 – With everyone slurping all over Rory (and for good reason), Scott’s being overlooked a bit. Valhalla is a marvelous fit for his game (long and straight off the tee, murders long irons, putting seems rather straightforward).

 – He’s going to win one. Basically I like dudes who drive the ball long, straight, and hit the shit out of their long irons. That’s Stenson/Sergio/Scott territory.

 – Despite being public enemy number 1, it’s not hard to see why Gerry is a great fit for Valhalla. It’s a long course, and favors a right to left ball flight off the tee. He hasn’t played great since the Memorial, but on a course with three par 5’s and plenty of space for him to move the ball around, I’m terrified enough to hedge my happiness with a wager.

A silent killer. His last five starts he’s finished T11, T8, MC, T5, and T3. He’s long, he makes a ton of birdies, and he’s hot. We’re a bit divided in house on this one, but rolling with it.

 – If you’re looking for a long hitter who favors the right to left ball flight, and some value, look no further than Mr. Walker. He’s gone unnoticed since his winning spree in the winter, but he’s been quietly very solid all year, with 11 top 26 finishes in his 14 starts since his win at the AT&T.

 – Value. He’s had a horrific year, but he just shot a final round 63 at Bridgestone, is very familiar with this track and knows his chances are dwindling and chipping doesn’t seem to be a huge premium here.

Just sticking with an NLU horse that bombs it. He prefers the left to right ball flight, but we’re making an exception from him and staying loyal to a guy we’ve been picking all year.

 Was one of the most impressive Euro’s during the Ryder Cup here, and his recent form is tidy. The Big Swede is long and features a delicious pedigree prior to his time in the wilderness. Big Game Bob is back!

T4 at the U.S. Open, and had a very hot start to the British Open that had me sending screen shots of the 200/1 ticket I had on him (that I immediately regretted when he imploded on the back nine on Friday). You’d think Brooks would command more respect from the oddsmakers, their loss. Also, NoLayingUp essentially invented him.

 guy is trending. And Valhalla sets up GREAT for him. We just can’t advise riding with the overall favorite, especially when the odds are 5/1. That’s some Tiger-in-his-prime like respect, and he deserves it. If it rains at all, I’d consider making a play on him even at this price. I don’t love the value of 

 (at 25/1), but he’s trending and his game is perfect for this track.

 of course, but at 16/1 and 20/1 respectively, it seems the market has adjusted appropriately to their sizzling hot runs. Sergio has finished runner up in his last three starts, but the Kentucky atmosphere has me a bit worried for Sergio’s dancing mind (the crowd was not too friendly with him back in ’08 at the Ryder Cup).

A sincere apology is in order for our turning a blind eye to last week’s Reno-Tahoe Open Barracuda Championship, the crown jewel of opposite field awesomeness. Looking at the results, one can’t help but be impressed by Geoff Ogilvy’s victory in the Stableford competition. Much like Bruce Willis’ character in The Sixth Sense, Ogilvy’s been seeing dead people for the last few years (peep his stats!) and returned for one last goal – to win the Barracuda Championship. After he won on Sunday he came to the same realization as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, Willis’ character in the movie: he’d been dead the whole time (my guess? Sabo probably killed him after Ogilvy beat him by a stroke in Kapalua for his last victory in ’10). Seriously though, Ogilvy won the event and vaulted all the way up to 84th in the FedEx Cup standings. That speaks volumes about the dark places he’s seen recently.

Speaking of seeing dead people, Kyle Stanley was in the black for Strokes Gained Putting for the second week in a row, picking up over a stroke on the greens for the week in total. Here’s hoping KFS can get some momentum going into the Web.com playoffs and get back to being a bomb-threat for the ’14-’15 season.

After watching some of the weekend coverage from Firestone, the Tour may need to look at bringing in a dude with a tranquilizer gun to patrol the grounds during no-cut four round events. Watching a guy who’s 30 shots off the pace going through the motions just so he can collect the $40,000 last place WGC paycheck is a blight on an otherwise exemplary event. Nobody benefits from it. Shoot the guy with a tranq-dart, drag him off the course, get him his $40,000 check, and he wakes up on his private jet. Problem solved.

One can only hope we see the pride of Louisville, Papa!, patrolling the grounds this week, creeping on chicks and slinging free pizzas. The ‘Ville is a fascinating place.

