We’re nearly though the second day of the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, and so far it’s been an entertaining tournament to say the least. The course has brought a serious challenge to the best golfers on the planet, with the many bunkers swallowing shots, and the unforgiving rough gripping balls like a prime OBJ. Because of this, the projected cut is at +3, and many star players will not make it to the weekend. In my last blog I walked everyone through my selections for an office pool. So, let’s see where my players sit, and how they compare to the rest of the field in my pool.
MY SELECTIONS
Scottie Scheffler: +3
Tommy Fleetwood: -5
Min Woo Lee: -3
Bryson Dechambeau: +2
Patrick Reed: +2
Harris English: +5
Guido Migliozzi: -1
MY SCORE: -7
This pool takes the combined scores of your top four players, and forgets about your bottom three. This brings me to a respectable -7, and with the cut projected at +3, the only player on my squad who won’t be making the cut will be Harris English.
The leader in the pool is currently at -17. This may seem like an uncatchable lead when compared to my -7, but when you look at the players on each of our squads it doesn’t seem as bad. His number one scorer is Brian Harman, who sits at an astonishing -10, and my number one selection, Scottie Scheffler, is at +3.
No offense to Harman, but I don’t think there is any way that he holds his five stroke through Sunday. He’s paired with Tommy Fleetwood tommorrow who has the hometown crowd at his back, so the energy will not be going his way. Harman has also only won two PGA events throughout his career (no majors), with the most recent being the Wells Fargo Championship in 2017. The pressure of securing his first major and his first win in six years will surely loom large over his head this weekend. I predict his pace of -5 per day will drop off substantially, allowing other players to catch up.
Nobody is hungrier than the man in second place. As I mentioned before, Tommy Fleetwood is paired with Harman tomorrow and is playing at his home course. Fleetwood is also trying to claim his first major and hasn’t had a win on the PGA tour yet. Being the chaser in golf is extremely less mentally challenging than being in the lead. Tommy will be breathing down Harman’s neck all day tomorrow, and I think he’ll make a serious push for the lead.
Another one of my players that I expect to make a serious push is Scottie Scheffler. Nobody can flip a switch quite like this guy. His putting has been the question mark in his game so far, but his iron play has kept him in the hunt. If a couple of putts start falling he has the ability to go extremely low and make a monstrous comeback. Keep an eye on him, and expect low scores both tomorrow and Sunday.
Apologies for the shorter blog, I am currently tailgating at a Luke Combs concert. I’ll be back with more content covering the Open, Messi’s first game, and more on Monday’s weekend recap. See you then!