| Rank |
Golfer Name |
Country |
World Rank |
Comments |
1 | Woods, Tiger | United States | 1 | Two time winner at St. Andrews and still world number one. |
2 | Els, Ernie | South Africa | 6 | I said at the beginning of the year, this is his best chance to win a major this year. |
3 | Westwood, Lee | England | 3 | Arguably the best European on the planet right now. He has to be a favorite this week. |
4 | Harrington, Padraig | Ireland | 15 | He has two Open Championships since 2007. I love his game for this tournament. |
5 | Mickelson, Phil | United States | 2 | Only one top 10 in 15 starts in the Open Championship. Him and Europe don't get along. |
6 | Casey, Paul | England | 10 | As steady as they come from England. Always a threat at any venue. |
7 | McIlroy, Rory | Northern Ireland | 9 | Don't be surprised if he wins his first major this week. |
8 | Donald, Luke | England | 7 | This year has been a coming out party for him of sorts. I expect him to contend at the Open. |
9 | Kaymer, Martin | Germany | 13 | Played well as of late. He's sneaky good and quietly carded a top 10 at the U.S. Open. |
10 | Schwartzel, Charl | South Africa | 25 | Dark horse this week at St. Andrews. |
11 | Poulter, Ian | England | 8 | As gritty as they come. He's going to need to stay focused this week, but he's a favorite. |
12 | Rose, Justin | England | 16 | Two wins on the PGA Tour this year. He's cruisin' right along at the perfect time. |
13 | McDowell, Graeme | Northern Ireland | 11 | Believe it or not, Graeme has a SERIOUS chance to win his second major this week. |
14 | Stricker, Steve | United States | 4 | Only Tiger Woods has more wins than Stricker since 2008. |
15 | Furyk, Jim | United States | 5 | Outside of Tiger, Furyk might be a popular U.S. choice for an Open Championship win. Great ball striker. |
16 | Allenby, Robert | Australia | 14 | Can't seem to find the winners circle, but is considered the best Aussie golfer right now. |
17 | Molinari, Eduardo | Italy | 19 | Heading to St. Andrews on the heels of a win. He'll compete… he always does. |
18 | Goosen, Retief | South Africa | 20 | A revitalized Goosen has done wonders for the TOUR this year. |
19 | Villegas, Camilo | Columbia | 17 | Camilo always seems to either have it or not. I hope, for his sake, he has it this year. |
20 | Johnson, Zach | United States | 18 | Rough start to the year, but he's one of a handful of players to have a win in each season since 2007. |
21 | Kim, Anthony | United States | 12 | Hasn't played in forever and still 12th in the world. He'll be back soon. |
22 | Fisher, Ross | England | 32 | Has two top 10's in his last three starts. He's turning it around after a slow start. |
23 | Yang, Y.E. | Korea | 28 | Underrated as well. Has a major championship and a win over the past ten months. |
24 | Molinari, Francesco | Italy | 30 | Like his brother Eduardo, he's playing well as of late. They feed off of each other. |
25 | Jimenez, Miguel Angel | Spain | 36 | His nation just won the World Cup and he just won two weeks ago. Hmm…. |
26 | Mahan, Hunter | United States | 27 | Won earlier this year in the desert. Always a great ball striker and a threat to go low. Key in the Open. |
27 | Clark, Tim | South Africa | 21 | The 2010 PLAYERS Champion has to have confidence now. Carded another top 10 this past week. |
28 | Ogilvy, Geoff | Australia | 26 | Call me crazy, but I think Geoff has lost it. (I think I'm crazy) |
29 | Glover, Lucas | United States | 22 | Lucas is among the best on TOUR in ball striking. You're going to hear that word a lot during the Open. |
30 | Davies, Rhys | Wales | 49 | There always seems to be a few random names after day one. Rhys could be there but isn't random. |
31 | Quiros, Alvaro | Spain | 40 | Slipped in the rankings over the past few weeks, but he has the length to get over some tough bunkers. |
32 | Johnson, Dustin | United States | 29 | Still healing the wound from a final round meltdown during the U.S. Open. |
33 | Watney, Nick | United States | 34 | Finished 7th at The Masters and T9 in Match Play. A quiet season with 4 top 10's so far. |
34 | O'Hair, Sean | United States | 24 | Another 20 something in RK's overall top 50. Struggling a bit this year though. |
35 | Cink, Stewart | United States | 38 | Hasn't really done much since last July, but he is a major champion. Not too many people can say that. |
36 | Ishikawa, Ryo | Japan | 51 | This will be his first Open Championship at St. Andrews. I think he'll be ready. |
37 | Garcia, Sergio | Spain | 44 | Wow, now he's 44th in the world. He has the most amount of top 10's since 2000 in this event though. |
38 | Fowler, Rickie | United States | 37 | He's young and determined, but I'm not sure he'll play too well this week. St. Andrews is an animal. |
39 | Singh, Vijay | Fiji | 72 | Hasn't won since 2008. Injuries and age are starting to set in. Hopefully he can return to form. |
40 | Scott, Adam | Australia | 46 | Since his win a month ago, he hasn't backed it up with a good performance. |
41 | Kuchar, Matt | United States | 23 | A young American player that I actually think will rise to the occasion over the years. |
42 | Karlsson, Robert | Sweden | 31 | Up and down all year, but I think he'll find his comfot zone this week at St. Andrews. |
43 | Stenson, Henrik | Sweden | 33 | Like Sergio, he's fallen off the map. And like Geoff, I don't think he'll return. |
44 | Cabrera, Angel | Argentina | 39 | I'm not a big fan of him, but he does have two major championships to shut me up! |
45 | Choi, KJ | Korea | 43 | Great showing at the U.S. Open, but this Open is a completely different story. |
46 | Wood, Chris | England | 99 | The only reason he's on this list is because he has two top 10's in his past two Open Championships. |
47 | Watson, Bubba | United States | 48 | A win a couple of weeks ago gave him a ton of confidence. God is good! |
48 | Perry, Kenny | United States | 35 | Like Phil, him and Europe don't blend well. Age is getting to him like Vijay. |
49 | Weir, Mike | Canada | 79 | It always seems like whenever I see Weir play well, it's in bad weather. Hmmm… |
50 | Hanson, Peter | Sweden | 47 | A win on the Euro Tour catapulted him to 29th in the Race to Dubai. Great striker of the golf ball. |
Julian Thompson, aka Shadowboy0387, is a former collegiate baseball player and golfer out of Adrian College in Michigan. He loves his Atlanta Falcons, Braves, Detroit Tigers and Pistons. He's also been growing fond of the Washington Redskins over the past 3-4 years. While studying journalism for two years, he was also a sports writer for the Daily Telegram in Adrian, MI as well as his school paper. He's extremely knowledgeable and passionate about sports in general, but zones in on the ins and outs of golf on the PGA and European Tour. He'll personalize the sport of golf for you by giving you his stories, opinions, and insights on golfers and tournaments. A current member on the AGA Tour in Atlanta, Shadow is a 6 handicap and plays out of Berkeley Hills Country Club where Stewart Cink, the current Open Champion, plays frequently. Shadow has been with RotoKingdom since the start and has always brought great insight in different sections, but what he'll be known for is the foundation of the new golf section. One can only assume that his passion for golf will draw in more interest from around the RK community.