Enjoy the week and catch us on twitter during coverage 

PGA Championship Preview: Part II

Not only did Sunday at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational produce a superb showdown between now world number 1 Rory McIlroy and his friend from Spain, 3rd ranked Sergio Garcia, it also sent the golf interwebs into a frenzy when (unknown at the time) 25 year old Ohio based model Ashley Bongiovanni was seen in the background making some friendly eyes at the soon to be WGC champ (

we’ve broken down the incident like the Zapruder film here

Blonde shorty doing all she can to get Rory's attention. 

Ashley herself caught wind of the internet firestorm, and 

 that it was indeed her in the background of Rory’s tee shot on the 15th hole. We took it a step further and tracked her down for an exclusive interview. Enjoy.

Alright, as best you can, try to describe what the last 24 hours of your life have been like.

: (Laughter). It’s been pretty amusing to say the least. Not your typical Monday… to put it lightly, haha.

: I’m kind of a transplant, and don’t really have a hometown like most do. I’m kind of a nomad, and I lived in four different states growing up. But yeah, I do live in Ohio, and I travel often. My family is in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. I guess if I could call somewhere home it would be Pittsburgh, as that’s where I spent my core years. I usually don’t discuss sports with people in Ohio being from Pittsburgh, just to play it safe (laughter).

: Since I was about 19, so about six years. I work for a few different agencies: some in Florida, Pittsburgh, Ohio, and a couple of affiliates in L.A.

What’s the coolest that’s happened in the last 24 hours?

: (Laughter). People can’t really see because of the camera angle, but believe it or not, and I’m not making this up, but Rory did smile at me, and I thought that was pretty cool, (laughter).

Was this before he hit the shot or after?

: It was right after. He started walking right towards me, and this was like my second time going to the Bridgestone, and I’m still trying to learn up. So far, my game is pretty weak, haha. But I’m working on it! I definitely have the aggression to whack the ball far with a driver, but I’m still trying to learn the nuances of the game, and trying to be respectful. There were people behind me like, right after he swung screaming a bunch of stuff, and I’m just standing there thinking to myself like, ‘Am I too close? Should I move back? Am I doing something wrong?’ (Laughter). And then he smiles at me, and I was like “UHHHH what do I do!? (Laughter).

I found it hilarious that he went over and stood to the left of the tee box nowhere near his caddie. I’m thinking you may have had something to do with that.

: I can neither confirm or deny some influence, haha. I just stood there, and he just kind of gave me a smile, and I kind of smiled back and I just stood there like….. what am I supposed to do now!?

: I was kind of following him for most of the holes. On the other holes, I didn’t have a very good view, as I’m a little shorter. So I moved ahead of him a little, and ended up in this great spot. I was so close, and he was coming close, and I didn’t know what to do!

Was it Rory in particular that you wanted to see?

: I think he’s just a really good player, and unlike other players that have a lot of ego, he’s just really enjoyable to watch and he makes you feel like he deserves it when he succeeds. You can tell that he wants to win tournaments for his own personal accomplishment, and not necessarily for the fame and glory. So I enjoy watching him play and succeed. I also enjoy watching Phil Mickelson, and yeah, I’m still learning, but he’s a favorite player of mine.

When did you become aware that you were on TV?

: That’s the funny part, because everyone is like ‘Oh she was aware, and she was totally milkin’ it,” I really had no idea. I was just standing there and… (laughter)…. the wind blew, and I have a lot of hair! I pushed it out of my face, and I had my sunglasses on top of my head, and I just said, I’m just gonna hold my hair, then he smiled at me, and I dropped my hair. So then we move on to the next hole after Sergio hits, and you’re not supposed to have your phone out (although I did sneak a couple of pics, so take that). It was right after that I kept getting all of these texts, and all of my friends where sending me screenshots and what not. I was like, ‘Look how angry I look!’

You did have your serious face on. You looked like a serious golf fan!

: Yeah! I was trying to concentrate, I was trying to watch the shot, yunno. I may not know the exact technique they’re using, but I was watching.

How many twitter followers did you gain out of all this?

: Not sure, somewhere in the 200-300 range. It’s funny, because of all the social medias, I really don’t engage in my twitter, but I guess I’ll have to learn now, as that’s where everyone is coming at me from!

Alright now the question everyone wants to know. Who were you with at the tournament? Who was standing behind you? Who is backwards hat guy!?

: (Laughter). I’m having a really fun time letting people figure that out for themselves. I feel bad for the guy in the green near me that everyone seems to think is my boyfriend. And the backwards hat bro, or whatever they’re calling him (laughter). But for right now, I think I’ll leave it up to them to decide (laughter).

