We are two days removed from Tiger Woods winning THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass and instead of looking ahead to the HP Byron Nelson Championship starting on Thursday, all you hear is outrage over TIger's latest sin on the golf course.

Let's enter the time machine... it's Saturday at THE PLAYERS on the Par 5 second hole. Sergio Garcia is standing over his ball and getting ready to swing and Tiger pulls a club from his bag at the same time. The crowd makes some noise. Sergio is instantly furious. 

Garcia would later claim that Woods distracted him during the shot and that he was "the victim" in this situation. A situation that saw Garcia make a bogey and Woods a birdie. A victim? Really? The only victim on a golf course is the golf ball, which gets beaten around and sometimes lost. Sergio Garcia is no victim. 

Woods said it was "not surprising that he's complaining about something." There is much truth in that statement. Sergio loves to complain, but then again, so does Woods. Whatever perceived rivalry existed between them before may have been ignited in this situation. 

The thing is, Woods made the shots he needed to make after playing this hole and Sergio did not. Sergio choked, as he is accustomed to doing in important golf tournaments. Which begs the question, why is Sergio trying to take the spotlight off his bad play on Sunday and putting the focus on the second hole he played on Saturday?

Because he's Sergio... and that's why he doesn't win majors. 

But of course since Woods told the world the marshals gave him the okay to hit and now they've told SI that he's a liar, this must be disected forevermore. There will be no reprieve from it. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200 (just Sergio tears). 

Let's get back in the time machine... it's Sunday at THE PLAYERS on the 14th hole. Tiger Woods has a two shot lead and hits a terrible tee shot which starts a little right but quickly comes back left and splashes into the water. He talks with his playing partner Casey Witenberg and his caddie about where his ball entered the hazard. They come to an agreement and Tiger makes his drop. (Here's a thorough breakdown of the shot from a crazy person).

Then the golf world explodes, forever and ever, but Johnny Miller has to let everyone know, "that Tiger drop was really, really borderline. I can't live with myself without saying that."

Good to know you have such conviction, Miller. I can't live with myself if I don't say that.

Since Tiger's DropGate at The Masters, everyone is keeping a very close eye on him anytime he hits into a hazard and has to take a drop. It's going to be like that until Woods retires from golf and even then some caddie on a course 25 years from now is going to raise an eyebrow from across two fairways when he sees Tiger taking a drop.

My question is why are we even having this "point of entry" conversation when TV crews clearly have the ball tracker/fligh path technology to know exactly where the ball went and a rules official could be sitting there watching it and then radio down to the marshal with a definitive point of entry. 

That makes too much sense, so it won't be done. Instead of improving the game so these things don't happen, we have to live in the archaic code of the honor system that all golfers must live and die by. It's silly, but that's tradition, I guess. 

A tradition unlike any other...

...Because other sports are smart enough to have unbias (mostly) officials monitor and enforce the rules of the game.

What a difference one year makes.

At this time last year, Tiger Woods was abandoning the WGC-Cadillac Championship after just 11 holes due to an ailing left Achilles Tendon. 

On Sunday, in the same tournament and on the same course, Woods completed all 72 holes in dominant fashion to win his 76th PGA Tour event of his career. 

The World Golf Championships have been extra sweet to Woods. Since their inception in 1999, he has won 17 (42%!!) and collected a total of $24 million in winnings for his efforts. 

Sometimes we forget just how dominant Woods was due to the faults he has experienced over the last few years bringing him down to the level of the rest of the field. Woods burned so hot, for so long, the flame was likely to decrease from a raging inferno to a contained blaze in a fireplace at some point. I just don’t think we expected it to happen so suddenly and so dramatically when it did. 

Needless to say, we’re again seeing signs of the “Old Tiger” that carved up the field for four rounds and never really gave anyone else a shot to win.

A win at Bay Hill in two weeks would provide an even better glimpse of the “Old Tiger” as it would propel him back atop the World Golf Rankings, a place he could have used as a permanent residence in the past. 

In his post round press conference, Woods talked about getting a putting lesson from Steve Stricker on Wednesday before the WGC-Cadillac Championship started. It worked, and also may have backfired on Stricker, who finished two-shots back in second place. 

It was almost a redemptive week for PGA Tour television ratings as well. After Woods and Rory McIlroy (and just about every other favorite) were bounced early from the WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship, this past Sunday saw Woods win, with Stricker in second and Graeme McDowell, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott tying for third.

