It had been the end of the third round of the British Open, a lot of really compelling and interesting storylines unfolding. So many great players who deserve a win. It had been hard to pull for anyone because so many players deserve a win and a win would be very special for them.
Looks like it was going to be a stress-free final round, right? WRONG. One player who's lurking, five back of the leaders, is the infamous glutton Phil Mickelson. Phil is a guy who had never come across as genuine. He had always been a phony in my point of view. Therefore, it was important that the 2011 British Open was won by anybody but Phil Mickelson.
Even I couldn't believe how many great storyline players topped the leaderboard. 20 out of the top 21 players would benefit for a win. The one player that does NOT deserve a win? You guessed it -- Phil Mickelson.
Here is a full breakdown of the players who deserve a win. To be realistic, this list includes anybody who's within 7 strokes of the leaders.
Darren Clarke (-5). Played some high-level golf early last decade but ever since his wife passed away in 2006 he hasn't played well. Had a lack of competitiveness for a long period of time but began resurfacing in 2010. And now is in primed position to win a major. Great sentimental story if he could hang on to win.
Dustin Johnson (-4). A guy who's notorious for having the final-round 82 at the 2010 US Open and then the club grounding in a bunker at the PGA. He handled both losses with exceptional class. This would be a great bounceback, redemption story.
Thomas Bjorn (-2). A guy who's had a very close call in 2003 when he had a three-shot lead with 4 to play but finished 1 behind Ben Curtis, when he needed three strokes to get out of the bunker on #16 -- now known as the Bjorn Bunker. A win would be a huge redemption story.
Rickie Fowler (-2). A young gun who's been in the spotlight a lot, and for a year and a half the media had been riding on his coattails non-stop hoping for him to break through for a win but so far he has yet to break through. A win would prove that he is a great player and not over-hyped.
Lucas Glover (-1). Hasn't done much since the 2009 US Open win. Loved his Quail Hollow Championship win though, partially because he beat the prick Sabbatini. This win would be a huge jump-start to his career.
Miguel A. Jimenez (-1). A great, entertaining character to watch. Including his recent hilarious warm-up routing that looked like he ate too much cabbage and was expelling methane compounds.
Martin Kaymer (E). A rising young star who hasn't done much recently but a win would make him win 2 majors in less than 12 months. That would be a huge jump-start to his career.
Davis Love III (E). One of the older veterans with many PGA Tour wins but hasn't done much since 2008. Always a nice story to have one of the older guys beat the young guns and win.
George Coetzee (E). WHO??? This would be a HUGE underdog story if he were to win. If you aren't a European Tour watcher, chances are, he was an almost complete unknown up to this week.
Anders Hansen (E). Ditto with George Coetzee. Though some people might know him.
Anthony Kim (E). A guy who's really come totally out of the blue from a totally mediocre 2011 season. Had the potential to be a huge star but injuries and poor work ethics had held him back. Another surprising underdog story.
Chad Campbell (+1). A guy who hasn't done much since a decent 2009 season including a painful loss at the Masters. Though he's gained notoriety for being disqualified at both the Hawaiian Open AND the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2010, for not pre-registering for the event before showing up. Another great underdog that needs a win.
Tom Lehman (+1). A player who's been winning regularly at the Senior Tour. In the 1990s he's had a lot of really close calls in majors, particularly the US Open. Always been a nice guy and class act, so great story if he could come back and win, especially because he is one of the older guys.
Zach Johnson (+1). Zach has had a decent 2011 season with many good finishes but no wins. Always a very low-key guy who's had 7 wins but doesn't get much coverage. Maybe when he wins this one everybody would pay more attention to him from now on because he would become a 2-time major winner?
Ryan Palmer (+1). Another one of the nice, but low-key, young guns. Had a close call at the Byron Nelson Championship under very high winds. Really showed that he was a great wind player. Great jump-start to his career if he could win, though the chances are not high.
Adam Scott (+1). Undoubtedly one of the greatest players without a major. Played so well at the Masters, had a two-shot lead with 2 holes to play, but then Charl Schwartzel came along and steamrolled over everyone with his 4-birdie finish, "stealing" the win from Scott. Since Tiger Woods has been out and his caddie Steve Williams has been caddying Adam Scott, and since a lot of fans rooted for Tiger with Stevie on the bag, now Steve is on Adam Scott's bag, why not root for him?
Webb Simpson (+2). Great player who's handled adversity very well when he lost the New Orleans tournament with a ruling with a one-stroke penalty. Still, I'm not a big fan of him because he's SLOOOOOOW!!! Still, he would greatly benefit a major win though, a great redemption from the loss earlier this year.
Steve Stricker (+2). Another one of the players that enters the conversation of the greatest player to never win a major. Always a class act with a lot of fans following him, especially after being fresh off the dramatic win at the John Deere Classic.
Simon Dyson (+2). Another underdog that's almost totally unheard off! Interesting factoid: In the 2007 PGA Championship final round, Dyson carded the round of the day, a 64, to snatch a Top 6 finish despite being T32 in the beginning of the day. If he can go low again in the final round, who knows what could happen?
Raphael Jacquelin (+2). Another underdog story. His fellow Frenchman Gregory Havret almost won a Major -- the 2010 US Open the previous year. Maybe this is the year he could win one for the French? Not likely though, but a story worth mentioning.
So there is the stellar list of great storylines heading into the final round of the 2011 British Open. What's the motto of the British Open?? Hint: One player has been skipped in the long list of storylines.
Answer is: ANYBODY BUT PHIL!!!!!! GO EVERYONE GO!!! BOO PHIL BOO!!!!!!!! GO HOME PHIL!!!! THE CLARET JUG DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU!!!!!!
So, anyway, here is the ranking of the list of players whom I most wanted to win to least wanted to win. Preference, sentimentality, and leaderboard position are the three factors used to judge this.
1. Darren Clarke
2. Thomas Bjorn
3. Lucas Glover
4. Davis Love III
5. Miguel A. Jimenez
6. Dustin Johnson
7. Rickie Fowler
8. Chad Campbell
9. Tom Lehman
10. Adam Scott
11. Steve Stricker
12. Martin Kaymer
13. Ryan Palmer
14. Simon Dyson
15. Zach Johnson
16. Anthony Kim
17. George Coetzee
18. Anders Hansen
19. Raphael Jacquelin
20. Webb Simpson
21. Phil Mickelson
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