You can’t do that! So you can at least confirm that you know backwards hat guy?

And you’re not gonna say any more than that?

 Is that who you went to the tournament with?

: I can neither confirm or deny. (Laughter).

(Laughter). I could tell how coy you were when you answered that on twitter that you weren’t going to give me a straight answer on that.

: (Laughter). I did like your tweets though, they were funny.

: Alright, so if Rory somehow got a hold of you and invited you to the PGA Championship, would you go?

: Oh for sure! I mean, I don’t mean to dive into his personal life, I know he has a lot going on for sure, especially recently, and I wouldn’t want to be a distraction, but if the invite was given, I feel like…. Hell yeah!

Would you be interested in dating Rory McIlroy?

: (Laughter). You’re making me blush. I mean…. I would enjoy his company. You could say that.

No Laying Up's Exclusive Interview With Ashley Bongiovanni

We’ve been slacking on previews lately due to some real life complications, but we’re back with everyone’s favorite the final major championship of the year. In a shocking turn of events that does not correlate to the overall snooze-fest we’ve experienced in 2013-2014, we’ve got plenty of storylines developing before “Glory’s Last Shot” (said in my best Jim Nantz voice) at our 

, Valhalla. The PGA Championship is the least prestigious and least glorifying major, but at no point does this tournament 

 feel like a major (insert Shaun Micheel joke here). In reality, it has given us some of the most memorable and exciting duels over the last pair of decades. Just look at the last fifteen years:

1999: Tiger and Sergio’s duel at Medinah before they hated each other

2000: Tiger-Bob May in ’00 right here at Valhalla

2001: David Toms’ sickening lay up on 18 at Atlanta Athletic Club and 1 shot win over Phil

2002: Rich Beem holds off a charging Tiger Woods who birdies his last four holes

2003: Shaun Micheel stuffs it to inches on 18 to beat Chad Campbell

2004: Vijay wins by 5 and everyone pretends it never happened

2005: Phil birdies the 18th to win his second major (after tapping the Jack Nicklaus plaque from 267 yards out before hitting his approach in true FIGJAM fashion)

2006: Tiger holds off Shaun Micheel at Medinah (seriously! Micheel finished 5 shots behind Tiger, but finished SEVEN shots ahead of Phil for 2nd place)

2007: Tiger beats Woody Austin by two at Southern Hills (man, golf was weird 7 years ago)

2008: Padraig Harrington wins by two, but no one noticed because Tiger wasn’t playing

2009: Y.E. Yang beat Tiger by 3, as Big Cat limped home with a 75 on Sunday. Yang went on to military press his staff bag over his head

2010: Bubba collapses in epic fashion (#PrayForTedScott) in a playoff and loses to Martin Kaymer (this event best remembered for DJ grounding his club in the bunker on 18)

2011: Keegan Bradley edges Jason Dufner (two near no names at the time) in a thrilling playoff

2012: Rory blows the field away on Sunday and wins by 8

2013: Jason Dufner beats Jim Furyk by 2 which broke the hearts of TENS of Furyk fans all over the globe.

There are some less than memorable results mixed in there, but no other major has provided the drama that the PGA has in this century.

The site of Tiger’s legendary duel with Bob May in 2000, as well as the Tiger-less US Ryder Cup victory over the Euro’s in 2008 (RIP Anthony Kim), Valhalla is a big ballpark located outside of Louisville (I tried for way too long to think of a “ballpark” and “Louisville Slugger” metaphor here, but failed. Still shaking off the rust here.) Kentucky native and NLU staffer Dillon Mays has the breakdown:

Norse mythology describes Valhalla (that’s Wahalla for you Kaymer fans) as the Great Hall of Odin. Reserved for only a select group of warriors who die in battle, it is guarded by the mighty Golden tree called “Glasir” (golden tree, golden bear, who gives a shit), and its ceilings are protected by golden shields forged by Odin himself. Now what the 500 acre lot that sits just east of Louisville lacks in flamboyance, it makes up for in a proven ability to produce a deserving champion, and more often than not, incorporating its finishing holes in doing so. Perhaps the greatest testament to Valhalla’s quality is the recent news of the United States’ potential desire for making it the permanent site of Ryder Cups played on US soil. All that being said, let’s get to what is actually relevant; the PGA Championship being played at Valhalla this week and what one can expect from it.

