The Power Fade Golf Blog

This year’s contest will take place at the site of arguably the greatest meltdown in golf history, or possibly sports history.  Jean Van de Velde held a three stroke lead going into the 18th hole at Carnoustie in 1999.  It’s painful to watch, but here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dR1pkCGY80.

Happier memories of this course include it being the final stop on JK and LG’s trip to Scotland now two years ago.  We got a first hand look at why this course is called CarNasty.  It was one of the only times we were rained upon during the trip, and the course played VERY tough.  The course this week appear to favor a strong and creative short game given the baked out and fast conditions.  Perhaps the wind will kick up and give Carnoustie the teeth it is known for.  Expect dreams to be shattered around Hogan’s alley, and for the 17th and 18th holes to play meaningful roles in determining the winner or loser.

LG:
WIN: Sergio Garcia
PLACE: Rory McIlroy
SHOW:  Henrick Stenson
Winning Score: -10
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Kiradech Aphibarnrat
Last Year’s Winner (Spieth) Will …: Make Cut
The Master’s Winner (Reed) Will …: Miss Cut
The US Open Winner (Koepka) Will …: Miss Cut
The current PGA Champion (Thomas) will …: Make Cut
How many prior winners will be in the Top 10: 3
Will someone win it, or will everyone else lose it? Sergio wins and redeems himself!
What will be the biggest story of the tournament? Sergio winning, duh
Who is most likely to “Sergio Garcia at Carnoustie” it? I guess I’m going to have to say Rory given who I’ve got coming in second?
Will you watch on Sunday? Absolutely.
Tiger Woods will: Make cut and make a run
Sergio Garcia will: WIN
Dustin Johnson will: Make cut and make a quad somewhere
Jason Day will: Miss cut
Rory McIlroy will: Top 10 (2nd)
Phil Mickelson will: Make cut? honestly don’t care.

JK:
WIN: Russell Knox
PLACE: Tommy Fleetwood
SHOW: Tiger Woods
Winning Score: +2
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Beau Hossler
Last Year’s Winner (Spieth) Will … Make Cut
The Master’s Winner (Reed) Will …: Top 10
The US Open Winner (Koepka) Will …: Make Cut
The current PGA Champion (Thomas) will …: Make Cut
How many prior winners will be in the Top 10: 1
Will someone win it, or will everyone else lose it? Everyone else loses it
What will be the biggest story of the tournament? A Scot wins in Scotland
Who is most likely to “Sergio Garcia at Carnoustie” it? LG. I mean…this should obviously be called JVDV-ing it!
Will you watch on Sunday? Definitely
Tiger Woods will: Top 10
Sergio Garcia will: MC
Dustin Johnson will: Top 10
Jason Day will: Make Cut
Rory McIlroy will: Miss Cut
Phil Mickelson will: Miss Cut

Finally, it’s back. The golf season can start again. But it won’t begin if LG and I don’t pick our guys for this year. Without further ado, here it goes…

JK:
Winner: Justin Rose
Winning Score: -9
Runner Up: Tiger Woods
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Alex Noren
Last Year’s Winner (Sergio) will … (Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): MC
The US Open Champion (Brooks Koepka) will …: MC
The Champion Golfer of 2017 (Jordan Spieth) will …: Top 10
PGA Champion (Justin Thomas) will …: Top 10
How many prior Masters winners will be in the Top 10: 3
The Low Amateur will be…: Doc Redman
Does the Low Amateur make the cut?: Yes
Jordan Spieth will … Top 10
Jason Day will … MC
Rory McIlroy will … Top 10
Hideki Matsuyama will … Make Cut
Justin Thomas will … Top 10
Rickie Fowler will … Top 10
Adam Scott will … Make Cut
Bubba Watson will … Miss Cut
Sergio Garcia will … Miss Cut
Phil Mickeslon will … Top 10
Bernhard Langer will … Make Cut
Will there be a hole in one? Yes – 12…someone finally does it.
What will be the major storyline of the tournament? I already got it–this is awesome: https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/watch-jack-nicklaus-grandson-hits-a-hole-in-one-at-the-masters-par-3-tournament/
What is your Bold prediction? Tiger Woods doesn’t fall out of contention.

LG:
Winner: Tiger Woods
Winning Score: -10
Runner Up: Rory McIlroy
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Xander Schauffele
Last Year’s Winner (Sergio) will … (Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): make cut
The US Open Champion (Brooks Koepka) will …: MC hammer
The Champion Golfer of 2017 (Jordan Spieth) will …: top 10
PGA Champion (Justin Thomas) will …: top 10
How many prior Masters winners will be in the Top 10: 4
The Low Amateur will be…: Doc Redman
Does the Low Amateur make the cut?: No
Jordan Spieth will … Top 10
Jason Day will … make cut
Rory McIlroy will … runner up
Hideki Matsuyama will … top 10
Justin Thomas will … top 10
Rickie Fowler will … make cut
Adam Scott will … mc
Bubba Watson will … make cut
Sergio Garcia will … make cut
Phil Mickeslon will … top 10
Bernhard Langer will … be there?
Will there be a hole in one? Yes.
What will be the major storyline of the tournment? Best masters of our lifetime. I’m sorry, JK, no one cares about the par 3 contest. It’s great, but no one will remember this.
What is your Bold prediction? Tiger wins green jacket #5.