Star power at the top of the leaderboard is exactly what the PGA Tour wants, and they did at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. 

I won’t speculate whether I think this is the turning point for Woods “being back,” because I don’t think it’s fair to judge what he can do now to what he did in his most dominant years. He’s older with a potential to be injury prone and when that once-in-a-lifetime magic goes... it goes. That doesn’t mean Woods can’t be the most dominant force on the Tour, because he will always have that potential, but it’s always going to be wait and see with him now.

What’s good for the PGA Tour is we will wait to see if that magic comes back, every week, even if it never does. 

It's playoff time on the PGA Tour. 

Don't get excited for an NCAA Tournament, single-elimination, style contest though. This playoffs is spread out over the next month and it's based on a points system average golf fans most likely don't understand. 

But, that's not the point. All you need to know is whoever has the most points after the TOUR Championship in September is the winner. Follow the tournaments, check the points, done deal. I'm warning you now to not delve deep into the details of how everything is scored or how one goes about winning this. 

Take it at face value. 

That's something I didn't do the previous two years. The first year I wrote for this blog I went on a tirade about how awful the playoff was and how the scoring was too contrite to make any amount of logical sense. With a few tweaks, I ended up liking it last year, but put myself too far in the red trying to predict everything and figure out who would win based on the scoring. 

Now, I'm just along for the ride. Most points wins... now lets tee it up. 

The Barclays is already under way and the featured pairing of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy (and Zach Johnson, but really, who paid attention to him?) and Woods came out victorious 68-69. That's a good first day for Tiger and I'm sure it felt good to him to be able to get some bragging rights over Rory for even a day. 

Mickelson even returned to form on Thursday, shooting a 68. He expects low rounds throughout the tournament and if he plays like he did Thursday, he'll get his wish. 

These tournaments have Ryder Cup implications this year, which makes them even more compelling. When there is no Ryder Cup to look forward to during these tournaments, they have a way of getting a little stale, but there are implications for some golfers (Padraig Harrington at the top of that list) to play well in order to make the team. 

I have a good feeling about McIlroy this week, as well as Dustin Johnson (defending Barclays champ) and Sergio Garcia. That's as far as I'm going with picks in this opening round. I'll pick up a more definitive tone next week and in future tournaments. 

Until then, just watch, enjoy, and don't dig too deep. You might not like what you find. 

Follow live coverage throughout the day here.

The British Open became a perfect storm as play was winding down Sunday afternoon. It was a bogey-fest for Adam Scott as he shot his way out of contention for his first major championship in the last four holes. It was the round of a lifetime for Ernie Els, who capitalized on every opportunity down the stretch and became the unlikely champion. Els might be an older, grizzled veteran, but it's not like Scott is a young up-and-comer who got "deer in headlights" syndrome due to being in contention at his first major. He's been a pro for 12 years and been in contention for big wins in the past. His game simply failed him. 

Els wasn't the only big winner, though, the TV ratings had just as good a weekend. Saturday's ratings were up 48% with 3.8 million viewers and Sunday's ratings were up 38% with 4.8 million viewers. That's a great weekend for the PGA Tour and British Open. Opening round coverage was up 71% and 78% for Thursday and Friday, respectively. If you think about the weird time difference we have in the US due to the broadcast being aired live in Great Britain, it makes the numbers even more impressive. Sure, Tiger Woods probably had a good amount to do with it since he was playing good golf, especially through the opening rounds, but you have to give credit to Els' charge and be a little bit happy about Scott's collapse if you are the PGA Tour and British Open. Those occurrences certainly didn't hurt viewership. 
I never seem to great when I make picks, but my British Open picks weren't terrible...

The U.S. Open is not a tradition unlike any other. It's not overseas with a classic jug as its trophy. It doesn't don the name of the golf association.

It's just the hardest test at a major championship every year. It's the national tournament. This year, it's going to be hot right out of the gate as well.

The group of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson is as star studded as it gets. Having all three of these golfers together to open the tournament will surely have an effect on the number of fans tuning in to see golfers try to conquer Olympic Field in San Francisco, CA.