Keeping with the trend of American golf, Valhalla is a long golf course that has only gotten longer as the years have gone on (in 2000, Tiger hit 2-iron/7-iron into a 404 yard 16th hole that now plays 508 yards with some of the thickest rough on the course). The 2nd hole, which for members is a dogleg left par 5 guarded by water down the left and a small green, will be a modest par 4 of 500 yards. It should be really fun to see long iron approaches into that green. During the 2012 renovations, the green was actually slightly altered and softened to accommodate such shots, however it’s still a daunting task just half an hour into your round in a major. Key holes should include, but are not limited to:

#6 – A dogleg par 4 with two fairways separated by Floyds Fork

#7 – A par 5 giving the player an option to cut off distance by hitting to an alternate left fairway guarded by water

#13 – The most famous hole on the course, and the signature, with the stone island green

#18 – Very difficult green that is 14 years into its Bob May voodoo spell. THAT PUTT DOES NOT BREAK BACK TO THE LEFT I SWEAR!

Ideal ball flight here is Rory McIlroy’s exact ball flight a high, right-to-left ball. Right to left shots have the slight advantage due to subtle kicks in the fairways, and creating ideal angles into some of the more difficult pin locations (spoiler: Bubba’s cut is going to be pretty freaking handy). There’s really not one skill that provides a bigger advantage than any others at Valhalla other than the obvious assumption that the closer you are to the hole, the easier it should be to attack some of these pins, so swing hard in case you hit it, I guess.

In case you are unaware, the PGA owns Valhalla Golf Club, and while there are a few cons a purist may associate with this, there is one very obvious advantage, which is 

. Today’s PGA Tour does a pretty good job carving out walkways, hospitality tents, merchandising tents, shuttle services, etc. in order to make spectators feel like they’re actually supposed to be there. However, while other courses accommodate this, Valhalla was built for this. Patrons (oh wait this isn’t Masters week?) err, spectators will notice how open everything is which creates a very smooth flow of traffic that regular tournament attendees will appreciate. That being said, just as you would see on any golf course, there are certainly areas of prime real estate awaiting those early risers wishing to camp in one spot for the day. For that, I recommend the following:

Behind 14 green. Large bank acts as stadium seating for a great par 3. (Left of 14 is also nice for a view of the 13th green I’m just not sure what the rules will be for seating there)

The grandstands behind 16 green. Watch some great long iron shots to tucked pins and realize how bad you need to practice.

Behind 7 tee. The more aggressive players will be hitting some pretty impressive drives to that left fairway (We’ll also be passing around an offering plate for Ted Scott here. Every penny helps.)

6th green. Players are going to miss this green, so think of it as some “free” short game lessons.

While these locations are certainly a great way to spend a day, I can’t recommend walking the course enough. I’m not going to lie, it can be a bit tiring to walk Valhalla, but any golf nerd can appreciate the flow of the course from an architectural standpoint.

Lastly, Kentucky is a state without any professional sports teams, and with basketball season still quite a ways away, you can bet that the love of sport will really be channeled into this week’s tournament. While Kentucky may not be the epicenter of the golf universe, it is a place that knows competition and is extremely loyal to the home team. With JB Holmes and Kenny Perry (who has announced this is his final PGA Tour event being so close to home and the final round falling on his birthday) both in the field this week, you can expect some Happy Gilmore-esque galleries that want to see nothing more than everyone finish second to anything that has its roots in the Commonwealth. It’s also worth noting that Sergio’s recent good play adds an undeniable entertainment factor as he has been very vocal about his dislike for the people…err, course. Sergio’s play this week is almost a catch 22, because once those select good ole boys, who just needed something to do until basketball seasons starts, have had their 3 PM bourbon transfusions kick in, dew sweeping might not sound so bad to the young (Hogan was 34 when he won his first major) Spaniard.

All in all, we tend to be a little more critical of the PGA Championship than any other major, demanding a bit more from it in order to make up for its lack of “something,” but I really don’t think Valhalla will fail to produce this week. The top ranked player in the world is absolutely smoking it, it’s the last major before The Ryder Cup, a “hometown” hero and a hall of famer is retiring on his birthday, and the course really is fantastic. I may be biased, but I’m pretty confident you won’t be channel surfing late next Sunday afternoon. And on the off chance that it does get a bit boring, well, this is Kentucky, HAVE ANOTHER BOURBON, Y’ALL.

Duf Daddy! After stuffing every iron shot for 5 hours (remember, paired with Furyk), he caps it off with an IDGAF ass slap of his wife for the whole world to see. He also went on a legendary media tour, highlighted by his visit to the Howard Stern show. When asked if he was like “boxers that abstain from sex before a big match,” he replied with a simple: “Naaaaaa.” Duf Daddy. Legend.

