The 3rd major of the season is now behind us and this one was full of surprises. The biggest surprise of The Open Championship of course had to be Tiger Woods missing the cut and not participating in the weekend festivities. This marks only the 2nd time in a major for his career that Mr. Woods missed the cut. However that was not the only surprise taking place over the course of this event. Tom Watson, yes that Tom Watson, at 59 years old contended throughout the event and led multiple days. He ended up falling short in a playoff to Stewart Cink, but gave it one heck of a run.
Before the golf tournament began, each member of our staff made their picks and we want to revisit those to see how we stacked up.
Golfer Gal
Her pick to win was Ian Poulter that did not fare to well and her pick to fall flat was Jim Furyk who fared far better than Poulter. Her dark horse pick of Henrik Stenson made a run on Saturday, only to fall back at the end.
Craig M
Craig was on board with Tiger and it did not pan out as predicted. His dark horse pick of Sean O’Hair did not play much better, however his favorite to fall flat was Poulter. In the end, he got one pretty right on.
Jason K
Jason also struggled with his selections. His winner was Tiger Woods who, as mentioned, did not participate in the weekend. His dark horse pick of Adam Scott also missed the cut. His favorite that would fall flat was Kenny Perry, and while Perry did not really contend, he did survive the cut line and so few big names did.
Josh B
Josh picked Paul Casey to win and although he made the cut, he finished +8 and really was not in contention other than briefly on day 1. Dark Horse pick of Nick Watney also played all weekend and finished back in 27th with a +4. His favorite to fall flat was Anthony Kim and he fell flat to miss the weekend play and finish in 85th.
Harry Longshanks
Tiger Woods was his choice as a winner. We know that he had a rough weekend. His dark horse pick he went with the heart and took Justin Leonard. Clearly the foil hat was working as Justin posted a top 10 finish. His favorite to fall flat was Rory M and while still young many had taken him to win it. Rory played all weekend, but for the most part was a non-factor. In a tough tournament of picks, Mr. Longshanks and his “method” did pretty well.
Caleb C
Caleb’s picks looked like pure genius on some and blind darts on others. (similar to the rest of us). His winner was to be Hunter Mahan. Mr. Mahan did not make it past Friday. His dark horse pick looked like he may have walked away with the Championship for parts of Sunday, but fell back. However still finished top 15. His favorite to fall flat was Kenny Perry and for the most part he did just that. Ratings for his picks were on par with Harry Longshanks. Better than the rest of us.
What does all this mean? For the most part it means we know nothing. But in the end, this was a great tournament that was enthralling to the end. We saw Tom Watson almost make history, just to come up a little short and we saw Stewart Cink take home The Open Championship. Some big names played extremely well and some bigger names did not stay around for the Saturday and Sunday to see the finish. Cink is one of the nicest guys on tour and The Hackers Paradise congratulates him on his win and his first Major. It could not happen to a more deserving competitor.
