So let me get this straight: 156 men will play in the 103rd U.S. Open beginning Thursday. That’s a lot of numbers. Normally, I follow pro golf like I follow monkeypox: Wake me when it hits my back yard. But with the event at Olympia Fields, you can forget those numbers and focus on No. 10. Yes, 10, as in I will give you the 10 best bets to win the U.S. Open played down the road. Ten oughta do it, don’t you think? Do you think we need one more? You think we need one more? All right, we’ll get one more.
WOW: Whizzer’s Odds to Win
Dicky Pride
An 11-year pro who made the cut in half
of his six events this season, he’s a
6-foot, 175-pound golfer from the
University of Alabama who has no chance of winning this event.
Chances he will slug you
for giggling at his name: 2-1
Annika Sorenstam
I know, I know. She didn’t even make
the cut at the Colonial, but it’s her week, and I like her moxie.
WOW: What do you mean
she’s not playing?
Vijay Singh
Let’s put the Colonial controversy behind us and concentrate on the positive, like how Singh is going to blow the lead in the third round and finish out of the top five.
WOW: 12-1
Davis Love III
Having played golf in college with fellow UNC student Michael Jordan has nothing to do with Love’s chances this weekend. But it’s still cool.
WOW: 15-1
Ernie Els
The South
African has won
$2,317,925
so far this season, which is $2,317,924 more than I have
in the bank.
WOW: 8-1
Mike Weir
Has won three tournaments including The Masters despite having a last name with the first four letters of “weird.”
WOW: 15-1
Phil Mickelson
This could very well be the week that
golf experts stop making fun of
Mickelson’s incredible ability to
always finish out of the top spot.
Chances of finishing second:
Bet the house.
Jim Furyk
A sleeper pick, and not because of the haircut. He’s finished in the top 10 in 14 events this year.
WOW: 20-1
Retief Goosen
A past Open champ, Goosen goes off at the same odds as Furyk. If they both show up wearing the same dress, there’s gonna be trouble.
WOW: 20-1
Sergio Garcia
Garcia is ranked No. 139 on the
PGA money list. Am I the only one to still believe he’s the next Seve Ballesteros? Yes, I think I am.
WOW: 30-1
The pick to win
(drum roll, please . . . )
Davis Love III
He will win the 2003 U.S. Open,
and his caddy will be buying
Sunday night. You read it here first unless, of course, someone read this newspaper before you.
Tiger Woods
Yes, he’s on the squad. No, he won’t win it.
Why? Because he never returns my calls.
WOW: 2-1