Check back later this week for Part II of our PGA Championship preview, which will include our picks.

PGA Championship Preview: Part I

I’m not exaggerating when I say that this one minute scene from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday kept me up last night thinking about it and laughing about it. Before we break it down, here’s the full video from the 15th tee, as Rory was nursing a one shot lead over Sergio:

First of all, this video doesn’t do it justice as to how far the CBS camera man had zoomed in on our soon to be very well known blonde friend (UPDATE: We now know her name to be Ashley Bongiovanni, and yes, she is a model: 

) before panning out to, you know, the golf tournament. How often do you see a golf broadcast zoom in on a fan that hasn’t been hit with a wayward drive? WGN in Chicago is famous for showing the most revealing and best looking fans in between pitches during Cubs games, but the communication between the camera man and the guys in the truck here is truly something to behold. Think about it. They had to plan the perfect timing of the full zoom on her, and the slow pan out to get Rory in the shot right as he’s about to hit. Who knew CBS had a Nick Saban like eye for talent?

Then after Rory hits the shot, we get the now infamous clip (as of the time we’re writing this, the video has been up for 15 hours, and has been looped 170,000 times, as of Wednesday, August 6th, the vine has been looped over 500,000 times, as of Thursday, August 14th, the vine has been looped over 1.5 MILLION times, and stands as the most viral tweet we’ve ever had):

It’s perfect, I mean, it’s absolutely perfect. Watch how quickly she goes to pull her hair back, then holds it, as if she needed to give the Ulsterman a full view of her face and couldn’t stand the thought of a single strand of hair covering it up. Then as soon as he turns around, she drops the hair. Can’t. Stop. Watching.

Now on to our bro in the backwards hat. This poor guy. I’m just going to assume they are together (at least, at this point in the day yesterday, they were together). Now watch him smile at Rory as he turns around.

Seriously, look at his face! A part of him actually thinks that if Rory does glance their direction, that he’s actually going to look through the blonde practically begging for his attention, and going to acknowledge the bro in the backwards hat that out kicked his coverage.

http://twitter.com/dillonmays_/status/496058623551082496

Alright, now to the part that had me up until 1 AM waiting for the replay of the broadcast to reach this moment. Both Rory and Sergio are obviously right handed players, meaning the caddies are going to stand with the bags behind and to the right of the tee box at least 95% of the time. This is clearly the case here, as you can tell in the opening shot, there are no caddies or bags sitting to left of this tee box.

So answer this. When was the last time you saw a pro hit a mediocre shot, and then walk to the OPPOSITE SIDE of the tee box from his caddie and just stand there awkwardly with his club. With a narrow lead and over a million on the line, you can’t convince me that Rory didn’t know EXACTLY what he was doing. He’s even pretending to check the yardage book!

At this point, our bro friend is still smiling. This doesn’t last…

Now our bro is realizing how bad this plan was…

She’s checking to see if the bro is still standing there. Damnit, he is…

“Is is he turning to look at me again? Better go back to the hair….”

: We were able to track Ashley down for an interview. 

: Rory is now following Ashley on twitter:

: He has unfollowed her. So you know he got those digits. Sorry, Backwards Hat Bro.

Part I of our preview of the PGA Championship

Breakdown of Rory's Blonde Admirer

We’ve been slacking on material lately due to some real world stuff lately, but recently I asked our followers to send in the best golf photos they have, and figured it would be cool to share the results. Thanks to everyone that sent in responses. Happy Friday everyone.

 Prob the most amazing course I've played, The River at Keystone,CO 

 After a blast of rain and wind, the clouds peeled back and washed Chambers Bay in sunshine. 

 Busting one into the water in honor of my late grandfather with first ever club he made for me. 

 he may not be able to hit driver….but the bourbon is another story 

my 2yr old already working on her flop shot. live by the flop, die by the flop. RT 





— birth.golf.death. (@birthgolfdeath) 

, our Dad, and I just north of Toronto last autumn. 

 We carried a cooler for 36 holes in the rain. 





— W'ern Golf Alliance (@westerngolf) 

 can't see much of me. But that ball is down the pipe. 

 At Royal County Down with my brother and friends, June 2011, when Rory won US Open. 

 No 17 at Royal Portrush, giant, man-eating trap. Of course I put my drive there. 

 Which is prettier: my golf swing or the sunset? 

Best Golf Photos from NLU Followers 

We were really late on our preview, so I figured I’d share some quick thoughts on the opening round of The Open Championship.