If you have the audacity to pay attention to any other group, set your eyes on the group of Casey Martin, Dennis Miller and Cameron Wilson. I've written in the past couple of weeks about Martin qualifying for the U.S. Open 14 years after he last played in it. If for nothing else, there will be a sense of nostalgia seeing him in his golf cart at Olympic Field. Who knows, he just might top his T23 performance from over a decade ago and find himself in a much bigger spotlight than he currently occupies at the University of Oregon.

There's also a foreign invasion group looking to snag the U.S. Open Championship which consists of Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. If you're looking to put your money in any group to win this thing, this group could be your best bet. McIlroy won it last year, Donald is coming off his best year ever and Westwood is bound to win a major at some point.

There are 41 American players and 36 international players in pursuit of a major championship over the next four days. If the past is any indication of the future, we know one thing is certain...

The course will shine just as much as the players and be one of the biggest factor in victory or defeat.

Picks

1. Tiger Woods (I don't know why I keep doing this... maybe I'll be right one day and feel good about myself)
2. Rory McIlroy (Won't quite earn a repeat victory... but he'll be close)
3. Sergio Garcia (He said himself he can't win a major... but he can be in contention)
4. Luke Donald (Can never be counted out... has a good chance to win)
5. Lee Westwood (Won't win his first major... and might start thinking like Garcia does)

Round 1 pairings/Tee Times

Live Scoring

The Good

The immediacy of sports journalism is so overwhelming these days that questions started to be raised about how many majors Bubba Watson will win in his career before his first green jacket was buttoned up.

It's a double edged sword. On one hand it's great to know everything as soon as possible, but it also doesn't give any genuinely great story the chance to marinate in our sports mind. We want to crown or tear down athletes in the quickest way possible, be it by blog post, tweet or Facebook status update. It’s going to happen on one medium or another.

Which is why, post-Masters, I took a few days off to let Watson’s victory over Louis Oosthuzien soak in and let the rest of the sports/golf media jump to conclusions and make proclamations. Honestly, it felt good to play back the tournament in my mind without the clutter of outside analysis and speculation. It’s easy to take your own analysis and feelings of a golf tournament for granted because the second it ends, you’ve got a hundred different opinions flying at you.

I watched nearly every hole of The Masters, as is custom every year, but something about seeing Watson cry on the No. 10 green after clinching his first major championship on the second sudden death hole at Augusta was just special. It reminded me of watching Phil win his first Masters and the enjoyment I got from it while he did his awkward jump with both arms raised high.

The Masters routinely provides beauty in more forms than a cultivated landscape. Watson’s wedge shot out of the Woods in sudden death on No. 10 was prettier than any of the manicured fairways. It was an updated version of Phil splitting two trees from the pine straw with a 6-iron and miraculously landing it on the 13th green in 2010. When both shots were lined up, you simply had to say to yourself, “There’s just no way...” And then it happened.

Those are the lasting memories one gets every Spring from Augusta National.

The Bad

Sergio Garcia has always been an intriguing character on the PGA Tour, but I didn’t think he would get to the level he’s at now. He played with Rory McIlroy and as both struggled throughout the third round, it was pretty funny to see them hug and chum it up as their golf lives were in misery at Augusta.

What wasn’t so light hearted were Sergio’s comments the rest of the weekend:

"I'm not good enough, and today I know it. I've been trying for 13 years, and I don't feel capable of winning. I don't know what happened to me. Maybe it's something psychological. ... I'm not good enough for the majors. Everything I say, I say it because I feel it. If I didn't mean it, I couldn't stand here and lie like a lot of the guys do. If I felt like I could win, I would do it."

Well, alright then. You could tell Garcia truly meant what he was saying and after 13 years of failure and frustration at all the major championships, can you really blame him? These comments are as real as it gets and I think it makes Garcia a sympathetic figure heading into any major he qualifies for going forward. Maybe saying all of this out loud, in front of the media, is exactly what’s going to get Garcia over the top, but we’ll see.

The Ugly

Tiger Woods. Tiger’s golf etiquette. Tiger’s golf swing. Tiger’s language. Tiger’s ability to find the fairway off the tee. This could go on forever. He played so poorly this weekend that he had to have crushed any confidence he gained after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It’s still painful to watch him melt down rather than rise up, and even though I’m still rooting for him to be the best golfer in the world again, I still just don’t think he’s close to getting there again. Sad but true. One step forward, then steps back... and don’t forget to kick your club on the way!

