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I hope you're right stlcard_25 but I think today's final round may be as dull as Retief's very successful demeanor. Unless Goosen just falls apart, this Open is over. If he shoots 1 or 2 over he'll win easily. Of course, saying it and shooting it are two different things now aren't they!

Well now it didn't turn out very dull did it?!? I hope the USGA finds a way to get the Open back to No. 2 ASAP...they could play it there every year and I certainly wouldn't be bored with it. The true ultimate test in the event that is supposed to be golf's ultimate test.

When Goosen "fell apart" my "dull" prediction was null and void. :nodsmiley As it was, it still wasn't the most exciting finish we've had lately. Tiger added some suspense but Campbell never did anything to let Tiger back into into it.

On the contrary, I think Tiger didn't do enough to get back into it himself. It was on him to go and get Campbell when Michael was at -1 and he couldn't do it....very uncharacteristic missed putts on 16 and 17 for Tiger, and there goes his chances. But, he had spent the entire week fighting the putter,so it shouldn't have come as a surprise...I guess we (or maybe it's just me personally) have come to expect so much from him that anytime he doesn't make the clutch putt or come through in the final holes, it seems like he's totally choked.

This is one of the few majors where Woods shoulda won, but didn't...and it was very similar to the 2003 British Open. Tiger had a big-time opening on the back nine thanks to the choke from big gun Davis Love (similar to big gun Goosen's choke this year, but not quite as bad), but Tiger missed a ton of birdie chances on the back nine and Ben Curtis (an unknown like Campbell although Campbell has played good golf before in his career unlike Curtis who was a complete no-name as we all know) won the tournament with Tiger feeling like he let the tournament slip away. But, putting is very important, and Campbell made his fare share of putts so he deserves all the credit in the world for winning this thing.

Luckily for Tiger, putting shouldn't hurt him so badly at the British Open because he'll be driving it on or near a lot of the par 4 greens. So, it's just a chip and a putt for him. His short game was not very sharp at Pinehurst, but I think he'll get it fixed by the time the British Open comes along. Besides, he doesn't have to play lights out like he did last time. He could shoot 12 under and probably win it (that's 7 shots higher than his 19 under in 2000). It would have won then, and I think it could win this year too, so it's not like he needs to play perfect golf. He just needs to make a few putts and chip it close when he drives it near the greens in 1.

As a fan, I've got a lot of confidence that the rest of the year holds some big things for Tiger. His ball striking was superb this week, and he'll get the putter under control I'm sure. He'll be on the very short list of favorites at the Open Championship and if he can drive it reasonably well (which he did this week...although he hit only 50% of the fairways, he hit a LOT of tee shots just into the first cut) I see no reason why Baltusrol doesn't suit him well either. Vijay, the other topic of this thread...the same applies to him, although I don't think St. Andrews fits him quite as well, simply due to the fact that I think Tiger controls his ball a little better in tough conditions and has the better short game of the two (although Vijay's is very underrated...he's no slouch around the greens, it just seems like he is compared to his unbelievable ballstriking abilities).

"On the contrary" to what? Tiger added some suspense the first half of the back nine but Campbell's solid play (and Tiger's miscues on the greens) took all the drama out of the last 4-5 holes.

Last 4-5 holes? There sure seemed to be some drama left after Tiger birdied 15 to get to 2 behind again. :nodsmiley The last two holes were dull...that's as much as I can give you. 30 minutes out of a 6.5 hour broadcast in which the outcome was still up in the air....I'd say that's pretty good.

I'm not complaining. It was indeed a good tournament to watch on Sunday. I suppose I was just hoping for more.

So you think everyone will play the same as they did in 2000 even though it seems many PGA players have elevated their games while Tiger's has not been as good? There are lots of players who will be capable of driving the same distances as Tiger and maybe even as straight or straighter. Tiger's game today is quite different from his play in 2000 so let's not give him the trophy just yet, okay?

Good point. I think too many people are handing Tiger the trophy already. Let's not forget that in 2000 there was no wind. I think if conditions are the same, I'd say Tiger's got a great chance. But we've seen in past British Opens that Tiger struggles in windy conditions.