 Rory was surgical in the morning, and helped anyone who backed him at 20/1 to be the first round leader cash their ticket. The conditions were much easier in the morning, but he didn’t have a 5 on his card until he parred the par-5 finishing hole. But hey, have you guys heard about Rory’s Friday struggles? Do yourself a favor and search “Rory Friday” on twitter to read a bunch of HOT takes on his now extremely well documented 2nd round disappointments. It certainly has been a trend, but I don’t think it’s much more than a coincidence. I think he’ll be just fine tomorrow, and shoots something in the 69-70 range. We should also note that it looks like the guys who got the early/late draw look to get the better conditions tomorrow as well, but of course that is subject to change.

 Henrik Stenson is a boss. Not only does he snap his wedge over his leg, check out how casual he is as he hands it to is caddie, as if this kind of thing happens all of the time. Is this a new #TourSauce? (Courtesy of 

 I’m guessing Bryden MacPherson wishes the Open Championship website didn’t post pictures with their scorecards. We’ve got an early leader in the clubhouse for Oil Spill of the Week:

 Bubba was a child again, complaining about all of the people walking around in the fairway after a bad shot, then imploding on his own. His “All I want to do is play golf” line was comical considering he was, you know, 

 when he said it. The guy is constant entertainment whether he’s balling out or falling apart, and he acts like he’s the only guy in the 156 man field that has to play in front of a gallery. #PrayForTedScott

 That leaderboard! Big Cat surprised me with a 69 (go ahead, make your joke), and it could have been even better if it wasn’t for a slow start. It was interesting to see him hitting a fair amount of draws, and needless to say, we hope he maintains it throughout the weekend. I don’t think there is enough there for him to seriously contend and win this thing, but having him in the hunt will give a serious boost to a season that has been otherwise very easy to forget. Sergio played the par-5’s in even par but still shot a 68 (what do we have to do to get a Tiger/Sergio pairing for this weekend?). NLU homeboy Brooks Koepka follows up his strong US Open finish with a 68 as well. Scotty, Manassero, Matsuyama, and Fowler all in the top-10 as well has me geeking out.

 Zach Johnson did this, which I still don’t understand, but can’t stop watching:

Open Championship: Thursday Roundup

We’ll cut straight to the good stuff this week, that being the news of the Reno-Tahoe Open, crown jewel of the illustrious Paychex Cup, securing title sponsorship. Starting this year 

it’ll be known as the Barracuda Championship

. No word yet on Vaughn Taylor’s reaction.

Now on to the lesser business, the 2014 Open Championship…

The Open (as an American, can I call it just “The Open,” or am I obligated to insert “British”? You know what, we don’t care. Let’s just play the tournament) is back to Royal Liverpool for the first time since Big Cat’s triumphant march of long-irons in 2006.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Royal Liverpool is it’s location. As in, where the hell is it, exactly? You’ll probably read that it’s in Merceyside, England. Conversely, you’ll probably hear that it’s in Hoylake. But compounding this is the course name, Royal 

, implying yet another location. I had to take a deep plunge into Wikipedia to get this all straightened out…

Merseyside, as it turns out, is a county in northwest England. So the course is within its boundaries, but it’d be like identifying Pebble Beach as located in California, USA. Drilling down to the town the links is located in, we get the answer Hoylake. So Hoylake is also a correct answer. Best I can tell, Hoylake is a suburb of sorts to Liverpool, which is the nearest metropolitan area, hence the 

 moniker. So I guess all three are valid locations in one sense or another. And with that said, I regret wasting ten minutes of my life on this pursuit.

So the course itself is a stereotypical seaside Links layout. Not much more needs to be said beyond that. The big question marks, as always, will be the wind and weather. In 2006 the wind stayed down, it was dry, and as a result the course was baked-out, firm, and fast (hence Tiger keeping the Big Dog sheathed).

According to the R&A, there have been 13 bunkers removed, leaving the total at 82. Also of note, the routing for the Open Championship differs from the normal course routing. #1 this week usually is #17 for the members, while #18 is usually #16. So there’s that, if you ever have the opportunity to play Royal Liverpool. The finishing par 5 has all the potential in the world to produce some serious drama come Sunday, but I’m hoping the internal out of bounds doesn’t play a major factor. Be prepared to hear a lot about this. In 

, Frank Nobilo asks the Executive Director of Rules and Equipment why they have internal out of bounds. He replies:

“Well we’d prefer not to have internal out of bounds, but it’s not unprecedented at the Open Championship, and it’s not unprecedented here at Royal Liverpool.”