Lots of action on the PGA Tour this week, including the Tavistock Cup and Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tavistock is already underway and the Arnold Palmer kicks off on Thursday from Bay Hill Country Club & Lounge in Orlando, FL.

If Tavistock is just a blip on your golf radar and you're ready to get into API already, tune into live interviews on PGATour.com today. Martin Laird is up at 11am CT and Commissioner Tim Finchem goes live at 12pm CT. I've got a feeling the Finchem interview will be a bit dry, but you never know, and it's always good to hear from the Commish.

I'm not very big into Power Rankings in any sport, but I as curious what Rob Bolton on PGATour.com had to say heading into Bay Hill. The competition has been very strong in 2012 and we've seen a lot of different faces atop the leaderboard this year. From week-to-week, the golfers on the PGA Tour are doing a great job of keeping the "content" fresh and that's a good sign early in the year, especially with the Masters just around the corner.

Top 10 via Rob Bolton

1. Tiger Woods - Not sure I agree with Woods topping this list because he's been playing pretty streaky golf lately, but I understand why he's here. Woods is returning to form moreso lately than we've seen in a long time and I think he'll be very tough to beat once he gets that first win under his belt.

2. Justin Rose - Rose is coming off a WGC-Cadillac win, so anywhere in the Top 5 would have been a fine placement in my eyes.

3. Webb Simpson
4. Bo Van Pelt

Both golfers are finishing in the Top 10 very frequently this year and when you put yourself in contention that often, it only takes a few improved holes over the course of 72 holes to get yourself a first place finish.

5. Jim Furyk - Happy to see Furyk contend last week at Transitions after such a tough 2011. Basically, if he's healthy, he's going to contend.

6. Hunter Mahan
7. Sergio Garcia
8. Bubba Watson
9. Jeff Overton
10. Ernie Els

No question 2012 has proven to be a good year for this group so far. I think you can take any combination of those five and shuffle them around in the 6-10 slots and no one would have complaints. My guess is this grouping a five golfers will win before the 1-5 ranked golfers do. Just a hunch, though.

The 2012 season is well underway, but for me, it truly gets started today as the Accenture Match Play opens up at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain in Marana, AZ.

I’m a sucker for a bracket, and even though I failed to find an online league that lets you make picks and tracks the progress so I could open this up to a challenge, I’ll take the old school paper bracket anyway.

Instead of trying to take a few hours of really researching everything and making picks that will ultimately be horrible anyway, I decided to pick match ups I want to see as this tournament progresses. It’s probably better that way, as you all know my track record with picks is just about as good as every other expert out there.

Will Tiger triumph? Who will be the high-seed that makes a run? Is Sergio really playing up to his potential? Let’s get to it...

Round 1

Bobby Jones Division
Donald over Els; Dufner over Hanson; Choi over Stanley; Snedeker over Goosen; Scott over Rock; Wilson over Van Pelt; Furyk over Johnson (UPSET!); Molinari over Bjorn

Ben Hogan Division
Kaymer over Chalmers (Mario from the Heat??); Toms over Fowler; Kuchar over Byrd (struggled with this one); Watson over Crane; Stricker over Na; Baddeley over Oosthuizen; McDowel over Yang; Mahan over Johnson

Gary Player Division
McIlroy over Coetzee; Hansen over Kim; Garcia over Jiminez (really looking forward to this one); Bradley over Ogilvy; Day over Bello; Senden over Dyson; Schwartzel over Woodland; Poulter over Bae

Sam Snead Division
Westwood over Colsaerts; Jacobson over Karlsson; Clarke over Watney (UPSET!!); Woods over Fdez-Castano; Simpson over Manassero; Laird over Quiros; Haas over Ishikawa; Rose over Lawrie

Round 2

Bobby Jones Division
Donald over Dufner; Choi over Snedeker; Wilson over Scott; Furyk over Molinari

Ben Hogan Division
Kaymer over Toms; Watson over Kuchar; Stricker over Baddeley; Mahan over McDowell

Gary Player Division
McIlroy over Hansen; Garcia over Bradley; Day over Senden; Poulter over Schwartzel (say that 10x as fast as you can)

Sam Snead Division
Westwood over Jacobson; Woods over Clarke; Simpson over Laird; Haas over Rose

