won a Divisional Playoff Game. (And the Marlins while really struggling to win close games are still above .500) Secondly, the Dolphins are picked by every preview I have looked at anywhere from the fourth worst team in the league to the 2nd worst team in the league. They will not win more than 5 games. The Dolphins have solid WRs, and a top three Tight End. But the RB situation is unsettled, the Offensive line stinks, the QBs are both mediocre at best and the Defense specializes in choking with games and seasons on the line. The run defense isn't very good either because the Dolphins have poor tackles, and shaky outside linebacks who support the run defense. I am not sure how a team with so many problems can win 10 games, but hey you're the expert and I defer to you- the Marlins have never won anything and the Dolphins are a dynasty. "The Tradition Continues."

Anonymous said...

How many 100 win seasons do the Marlins have? The Dolphins won the Football version, 10 games just two years ago. The Marlins would have been long forgotten if not for the fan Steve Bartman, and also the questionable call in Game 6 of the World Series when Posada clearly tagged the Marlins runner and they gave the Marlins the run.

Kartik said...

Are you a Yankee Fan? Posada didn't apply the tag on that play and Gonzalez swiped the side of the plate. Tim McCarver who was the color analyst on Fox clearly stated that Posada should have guarded the plate and applied the tag. McCarver thought it was good thinking by Alex to swipe the side of the plate and bad defense by Posada. No controversy. I'm not sure what you are talking about.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait for Kartik to do his postition by position breakdown of the Dolphins.

Anonymous said...

There's no way the Dolphins will finish 10-6. At the same time I do not think they will be as bad at 4 or 5 wins again. With their seemingly easy scheule on "paper" they should be able to win 6 or 7 games.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Goosen is in trouble. Tiger is going to win this thing it appears.

Kartik said...

Let the Grand Slam hype begin for Woods at St Andrews. Well, michael Campbell may still have something to say about it, but we'll know in an hour or two!

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I am the host of the Major League Soccer Talk and EPL Talk Podcasts and am frequent guest on other (world) football shows. I am also the publisher of various other websites including this one. I work in public/government relations in addition to my soccer work and have a keen interest in history, politics, aviation, travel,and the world around us.

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