What? Is that an answer? Can someone please explain this internal out of bounds?

The final thing I want to mention is Royal Liverpool’s 

 designation. According to Wikipedia, it was bestowed in 1871 “due to the patronage of the Duke of Connaught, great-great grandfather to Ken Duke” (that last part may be made up).

Barring an ex-pat contingent and father-son once in a lifetime golf trip patrons, the gallery is best summed up in this video:

The local caddy element has always been an interesting element to The Open Championship as well. Knowing the majority of caddies are responsible for their own Travel and Expense (such BS), many don’t make the trip across the pond with the pros using a local looper instead. I can’t wait for Tom Rinaldi to serenade us with a special that opens with the clinking of Guinness Glasses and closes with an emotional salute to one of Hoylake’s finest, an ode to the birthplace of the game.

Overall, The Open Championship vibe is similar to nothing else in golf. Everything is different. The reactions of the crowd, the sound of the applause, and the ambiance is unparalleled in this sport, and to a certain extent, sports in general. As much as we pretend to hate Europe every two years for the three day Ryder Cup, this sport was founded on these islands, and their fans deserve a salute. Enjoy your week, lads.

It was the triumph of the People’s Champion last year at Muirfield! His Sunday 66 was an absolute Tour de Force, a virtuoso performance in the truest sense, matched only in its brilliance, perhaps, by its unexpectedness. What the hell was Mickelson doing winning a British Open? Yet there he was, birdieing four of the final six holes, charging down the stretch in a performance eerily reminiscent of his first Masters win back in 2004. The golf he played that day last year was not only arguably the year’s best, but probably will be looked back upon as some of the best of Mickelson’s career.

Oh, and another thing–have a look at that leaderboard. Just take it in. The sheer magnitude, and outright splendor of it. Amazing.

(Lines courtesy Ladbrokes.com, the Official Bookmaker of NoLayingUp.com. Some prices below are from Sportsbook this week)

– Copy and paste from just about every one of our previews. There isn’t much more that needs to be said from us on Spieth. Solid odds here.

 – Just going to bet him in every major until he wins one. It’s going to happen in the next 28 majors, so this seems like a great price for me. Less than stellar Open Championship history but we expect him to ball out.

 – He seems to be a pretty popular pick, but he’s played fantastic in majors so far this year with top 5’s in both of them, and he loves links golf. Friendly odds at this price. 50/1!

 – Another popular pick. He’s got a very underrated history at The Open, including top-10’s the last two years. He’s also in good form coming off yet another baller performance at last week’s major, the John Deere.

 – Doesn’t have the major championship experience, 

. Dude is a stud, and I want him on the Ryder Cup team. I SAID IT!

 – These odds jumped off the page at me. Never better than T30 at The Open, but he’s had a fantastic year, and needs to be bet at this rate.

 – Not gonna rationalize. We just love him. And he will burst through in a major way at some point.

Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson are must plays this week, we just don’t love their odds. Justin Rose is in the same boat, as he should be cruising coming off his Scottish Open win.

Monday’s Feherty episode with Padraig was as enjoyable as they come. Padraig is so candid and open that I couldn’t help but be glued to my tv. His analysis of his ’08 PGA Championship victory is downright delicious: “There’s nothing like winning ugly and stealing something.”

Not including SVP and Andy North, ESPN’s coverage of The Open just doesn’t match up. It’s like Warren Buffet doing an interview with Geraldo Rivera – Tradition and class meet a 24-7 hype machine. I wouldn’t be surprised if we cut to Chris Broussard reading tweets about what color headband LeBron plans to where in Cleveland. You would think the suits in Bristol would know that all they have to do is put a couple English accents or even the Euro Tour B-squad in the booth or at least out on the course. The accents are crucial. They lend credibility and enhance the viewing experience with, “on location” flavor. That said, anything is better than Johnny and Dan.

(Soly speaking now): We’re a house divided on ESPN coverage. I love it as long as there is no Berman. The volume of shots they show is unprecedented when it comes to golf coverage, and there will be no blowhards. The full Tiger cam is something that should have been in existence for the last decade. It’s 2014, if someone wants to see Tiger, let them see Tiger.

And to take the ESPN thing one step further: Can we get Ian Darke in the booth as a guest commentator????

British Open Preview

(all lines courtesy Ladbrokes.com, the Official Bookmaker of NoLayingUp.com)

 – Ridiculous odds, but his history here is also comical. Four top 3 finishes here in the last five years, including a victory in 2012, and a runner up in a playoff a year ago.

