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Jul 16th, 2018

The Open Championship 2018: Preview

Golf Punk have a look at some potential contenders for this years greatest

The Open Championship 2018 is upon and and what an exciting time it is to be a golf fan with a number of exciting talents in contention for this years title, with perhaps the most unpredictable race for the crown we have had in years with a scorched Carnoustie opening up the competition to all length of hitters.

Justin Rose

Justin is one of the most consistent blokes on tour, he has looked really good this year it just hasn’t really ‘clicked’ when it comes to getting the win over the line.

His Open record is relatively poor considering he finished 4th here as an Amateur with that breakout performance. But surely now is the time Justin? Football may not have come home this Summer, but I fancy Justin could be claiming the Open Championship back for England for the first time since Nick Faldo in 1992.

 

https://twitter.com/TheOpen/status/1019544393253117952

 

Tiger Woods

Am I talking absolute nonsense here? Could the American really do it again? Does he have another Major challenge in him? Golf Punk certainly thinks so. The scorched settings mean Woods won’t have to rely on his leaky driver, and his approach play has been stellar all season.

He hasn’t had any luck at Majors in the last few year but come on, anyone who tells me there wouldn’t be a smile beaming across their face if Woods walks up the 18th come Sunday leading this thing must have a heart of stone.

 

Francesco Molinari

The Italian hits it straight as an arrow and is due a big performance in a major after some scintillating form recently on both the European and PGA Tour. After winning both the PGA Championship and the Quicken Loans National he also has two second place finishes.

A change in fortune around his putting has also benefited the Italian since he introduced his new Bettinardi DASS BBZero earlier this year and his putting has looked far more solid since. If this new found luck on the greens can hold up on these tough greens maybe the Italian could ruffle a few feathers this year.

 

https://twitter.com/TheOpen/status/1019538158772465664

 

Sergio Garcia

Garcia is an open specialist and considered an outsider coming into the Open this year and finished second at Carnoustie 11 years ago. He has been off the boil in the opening two majors of this year but you just can never count out the wiley Spaniard.

We’ve seen Sergio have some real stinkers at Majors this year, that performance on the 15th at Augusta was just painful to watch even if you didn’t like the guy.

Conditions once more really play into his skillset this year making him an unusual but interesting proposition going into this year's Championship. He has a 12th and 8th place finish under his belt coming into the tournament showing he may have got his game back on track and he would love to win a tournament he has been so close to winning so many times over the years.

 

Dustin Johnson

This may seem like a rather obvious one for everyone involved but it’s hard to avoid the big hitting American. The man can hit the ball a country mile, and with the course playing a lot shorter in these conditions it should make the week a far easier experience for Johnson.

Which leaves the age old question. Will his putting hold up under the pressure? This is yet to be seen, but having already won twice on tour this year and coming up just short at the US Open, this could easily be the year Dustin puts his perfect toolbox to good use at the Open.

https://twitter.com/TheOpen/status/1019325872287854593

 

TAGS: Latest, 2018