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I like all of their eliminators bar Cat 4 and probably 5.
Last year, a wild final round saw Zach Johnson defeat Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a three-man playoff to win The Open Championship. Jason Day and Jordan Spieth were just one stroke out of that playoff group.
In trying to find this year's winner, instead of picking one from the entire field, we’re going to find a reason why each golfer cannot win until we're down to one. After correctly picking Dustin Johnson to win the U.S. Open, let's see who "The Eliminator" comes up with for The Open Championship:
Category 1: Experience
Ten of the past 11 winners of The Open Championship had all made at least six prior starts in the event, with the only exception being Louis Oosthuizen in 2010. In fact, nine of those winners had made 10 or more starts. To start, we'll eliminate everybody who hasn’t made six prior British Open starts.
That list includes: Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Danny Willett and Branden Grace from among the top 10 golfers in the world and trims the field down to just 49.
Category 2: Prior Open Success
Of the past 11 winners at The Open Championship, 10 had a finish of sixth or better in a past one. That eliminates 18 of the remaining golfers who have never had a top-six in this event.
Notables among them are Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar, which reduces the field to 31.
Category 3: World Ranking
The past 15 major champions have all entered that event 28th or better in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Of the 31 remaining golfers, that eliminates another 19, including Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els.
Category 4: Recent Major Success
Each of the past three winners of The Open Championship made the cut in each of their previous three majors played.
Applying that rule, nine of the 12 remaining golfers are eliminated, including Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott.
Category 5: First Time Major Winners
So we’re down to three; Dustin Johnson Louis Oosthuizen and Sergio Garcia. The past three major winners have been first-time major champions, the longest such streak since 2010-12 when there were nine consecutive first-time winners. That stretch included Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen.
From the remaining three, Dustin Johnson and Oosthuizen have won a major, so they’re out.
That leaves Sergio Garcia as the pick to hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday.
I like all of their eliminators bar Cat 4 and probably 5.
Last year, a wild final round saw Zach Johnson defeat Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a three-man playoff to win The Open Championship. Jason Day and Jordan Spieth were just one stroke out of that playoff group.
In trying to find this year's winner, instead of picking one from the entire field, we’re going to find a reason why each golfer cannot win until we're down to one. After correctly picking Dustin Johnson to win the U.S. Open, let's see who "The Eliminator" comes up with for The Open Championship:
Category 1: Experience
Ten of the past 11 winners of The Open Championship had all made at least six prior starts in the event, with the only exception being Louis Oosthuizen in 2010. In fact, nine of those winners had made 10 or more starts. To start, we'll eliminate everybody who hasn’t made six prior British Open starts.
That list includes: Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Danny Willett and Branden Grace from among the top 10 golfers in the world and trims the field down to just 49.
Category 2: Prior Open Success
Of the past 11 winners at The Open Championship, 10 had a finish of sixth or better in a past one. That eliminates 18 of the remaining golfers who have never had a top-six in this event.
Notables among them are Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar, which reduces the field to 31.
Category 3: World Ranking
The past 15 major champions have all entered that event 28th or better in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Of the 31 remaining golfers, that eliminates another 19, including Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els.
Category 4: Recent Major Success
Each of the past three winners of The Open Championship made the cut in each of their previous three majors played.
Applying that rule, nine of the 12 remaining golfers are eliminated, including Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott.
Category 5: First Time Major Winners
So we’re down to three; Dustin Johnson Louis Oosthuizen and Sergio Garcia. The past three major winners have been first-time major champions, the longest such streak since 2010-12 when there were nine consecutive first-time winners. That stretch included Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen.
From the remaining three, Dustin Johnson and Oosthuizen have won a major, so they’re out.
That leaves Sergio Garcia as the pick to hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday.