Round 3/Sweet 16

Bobby Jones Division
Choi over Donald; Furyk over Wilson

Ben Hogan Division
Watson over Kaymer; Mahan over Stricker

Gary Player Division
Garcia over McIlroy; Day over Poulter

San Snead Division
Woods over Westwood (am I really doing this again??); Haas over Simpson

Round 4/Elite 8

Bobby Jones Division
Choi over Furyk

Ben Hogan Division
Watson over Mahan

Gary Player Division
Garcia over Day

Sam Snead Division
Haas over Woods

Round 5/Final 4

Watson over Choi
For me, picking the Jones and Hogan divisions felt the toughest. A lot of the matchups seemed like the kind of decisions I would finally come to after hours of deliberation, but since I was just picking to get the matchups I hoped to see, I felt like I had to cut some really good golfers. Regardless, I like the way Watson is playing right now, but it’s difficult to ever pick against Choi because he always has something up his sleeve it seems.

Haas over Garcia
I wanted so badly to put Tiger in the Final Four so I could watch him square off against Garcia to see who could get more pissed off at themselves throughout the match if things were going poorly, but game recognize game and I had to put Haas in the Final Four and championship match. He won this past Sunday and is really coming into his own on the PGA Tour. 2012 is going to be a special year for him.

Championship

Haas over Watson
Like I said previously, I really think 2012 is the Year of Haas. He made huge strides in 2011 and so far it’s rolled over nicely for him in 2012. Watson’s game goes through crests and valleys and while I could see him winning this tournament, I just think Haas has a couple more birdies in him.

One of these days, I'm going to go back through my record of making picks for PGA Tour events and see just how bad the crime scene actually is. For now, I'm moving forward and picking from my gut to decide who's going to win the Greenbrier Classic at The Old White TPC in West Virginia.

I have mostly fond memories of West Virginia, other than the fact I dislike (or hate) WVU athletics. I've enjoyed driving through it, spending time with friends who live near the state (but on the Ohio side fortunately), and I think the Greenbrier is a great golf tournament. I'm hoping the good thought karma I have for WV trumps whatever distaste I have for it and rewards me with a good week of making picks. We know how that usually turns out, but let's do this anyway. I tweeted this out last night, but thought I'd expand a little bit this morning. Call it a teaser, if you will.

Top 5 Picks

1. Jonathan Byrd - Byrd has had a strong year and I feel like - if this were pro wrestling - he's been getting a big push from the Tour (management) and a lot of exposure. Aside from that, he's playing good golf and doesn't go very long without making sure we talk about him. Plus, he did a sweet behind-the-scenes tour of his Man Cave - and that's something I can get behind. It may not be sound logic, but it will have to do for this week.

2. John Daly - Daly is coming off his first Top 10 finish in what seems like a decade. He was T9 at the RBC Canadian Open and from all the evidence I could collect, he seems to have his swing - and emotions - in check. We all know he's got talent, it's just mostly been wasted with off-the-course issues. I'd be happy to see Daly regain some prominence (in golf stature) on the Tour. I think he continues to build to that this week.

3. Phil Mickelson - If you pick Phil to finish high enough times, you'll eventually be right. That's not completely the case with this pick... but it's part of it. There's nothing I can say about Phil's game that you don't already know or probably wouldn't agree with. I think he has a good week and it's as simple as that.

4. Sergio Garcia - Kind of the same deal with Phil, except not really. Sergio rarely - if ever - comes through. That may seem harsh, but it's true. He has yet to claim a major, but if he can build up his confidence in time for the PGA, he could have a chance. I think he starts that process here.

5. Bill Haas - He's above-average in nearly every statistic kept on PGATour.com. He's finished Top 5 on five different occasions this year. He'll do that again this week and I think we should start to get used to seeing his name in the Top 10. I feel like management is going to give him a push like they're doing with Byrd (take that however you want).

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Turn back the clock, because we're heading overseas to witness the way golf was played in its infant stage. It happens every year at the Open Championship, giving fans the opportunity to see low scores, extreme hazards and weather conditions that would make most of us not even consider heading out for a round.

That's the beautiful nostalgia of the Open Championship. Besides exchanging sticks and rocks for modern equipment, the oldest of the four major championships provides an old-school, back-to-our-roots presentation with a focus on the game, not its participants.

