And The Winner Is....

This year’s Open Championship lived up to the usual expectations of the oldest golf tournament in the world. And Royal Troon delivered another fantastic battle.

Before the tournament, I sent out a list of my favorites and gave my prediction which one would walk away with the Claret Jug.

Here was my list of contenders.

Scottie Scheffler

Rory McIlroy

Bryson DeChambeau

Xander Schauffele

Ludvig Aberg

Colin Morikawa

Robert MacIntyre

Jon Rahm

Viktor Hovland

Sahith Theegala

Akshay Bhatia

Predicted Winner: Colin Morikawa

So, how did I do?

Let’s start with my darkhorses: Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia. Both missed the cut. Don’t beat me up over these two, though. I did have them as darkhorses and not favorites.

Moving on to the winner and runner-up from the US Open, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy. Both missed the cut. While I was surprised by Rory’s early exit, I was not surprised by Bryson’s poor play.

So far, 4 of the players on my list of 11 missed the cut. Right now, I feel like I missed the cut.

Did my predictions get better?

Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg also missed the cut. These two actually surprised me. Aberg led going into the final round last week and looked solid. Hovland looked like his game was coming into form recently.

Right now, I’m scrambling to make the cut as hard as Max Homa.

Robert MacIntyre to save the day. T-50. Whew. I’m on the board finally.

MacIntyre getting on the board for me felt like making a 30-footer for par when the round might be slipping away.

Finishing T-16 was my predicted winner, Colin Morikawa. Not a complete disaster picking a winner who ends up finishing top 20. Morikawa struggled early but steadied the ship. He never got anything going, but it was still a solid finish.

The momentum continues.

Finishing T-7 were Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler. Rahm charged early Sunday but was probably too far back at the start of the day. Still, Rahm played well in a major for the first time this year. He needed a good finish in a major as much as anyone on my list.

Scheffler started the day 2 shots off the lead. I thought at the start of the day, Scheffler would be raising the Claret Jug. He never got anything going with the putter which is key for him. It’s never a question of his ball striking which is elite. So goes the putter, so goes Scottie Scheffler.

Along comes Xander Schauffele to save the day.

The reigning PGA champion took control early and never let his foot off the gas. Justin Rose played well trying to keep pace, but Schauffele was too good on Sunday.

How did I do?

Overall, I’d give myself a B-. Six of my eleven picks missed the cut. My predicted champion finished in the top 20. Three of my picks finished top 10 with one finishing as Champion Golfer of the Year. Too many missed cuts to go with a better grade, but I did have the winner on my list.

That’s all for this week.

As always, be thankful when you get to play this amazing game. Be grateful for every shot. Appreciate every moment on the course. Now, go golf!