Every week of the 2010 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group will conduct an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors and join the conversation in the comments section below.
OPEN FAVORITES ARE MICKELSON AND WESTWOOD; DOES TIGER HAVE A CHANCE?
Cameron Morfit, senior writer, Golf Magazine: Greetings to members of the round table. As the St. Jude Classic came to a close, Robert Garrigus needed supplemental oxygen on 18. But Memphis can wait. We are just days away from the 110th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. (Complete preview is here.) The preamble has focused on Tiger Woods, and the state of his game and his life a decade removed from perhaps the most dominant performance the game has ever seen. He hit 47 of 56 fairways at the 2000 U.S. Open, but that was then. Does Tiger have a chance to win this week? Are we convinced that Phil Mickelson is the favorite? Or is it Lee Westwood?
Jim Herre, managing editor, SI Golf Group: I could see Westwood in the mix. He may not be the best closer, but he's playing well and is strong as a bull. Tiger? Don't think so, for all the obvious reasons.
Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: I think Tiger can contend. He hasn't forgotten how to play the game. He's had two weeks to figure out how to take half of the golf course out of play. If he can do that and rely on his famous short game, he can be in the mix. Can he contend? The Tiger we've seen so far in 2010 couldn't. But a different Tiger may show up. I would not count him out. Ever.
Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Not many drivers are needed at Pebble, which is huge for Tiger. He can dust off the Hoylake gameplan. Still, it feels like a top 10 will be a moral victory. Westwood has all of his best Opens on the West Coast. He likes the greens. I expect him to contend, but Phil is the heavy fave.
(Click here to submit a question for Alan's next mailbag.)
Morfit: I've got to believe Phil is thrilled he skipped Memphis this week. It was Africa-hot there, and the Open is a long week. Guys need to be fresh going in or it'll catch up to them eventually.
Shipnuck: And now they all have to fly cross country. Phil has been here since yesterday relaxing.
Van Sickle: Memo to Tour players in Memphis: When the heat index is 110 and you're going to sweat out your slacks, bite the bullet and wear navy blue or black. Otherwise, your swamp-butt will be glaringly apparent on TV and not very pretty.
Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: My guess for the Open — and this is unusual for the national championship — is that the best flatsticker will win. Scouting report is for very fast, very smooth greens, true summer conditions. Great for the Luke Donalds, the Justin Leonards, the Steve Strickers.
Damon Hack, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: I don't see Tiger in the mix. Right now he seems ill-suited for the mental and physical demands of U.S. Open golf, his 2000 Pebble performance notwithstanding.
Herre: If it is all about the greens, Phil has to be the favorite.
Van Sickle: Phil has to be the obvious pick. When things have been going his way in the past, though, it always seems to be a precursor to disaster. But he'll have a huge amount of support. And if you're talking about putters, don't forget Zach Johnson. He's got seven wins in his career.
Shipnuck: Wedging is huge — Pebble has the smallest greens of any Open venue, plus seaside gales. Everyone is going to miss greens. Another reason to like Phil.
Morfit: I agree that Phil's wedge play around the greens is best on Tour, which should serve him well, but it's hard to pick him to win, isn't it? I mean, he's got five second-place finishes in this thing. At some point don't you wonder if maybe he wants it too much?
Van Sickle: When do the close calls become a quixotic doomed quest? Like Arnie and Watson with the PGA, Norman with the Masters, Sam Snead and the Open. But Tiger appears to be on the ropes, and Phil is comfortable at Pebble. (Just like he was at Torrey Pines.) This is a terrific opportunity for Mickelson.
Morfit: Does golf need Phil to win? Is the sport on its way to obscurity in the absence of a charismatic star at the top?
Bamberger: As long as it's close, an Open at Pebble is a grand slam. Why? Cliffs, Pacific Ocean, Watson's chip-in.
Rick Lipsey, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: Golf has thrived for centuries, and it'll be just fine no matter who wins.
Herre: A Phil will win would be a nice story, but I don't think the game NEEDS him to win. A better result for golf might be one of the young guys winning.
Shipnuck: Phil winning would be monumental. Going to St. Andrews halfway to the Slam? Doesn't get bigger than that.
Lipsey: Tiger winning his third in a row at St. Andrews would be a tad bigger than being halfway home.
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