Probably the only people not rooting for Tom Watson to win the British Open were Stewart Cink’s wife and immediate family. Then again, you never know. It was tough to root against the 59-year-old Watson. Everybody wanted him to win, including everyone in the press, because it was such a great story!
If you were well above the average age of competitors in your sport then you should probably just have stayed at home on Sunday.
First, Lance Armstrong had to endure what must have been the most frustrating 20 minutes of his career. He and teammate Alberto Contador were virtually tied in Tour de France overall standings, and there was still some public debate about who would be the team’s leader – the one who the rest of the teammates work for to ensure he can win. There is no question about that anymore. Armstrong and Contador, who don’t seem to like each other much, were wheel to wheel for much of the long ride. The final 10 miles or so of the race were pretty much straight up hill. Again, Lance was climbing with Contador and looked very comfortable and relaxed. Suddenly, Contador made a bold move to break away. Armstrong had the legs to at least give chase and try to chase Contador down, but tradition dictates that you don’t try to chase down a teammate if he makes a break. That left Armstrong to sit there and stew as his shot to win the Tour likely went right out the window. This was almost certainly a team-dictated strategy and not one that Contador pursued on his own, but it still had to kill a competitive guy like Lance. He’s used to winning this race, and he is unlikely to have many more chances to do so.
Jason Schmidt hasn’t pitched in the majors for two years, but Dodgers’ manager Joe Torre announced before his game tonight that Schmidt is off the 60 day DL and will rejoin the team on Monday. Given what he has gone through, and because he is 36, I don’t hold out high hopes for him. Still, if he were able to come back and be even moderately useful then it’s a good boost to a rotation that is good but certainly could use some depth going into the stretch charge.
Of course I predicted that Miguel Angel Jimenez would be leading Tom Watson by one stroke after one round of the British Open. I mean, who didn’t? It was totally obvious. Bizarre. Only a couple of things made sense about the first round. Steve Stricker continued his hot play and is right in the mix. Camilo Villegas regained his lost form and is right there with Stricker. I’ll be annoyed if Villegas wins this thing – he’s been a choice for me in every major for the last couple of years, but I skipped over him this time because he has been so frustratingly ineffective. I think I’ll be safe, though. Oh, and what is it about Ben Curtis and this tournament? Bizarre.
