I sit here only a few hours prior to the beginning of the Open Championship and I have just recently put in my fantasy golf picks. I’m in two leagues. The first is a league on Yahoo when you have eight players on the roster, play four at a time and can change between rounds. The second is a league where you pick a golfer a week and you can only use each golfer once. Compounding that is that you pick two guys for major championships.

I’m currently in good shape in both leagues and would finish in the money if the season ended today. The pick one league is probably a bit more stressful. The last thing you want is a missed cut as it can drop you quite a ways in the standings.

For several weeks, I thought I was going to go Lee Westwood and another hot European player. But the closer I get to making my pick, the more I wonder about Westwood’s injured leg. While you want guys who are going to finish high, you have have guys who make cuts.

It seems like every guy out there has questions. I like Ian Poulter, but he’s been pretty average of late. Rory McIlroy has missed the cut in each of the first two majors. I’m a non-believer in Phil at the British. Els missed the cut last week. I think Steve Stricker will be out of gas after playing last week at the Quad Cities. I’ve already used Justin Rose and Padraig Harrington.

My picks: Tiger Woods and Ernie Els.

I know Tiger has been average at best, but I spoke with my buddy at the Washington Post who walked with him for 54 holes at Aronomink a couple of weeks ago. He said Tiger hit the ball great, but couldn’t make anything.

I realize it’s kind of a risk considering how poorly he has been. But I don’t see him missing a second consecutive cut at the Open Championship. And if he’s hitting the ball well, hopefully he’ll hit it close enough so his putting won’t be an issue.

The other guy I went with was Ernie Els. He’s been very strong in the Open, he played well at Pebble Beach, he knows the course. I’m not sure he’s good enough to win the thing, but I think he can probably at least make the cut. A guy I did consider was Retief Goosen because of his mental toughness.

I’ll save Phil for the PGA or the Tour Championship.
We’ll see how it goes. Looking forward to another major. Not much beats watching some golf before going to work.