We’re about to embark on Glory’s Last Shot, the redheaded stepchild of majors. Nonetheless, this one should be interesting thanks to the location (Quail Hollow) and the man who is on top of golf at the moment, Jordan Spieth. The dovetail is that the course, known for its tricky greens, should prove a masterful test for Spieth, who many consider the best putter in the game right now (and maybe ever). Will he complete the grand slam? We’ll know in a week. Until then, here are our predictions:

JK:

Winner: Jordan Spieth
Winning Score: -11
Runner Up: Rory McIlroy
Low PGA Professional: Mike Small
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Rafa Cabrera-Bello
Last Year’s Winner (Jimmy Walker) Will … (Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): Make the cut
The Master’s Winner (Sergio) Will: Top 10
The US Open Winner (Koepka) Will: Miss the Cut
The Open Champion (Spieth) Will: Win
Dustin Johnson (world #1) will: Top 10
Hideki Matsuyama (#3) will: Top 10
Rory McIlroy (#4) will: Top 10
Jon Rahm (#6) will: MC
Jason Day (#7) will: MC
Rickie Fowler (#11) will: Make the cut
How many prior major winners will be in the Top 10: 6
Will someone win it, or will everyone else lose it? Spieth hangs on after a few masterful rounds early
What will be the biggest story of the tournament? Grand Slam Spieth

LG:

Winner: Hideki Matsuyama
Winning Score: -16
Runner Up: Dustin Johnson
Low PGA Professional: Brian Smock!  Let’s goooo!!!
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Tommy Fleetwood (If Rafa is an unknown, so is Tommy)
Last Year’s Winner (Jimmy Walker) Will … (Win, Top10, Make the Cut, or Miss the Cut): Make Cut
The Master’s Winner (Sergio) Will: Make Cut
The US Open Winner (Koepka) Will: Make Cut
The Open Champion (Spieth) Will: Top 10
Dustin Johnson (world #1) will: See Above
Hideki Matsuyama (#3) will: Make Cut/Top 10
Rory McIlroy (#4) will: Make Cut
Jon Rahm (#6) will: Miss Cut
Jason Day (#7) will: Miss Cut
Rickie Fowler (#11) will: Miss cut
How many prior major winners will be in the Top 10: 3
Will someone win it, or will everyone else lose it? Hideki fires 62 one day to take the lead and hangs on.  Looks like every shot is a shank in the process.
What will be the biggest story of the tournament? Spieth doesn’t Grand Slam.  Golf press instantly forgets that Japanese Phenom wins major and goes back to talking about how Speith will win the grand slam next year.

a.k.a the British Open; a.k.a. THE Open Championship.  Come on guys, get your branding together.

This year, the 146th playing of the world’s oldest major championship will be played at Royal Birkdale.  Previous winners have included Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Ian Baker Finch, and Paddy Harrington.  While length doesn’t really figure into the equation with Open courses, the setup at Birkdale has only 2 par 5s, and they show up at the very end of the round at 15 and 17.  The pundits say this takes the bombers out of the equation, but hey, what do they know?

In the spirit of continuous improvement, the PowerFade is experimenting with a new format for predictions.  Happy Open viewing!

1 | Spieth, Jordan | -12
2 | Kuchar, Matt | -9
3 | Li, Hao-Tong | -6
T4 | Cabrera Bello, Rafa | -5
T4 | McIlroy, Rory | -5
T6 | Grace, Branden | -4
T6 | Koepka, Brooks | -4
T6 | Leishman, Marc | -4
T6 | Noren, Alexander | -4
T6 | Southgate, Matthew | -4
T11 | Casey, Paul | -3
T11 | Kim, Chan | -3
T11 | Stenson, Henrik | -3
T14 | Connelly, Austin | -2
T14 | Dufner, Jason | -2
T14 | Johnson, Zach | -2
T14 | Matsuyama, Hideki | -2
T14 | Poulter, Ian | -2
T14 | Wood, Chris | -2

LG:
Relative to par, what will be the cut on Friday night? +4 close, +5

List three players that will Top 10 (in order):
1. Sergio Garcia T37, +2
2. Ian Poulter T14, -2
3. John Rahm T44, +3

List three players that will make the cut (other than above):
1. Rickie Fowler T22, E
2. Henrik Stenson T11, -3
3. Adam Scott T22

List three players that will miss the cut:
1. Kevin Chappell Cut, +8
2. Jason Dufner T14, -2
3. J.B. Holmes T54, +4

Will the winner come from the morning draw on Thursday or the Afternoon draw on Thursday? Afternoon Jordan Spieth, -12 – Teed off 4:47 AM Eastern time, which was 8:47 AM, i.e., in the morning draw

Will you watch the coverage? YES! no idea, LG?