Royal St. George's Golf Club will be center stage. The weather will be showcased like a daunting stage set-up. The golfers will be the pit-band. It's what we've come to expect from the Open Championship, and this year will be no different.

The weather forecast for the opening tee-times will be a chilly 55 degrees, with light rain and 14 MPH wind gusts. In other words, it will be one small notch above miserable for the world's elite golfers. In other tournaments and sporting events, this kind of weather would make the event less appealing, but it only increases the drama and fascination for the Open Championship.

It's part of what makes the major so beloved. It's also part of what makes it such a maddening tournament for the golfers. Low temperatures and rain can be dealt with accordingly, but with all of the hazards - especially the crater sized bunkers with extreme slopes - the wind will wreak havoc on the field. Hit too high or just off line and you'd better pray for a soft landing or your ball is going in for a crash landing somewhere dangerous.

Navigate all that, for four days, and there's a good chance you'll be holding the Claret Jug when the tournament comes to a close on Sunday. The biggest question obviously is who has the best chance to put together four solid rounds of golf, so let's have a go at trying to figure that out...

Rory McIlroy is coming off a win at the US Open and an amazing three rounds at The Masters. His game seems to be peaking around the major championships in 2011... Phil Mickelson holds only one Top 10 finish at the Open Championship and has had a shaky 2011 thus far. The greatest golfers have always found a way to persevere, but the chips are stacked pretty high against Lefty... Lee Westwood is still chasing his first major championship win and plays well on links courses. The fact that people aren't really talking about him could be a good thing for his pysche this week... Graeme McDowell has been a popular pick to win tournaments in 2011, but has yet to do so on the PGA Tour. He came out of nowhere to win the US Open in 2010, so lower expectations could be positive for him... Luke Donald is the World's #1 ranked golfer so far this season and a major championship would solidify his status at the top. He's coming off a win at the Scottish Open, so momentum is on his side... Nick Watney and Matt Kuchar are America's best chance to end the major winless draught. With the USA women's soccer team heading to the final of the World Cup, perhaps karma is on their side (a stretch and not exactly a vote of confidence, but maybe?)...

After that brief preview of the status of some of the best golfers on Tour right now, that basically leaves back at square one because, let's be honest, favorites barely ever win. Since Tiger Woods stopped dominating the golf world, picking a winner has become the hardest thing to do on the face of the earth (that's what my stats say anyway). So, let's go a little deeper and check out what Vegas (Sportsbook.com) says about who's going to win this thing before a winner is picked...

Rory McIlroy, 5/1... Lee Westwood, 8/1... Luke Donald, The Field, 10/1... Martin Kaymer, 20/1... Phil Mickelson, 22/1... Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, Nick Watney, 25/1... Dustin Johnson, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Steve Stricker, 30/1... Charl Schwartzel, Padraig Harrington, KJ Choi, Ian Poulter, Retief Goosen, Justin Rose, 40/1... Ernie Els, Matteo Manassero, Paul Casey, Adam Scott, 50/1...

All of the golfers covered in part 1 and many more are between 5/1 and 50/1 odds to win the Open Championship. There are many other plausible contenders outside that range as well (Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Brandt Snedeker, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddely, etc etc etc). What that really tells us is that the golf world is so even right now, you could pick a name out of a hat and have as good a chance as if you analyzed golf stats as a career.

It's that wide open and I don't expect any golfer to run away with it. It's going to come down to a battle on Sunday, and that's a good thing. I'll be taking the "picking out of a hat" routine here, mixed with a little bit of stat (and soul) searching to pick my winners. Here it goes...

1. Bubba Watson - I tweeted earlier in the week to a follower there's no way I'd pick Watson after what happened to him at the French Open a few weeks ago. Well, I changed my mind. I've got a good feeling about Bubba and I can't really tell you why.

2. Phil Mickelson - It's been such a rocky year for Phil in 2011 and in his career at the Open Championship, that I think it's got to turn around sometime... why not this weekend?

3. Rory McIlroy - You can't win em all, but he'll get close.

4. Adam Scott - Having Steve Williams on his bag only enhances the likelihood that Scott continues his stellar season.

5. Sergio Garcia - Hasn't won a major, but sure has played in a lot of them. Maybe he'll spit in the cup after losing another one.

6. Zach Johnson, 7. Lee Westwood, 8. Ernie Els, 9. Matt Kuchar, 10. Nick Watney