No, we've seen him struggle in ONE British Open in the wind --- 2002 which was a fluke round. 1999 at Carnoustie was the toughest B.O. conditions in a long time, and he finished, what tied for 3rd or something like that? He can play in the wind.

As for the comment about people driving it similar distances. Look at the driving stats from 2000, and you'll see that he didn't even have THAT big of an advantage. Nowadays, everyone is killing the ball, but since Tiger finally upgraded, he's hitting it 340 on most holes without wind to bother him. So, I think he's still got a pretty big advantage over a vast majority of the field, including Phil and Vijay. Ernie and Davis seem to be the only guys who can hang with Tiger, and Tiger still usually blows it past Ernie most of the time. Davis is unbelievable, especially at his age! I think it at the Memorial where he had a tee shot that went 370 when Tiger hit one like 350+ on the same hole and the announcers were just laughing at how unbelievably far Davis can hit it sometimes.

And, even with Tiger not playing lights out, I think he's still got a very very very good chance because of the golf course that it's on. He wasn't hitting it dead straight when he won in 2000 either, but the golf course really has plenty of birdie holes if you hit it down there as far as Tiger does. I think Vijay should be a better contender this year than he was in 2000, and Ernie should be there as well (although he's struggled lately this year it seems). Phil might play well, but he's never been good at the British Open. Retief I think will bounce back at the British and play great golf. I don't think you'll see 19 under winning it, unless Tiger is the one doing it! Vijay has the ball-striking to do it, but he's just a terrible putter by the Tour's standards (if he putts well, then he could shoot 20 under or better on that course if the wind conditions are the same as 2000).

Certainly Tiger has not played as well lately as he did in 2000 (Who can blame him for that? He had to come down out of the sky eventually.), but everyone continually states that so many players have "elevated their games" since that year. Besides Vijay, I don't see any of the other big names who have significantly improved since then (I don't include Retief because he really hadn't burst onto the scene yet). Phil won 4 times in 2000 and won the most money in Tour history of any guy not named Tiger to that point. Ernie finished runnerup in three majors as well as finishing in the top 3 in almost half of his PGA Tour events. Heck, even Vijay won the Masters that year...not exactly a terrible season. End of rant on that subject.

Tiger will be a huge favorite to win at St. Andrews. With his new equipment, as TTU mentioned, Tiger has regained a large portion of that distance advantage he had in 2000, but it is somewhat negated by the fact that he misses many more fairways. At St. Andrews that won't be too big a deal though, as most of the big hitters should have a shot to get on all the driveable holes with their tee shots, not just Tiger. I like his chances to win, but wouldn't go so far as to say it's a slam dunk (at least not in a public place like this. )...even the best clank a dunk off the back of the rim once in a while.

While it's true that he's been missing fairways, it's also true that he's been fidgeting with his swing for the last year and a half (probably even longer than that). I think at Pinehurst he was MUCH more consistent with his driver than he has been. Many of his so-called missed fairways were actually in the first cut, which was basically like playing from the fairways that many of us amateurs play from (obviously b/c of the unbelievable shortness of Tour fairway grass). I think Tiger is getting better with the driver and before long, he'll be hitting the ball much straighter I think (maybe almost as good as 2000 even). He's proven that he doesn't "need" to hit fairways 70% of the time, but I think the longer he works with Haney, the better his accuracy will get. Next year he just might be hitting 65% or higher I think. He's starting to get his swing grooved to where he can eliminate one side of the golf course just like Jack Nicklaus did so well. He's beginning to hit the power fade with relative consistency and I think he'll eventually get it going to where he doesn't even think about his swing anymore.

They said that Earl told him on the phone to get back to basics by having Haney hold his head in place while he's hitting on the range. I think if he remembers to use this drill, his driving accuracy should go up quite a bit because he'll be able to keep that head from dipping during his swing (which has obviously been a major cause for his well-noted big slicing problem as well as his tendency to flip his hands and hit the pull hook while trying to avoid the push-fade/slice).