JK:
Relative to par, what will be the cut on Friday night? E a little aggressive

List three players that will Top 10 (in order):
1. Rory McIlroy T4, -5
2. Dustin Johnson T54, +4
3. Rickie Fowler T22, E

List three players that will make the cut (other than above):
1. Henrik Stenson see above
2. Phil Mickelson Cut, +10
3. Tommy Fleetwood T27, +1

List three players that will miss the cut:
1. Ian Poulter see above
2. Rafa Cabrera-Bello T4, -5
3. John Daly Cut, +12,000

Will the winner come from the morning draw on Thursday or the Afternoon draw on Thursday? Morning correct

Will you watch the coverage? Nope. Just cut the cable (yikes!) managed to get some in on NBC Sports app

The U.S. Open returns to historic Oakmont Country Club this week for the 9th time.  This week will be about the course as much as it is the high scores the field will post.  As opposed to last year’s contest at Chambers Bay, this week is a return to true U.S. Open style golf with billiard table quick greens and fairways you have to walk down single file.  Will Oakmont play tough?  Take a look at Justin Thomas’s recent video post on Instagram:

If that’s not enough punishment, here are the greens just in case you happen to hit them:

Let the punishment begin!

Top 10
1 Dustin Johnson -4
T2 Jim Furyk -1
T2 Scott Piercy -1
T2 Shane Lowry -1
T5 Sergio Garcia E
T5 Branden Grace E
7 Kevin Na +1
T8 Jason Dufner +2
T8 Zach Johnson +2
T8 Jason Day +2
T8 Daniel Summerhays +2
12 David Lingmerth +3

LG:
Winner: Jason Day Dustin Johnson; Jason Day finished T8 at +2
Winning Score: +5 -4
Runner Up: Dustin Johnson winner
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Colt Knost I don’t think he was even in the field, LG.
Last Year’s Winner (Speith) will…: Top 10 T37 at +9
How many prior US Open winners will be in the Top 10: 3 1, Jim Furyk
Masters Champion (Willett) will …: Miss Cut T37 at +9
British Open Champion (Z. Johnson) will …: Miss Cut Top 10, T8 at +2
PGA Champion (Day) will…: Win T8 at +2
Last week’s winner, Daniel Berger, will…: Make Cut T37 at +9
Rory will…: Top 10 Strong Twitter game, poor golf game. MC
Phil the thrill will…: Make Cut Phil the go-home-early thrill
Sergio Garcia will…: Make Cut Top 10, T5 at E
Dustin Johnson will…: Top 10 That’s one way to put “win”
Rickie Fowler will…: Miss Cut Correct
Adam Scott will…: Top 10 Close, T18 at +6
Will anyone break par for all 4 rounds?: No. Correct, DJ was closest with a +1 71 in R3. Kevin Na had 3 rounds in the 60s, but started with 75 on Thursday
What will be the highest score that misses the cut?: +30 89/77, which is a cool +26
Odds that JK and LG ever get to play Oakmont?: 2.5:1 yikes
What will be the major storyline of the tournament: The course dominating the field Probably DJ’s penalty….but, shockingly, Oakmont kind of laid down after the rain.
Bold Prediction?: Jason Day has a 4 putt.  WHO FOUR PUTTS?? Not Jason Day

JK:
Winner: Dustin Johnson Correct. JK picks another one
Winning Score: +2 can’t win em all
Runner Up: Bubba Watson T51 at +12
“Unknown” in the Top 10: Daniel Berger T37 at +9
Last Year’s Winner (Speith) will…: T-2 not exactly
How many prior US Open winners will be in the Top 10: 2 Just Furyk.
Masters Champion (Willett) will …: Top 10 nope
British Open Champion (Z. Johnson) will …: MC Top 10
PGA Champion (Day) will…: Top 10 correct
Last week’s winner, Daniel Berger, will…: Top 10 incorrect
Rory will…: Make Cut, probably shoot 62 on the last day, and maybe crack the Top 10 after two 75s.MC
Phil the thrill will…: MC correct
Sergio Garcia will…: Make Cut Top 10
Dustin Johnson will…: Win correct
Rickie Fowler will…: Make Cut incorrect
Adam Scott will…: Can’t Putt / Miss Cut (it’s a haiku) at least i got rhythm
Will anyone break par for all 4 rounds?: not a chance in hell correct
What will be the highest score that misses the cut?: +18 one dude shot +19 for 18 holes!
Odds that JK and LG ever get to play Oakmont?: 1/1 – this WILL happen. more confidence
What will be the major storyline of the tournament: Johnny Miller talking about Johnny Miller wrong network…
Bold Prediction?: Spieth 4-putts….like he did in the British Open AND The Masters…. amazingly, correct