2012 US Open - Weekend (Golf)



Look at the top of the leaderboard heading into weekend play at the US Open. You will see Tiger Woods' name there. Tiger is in a 1st place tie with David Toms and the 2003 US Open champion, Jim Furyk. Tiger is looking to win his 1st major in 4 years and creep just a little bit closer to the all-time record for major championships held by Jack Nicklaus. There are 8 of my 10 favorites remaining in the field. Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson failed to make the cut. My pick to take home the title, Rickie Fowler, made the cut but is far from contention. Here is a look at how my top 10 favorites have fared to this point as well as the new odds and my new pick to win the 2012 US Open.

Pre-Tournament Favorites:

Rickie Fowler - USA

Current Standing: +8, T59

Rory McIlroy - Northern Ireland

Current Standing: +10, Missed Cut

Phil Mickleson - USA

Current Standing: +7, T51

Lee Westwood - England

Current Standing: +5, T29

Matt Kuchar - USA

Current Standing: +3, T9

Dustin Johnson - USA

Current Standing: +9, Missed Cut

Tiger Woods - USA

Current Standing: -1, T1

David Toms - USA

Current Standing: -1, T1

Justin Rose - England

Current Standing: +4, T18

Jason Dufner - USA

Current Standing: +3, T9

My new weekend favorites:

1. Tiger Woods - USA (Even)

Current Standing: -1, T1

2. David Toms - USA (10 to 1)

Current Standing: -1, T1

3. Matt Kuchar - USA (25 to 1)

Current Standing: +3, T9

4. Jason Dufner - USA (30 to 1)

Current Standing: +3, T9

5. Justin Rose - England (50 to 1)

Current Standing: +4, T18

Weekend Prediction - It is hard to imagine Tiger Woods not winning this tournament. I know he is not the Tiger of old, when a weekend lead meant certain triumph, but there is enough resemblance of his old self to make me think he will win his 4th US Open and 15th major championship. He battled enough on Thursday and Friday to have himself in wonderful position. He is even money according to Vegas making him the weekend favorite. There are 4 other men that I had amongst the pre-tournament favorites that are within striking distance. It is not too far fetched to think that one of these other men will win the US Open. When it is all said done however, I believe that Tiger will officially be back and get one step closer to catching Nicklaus.



2012 US Open Preview (Golf)

Golf's version of the National Championship gets started Thursday morning at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. This will be the 5th time that this beautiful Northern California course will host the US Open. Lee Janzen was the winner back in 1998, the last time the US Open was at Olympic. He won't be playing this time around. The oddsmakers have labeled Tiger Woods the favorite at 5 to 1. This seems awfully familiar. Tiger was one of the favorites heading into The Masters after winning the tournament he played in before. He did not deliver in Augusta. Now after winning The Memorial he has been dubbed the favorite for the Open. Can he deliver this time? We will find out this weekend. Other than Tiger, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood are amongst the favorites. These two Englishmen have been ranked in the Top 5 in the world but have never won a major. Last year's champ, Rory McIlroy, and the US Open's favorite runner-up, Phil Mickleson, round out the top 5 favorites. Here are my top 10 bets to take home the 2012 US Open.

1. Rickie Fowler - USA (25 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 20th
Best US Open Finish: T60 (2008)
Average 2012 Score: 70.75

2. Rory McIlroy - Northern Ireland (15 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 2nd
Best US Open Finish: 1st (2011)
Average 2012 Score: 70.04

3. Phil Mickleson - USA (15 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 13th
Best US Open Finish: 2nd (1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009)
Average 2012 Score: 70.11

4. Lee Westwood - England (12 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 3rd
Best US Open Finish: 3rd (2008, 2011)
Average 2012 Score: 70.21

5. Matt Kuchar - USA (25 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 6th
Best US Open Finish: T6 (2010)
Average 2012 Score: 69.80

6. Dustin Johnson - USA (25 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 10th
Best US Open Finish: T8 (2010)
Average 2012 Score: 70.28

7. Tiger Woods - USA (5 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 4th
Best US Open Finish: 1st (2000, 2002, 2008)
Average 2012 Score: 70.10

8. David Toms - USA (100 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 42nd
Best US Open Finish: T5 (2003, 2007)
Average 2012 Score: 71.13

9. Justin Rose - England (25 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 7th
Best US Open Finish: T5 (2003)
Average 2012 Score: 70.15

10. Jason Dufner - USA (25 to 1)
World Golf Ranking: 9th
Best US Open Finish: T40 (2006)
Average 2012 Score: 69.86

Prediction - From the looks of my top 10 picks, the US Open winner will have been an English speaking man for their entire life. There are many different choices here. Matt Kuchar and Jason Dufner have been playing the best golf of anyone right now. Lee Westwood and Justin Rose are way too good to never win a major. David Toms is a darkhorse who almost always plays well in majors. Dustin Johnson is finally getting healthy and just won last week. Phil has got to win a US Open at some point. Tiger and Rory have proven they can win an Open. But with all of that, my pick is Rickie Fowler. The numbers don;t back it up, but I like the way he is playing. He has 5 top 5 finishes this year. He has performed well on the big stage before. I just have a hunch that he is the next to become America's bright young star. At 25 to 1 odds I think he is a very good bet to become a national champion.

