The 2014 British Open Primer

The British Open is officially on! The only time of year we’ll willing get up at 4 a.m. to watch television(this Caveman doesn’t remember that 4 a.m. exists the rest of the year). Let’s turn on the coffee Rock Heads and take a look at what’s ahead for us this weekend!

What: The Open Championship
When: Thursday Jul 17 – Sunday July 20
Where: The Hoylake Course at Royal Liverpool Golf Club

Purse: $9,200,000
Winning Share: $1,670,000
FedExCup Winner’s Points: 600

Par: 72
Yardage: 7312
Course Designer: Robert Chambers,George Morris, and Harry Colt
Last Year’s Champion: Phil Mickelson

Website: http://www.theopen.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_Open
Watch It Online: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index
Live Leaderboard: http://scores.theopen.com/Leaderboard.aspx

TV Schedule (Initial Airings/All Times EST)
Thursday: ESPN  4 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Friday: ESPN  4 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday: ESPN  7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Sunday: ESPN  6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Radio Schedule (PGA Tour Network on Sirius-XM Ch. 208/ESPN Radio on Sirius-XM Ch. 93)
Thursday & Friday 7 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET
Saturday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET
Sunday 8 a.m. to conclusion (est 1:30 p.m. ET)

Great Links
The Histories and Traditions of the Open Championship
TheOpen.com’s Interactive Course Guide
Tee Times
Scratch Course Breakdown: Hole By Hole

Scratch’s Thoughts:

This season has been FULL of surprises so honestly it’s anyone’s guess who will win come Sunday. Personally, Scratch here would love to see another rookie take their first tournament; there’s been quite a few so far this year! A few things to watch:

• Tiger Woods – This is the first major for Tiger this year. If he doesn’t win(he hasn’t won a major in six years), he’ll fall behind the pace set by Jack Nicklaus, who got his 15th title (on the way to 18) at the Open at the age of 38. Scratch’s assessment? Odds are it won’t happen. He’s only played two competitive rounds in the last four months. That’s not a lot of practice.

• Phil Mickleson – We all love Lefty here at the Cave, but he hasn’t shown anything this season that makes us believe he’ll be the one with the Claret Jug on Sunday. He did win last year’s Open, but he was playing better then.

• Rory McIlroy – For a player once deemed golf’s next star, McIlroy hasn’t done anything impressive in a while. I’m not saying he doens’t have the ability to win, but in order to do so, he’ll need to get over the second-round problems he’s been having.

• Jordan Spieth – This is the guy who should be golf’s next star. Despite being only 20 years old, he has the skills, determination, and the focus to win his first major.

• Henrik Stenson – We all talk about Phil’s win last year, but let’s remember who came in second. The unassuming Swede is currently No. 2 in the world and love links golf in Europe. Stenson has finished tied for third or better in three of his last five starts here and finished in the top five in his last three tournaments, including the U.S. Open! That’s some pretty good stats.

Who is your pick to win the British Open, Rock Heads? Let me know in the comments below!