2012 NBA Mock Draft 2.0

1. New Orleans - Anthony Davis  PF/Kentucky
2. Charlotte - Bradley Beal  SG/Florida
3. Washington - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist  SF/Kentucky
4. Cleveland - Harrison Barnes  SF/North Carolina
5. Sacramento - Andre Drummond  C/UConn
6. Portland - Thomas Robinson  PF/Kansas
7. Golden State - Jared Sullinger  PF/Ohio St.
8. Toronto - Jeremy Lamb  SG/UConn
9. Detroit - Tyler Zeller  C/North Carolina
10. New Orleans (from Minn) - Meyers Leonard  C/Illinois
11. Portland - Damian Lillard  PG/Weber St.
12. Milwaukee - Perry Jones  PF/Baylor
13. Phoenix - Austin Rivers  SG/Duke
14. Houston - John Henson  PF/North Carolina
15. Philadelphia - Arnett Moultrie  PF/Mississippi St.
16. Houston - Kendall Marshall  PG/North Carolina
17. Dallas - Terrence Jones  PF/Kentucky
18. Minnesota - Terrence Ross  SG/Washington
19. Orlando - Dion Waiters  SG/Syracuse
20. Denver - Moe Harkless  SF/St. John's
21. Boston - Jeffery Taylor  SF/Vanderbilt
22. Boston - Royce White  PF/Iowa St.
23. Atlanta - Fab Melo  C/Syracuse
24. Cleveland - Will Barton  SG/Memphis
25. Memphis - Marquis Teague  PG/Kentucky
26. Indiana - Festus Ezeli  C/Vanderbilt
27. Miami - Andrew Nicholson  PF/St. Bonaventure
28. Oklahoma City - Tony Wroten Jr.  PG/Washington
29. Chicago - Doron Lamb  SG/Kentucky
30. Golden St. - Quincy Miller  SF/Baylor

2012 NBA Finals

The 2012 NBA Finals will get underway on Tuesday night when the city of Oklahoma City hosts their first ever Finals game when the Miami Heat come to town. This is a fantastic chance for us to see the two best players in the world - sorry Kobe - battle it out for the chance to win their first title. LeBron James and Kevin Durant will get the chance to go after one another for the right to be called a champion, and perhaps the best player in the world. OKC comes in as the favorite. This was highly unlikely when the playoffs began, but the Thunder have looked awesome in compiling a 12-3 record throughout the postseason. They have beat the three teams that are responsible for the previous 13 Western Conference championships to get to this point. Miami has taken everyone's best shot, including the media. The Heat were down in each of the last two series and all but left for dead by the national media. They now find themselves appearing in the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year. There is still a chance for LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh to win not four, not five, not six, you know the rest. But a young, exciting, and ultra talented Oklahoma City team stands in their way. All of the core players for the Thunder are 23 years old or younger. They are hoping to begin a dynasty of their own. Here is how I see the NBA Finals playing out, with a positional breakdown.



2 Oklahoma City (-160) vs. 2 Miami (+140)

How they got here:

Oklahoma City beat - Dallas 4-0, LA Lakers 4-1, San Antonio 4-2
Miami beat - New York 4-1, Indiana 4-2, Boston 4-3

PG - Russell Westbrook vs. Mario Chalmers
SG - Thabo Sefolosha vs. Dwayne Wade
SF - Kevin Durant vs. LeBron James
PF - Serge Ibaka vs. Chris Bosh
C - Kendrick Perkins vs. Udonis Haslem
Bench - Oklahoma City vs. Miami
Coach - Scott Brooks vs. Erik Spoelstra

There are some very intriguing matchups to watch in this series. The obvious one that is going to garner everyone's attention is LeBron vs. Durant. These two young men are arguably the two best players in the world right now. But some of the other matchups could play a bigger role in deciding who hoists the Larry O'Brien trophy. Like how bad will Russell Westbrook dominate Mario Chalmers? Can Thabo Sefolosha put the clamps on D-Wade like he did Tony Parker? Will the athleticism of Serge Ibaka bother an injured Chris Bosh? Can Miami get production of their bench to try to neutralize what OKC will get from James Harden and others? And will Scott Brooks run circles around Erik Spoelstra after getting the best of Gregg Popovich last round? Well the answers to these questions are very bad, somewhat, yes, not nearly enough, and probably. None of which bode very well for Miami. LeBron and Durant will get theirs. That means it is up to the others to make a difference. I feel like the Thunder have much more help for Durant than the Heat have for LeBron. The Thunder's time is now. They will prove much more likely to build a dynasty than Miami when the Finals conclude.

Prediction - Oklahoma City over Miami 4-3

Ringer's Playoff Record
13-1. I have picked the winner of every playoff series with the exception of Chicago-Philadelphia. But nobody could have forecasted Derrick Rose tearing his ACL and missing almost the entire series. Nonetheless I have been hot in the NBA playoffs.