 – Showed flashes of brilliance a week ago, and we feel like he can take advantage of the weaker field this week and really rack up some birdies. Still hasn’t missed a cut this year!

 – not much history at this event, but in great form with a T4 last week and a T18 the start before. Is sneaky high (to some perhaps) in the FedEx (41st) and OWGR (75th). Looking for that breakthrough first Tour win. Seems a ripe time to grab it.

 – T-4 a week ago at Greenbrier, and a T8 two weeks ago at the Quicken Loans, on top of his T8 in his last start here in 2012. A rough Sunday clouded what was really a special week for Hurley in West Virginia. We believe.

 – the books are all over this one, stripping most of the value off it, but at 50/1 it’s still worth a play. A home game of sorts for Luke (from Quincy, IL), he captured a T5 here in 2012 in just his second career PGA Tour start. He has top-50 OWGR game, but is struggling to find it and sustain it. A decent result last week in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia could portend very good things this week.

 – this is like the Guthrie Lite play this week. He’s an Illinois grad (born in Barrington, IL) who’s been in pretty good form lately (T11 at Travelers, T26 at Greenbrier) and has some starts at this event under his belt (including a T33 last year). If you’re feeling really spry, go ahead and throw him and Luke in an exacta box.

 – Another young guy with lots of game who would fit really well as a first-time winner here. Finished T15 last year here in his first start. Drives it long (40th in distance) and putts it well (18th in strokes gained putting), can he dial in the wedges and take it low all week? Although from New Jersey, his time spent at Oklahoma State earns him bonus ‘Midwestern’ points.

 – Dude needs to justify his presence in that Bridgestone TV spot ASAP. He’s in decent form of late (T24 at Travelers, T11 at Quicken, and T52 at the Greenbrier), having been undone by a couple Sunday 74’s in the latter two. Upside, pedigree (trained in that UGA stable), and decent form. Smells like a flier to me.

Angel Cabrera winning a non-major last week was downright shocking. And if we’re being honest, a bit disappointing. I liked the idea of Angel ripping cigs, not giving a damn, and showing up now and then to bank majors. Winning a non-major almost makes it seem like he cares a bit too much.

using it’s exemptions on some college standouts

Louis Oosthuizen ain’t playing this year, which is notable only because his two passions are 

 Probably too viscerally overwhelming for him.

Since 2008, tournament organizers have chartered a flight leaving Sunday evening and flying non-stop to Great Britain for Open Championship participants. Affectionately known as ‘Air Deere,’ it’s a 767 that has lured many players who otherwise would have skipped the event to come play the Quad Cities. Pretty cool to think the vast majority of guys are playing this week for a seat on that bird. Do you over-pack in advance on the off chance of winning, or ball out in the Royal Liverpool pro shop if need be? Latter, for sure.

We joke about a lot of things, but this ain’t one of them–John Huston needs to be formally involved in the proceedings this week. I’m thinking at least something of an honorary wedge shot to start the event a la Arnie, Jack and Gary at Augusta. The guy won seven times on the PGA Tour, only one of those with a score worse than 13-deep! This guy practically invented the bird sanctuary. Long past time to honor him.

It’s worth noting that Big Dick Mast is listed last amongst the alternates again this week. I’m almost led to believe this guy is hoping for a wide-scale pandemic to wipe out half the field, as that’s really his only way in. For those unfamiliar, Mast has enjoyed moderate success on the Champions Tour over the last few years, harkening back to his STANDOUT 1990 season on the Ben Hogan Tour when he won three times. For someone headed into his mid-60’s, Dick is pretty cocksure about his skills.

John Deere Classic Preview (Part 2)

At NLU we like to joke that the John Deere Classic is golf’s sixth major (followed closely by Reno-Tahoe, Sanderson Farms, and Mayakoba). As such, we thought it only appropriate to bestow our typical “major” treatment this week with a two part preview.

On a more serious note, this is one of our favorite tournaments of the year because, for one, it’s so much fun to handicap. Young guns are trying to YOTTO amongst the old dudes who own this place (i.e. Stricker/ZJ), and the scoring is crazy-exciting. But it goes deeper than that. The four of us are proud of our midwest ties and enjoy pimping the heartland. The Quad Cities stop has a great history (Payne Stewart won the 1982 edition of the Miller High Life QCO for his first Tour victory; David Toms captured his first title here in 1997; and of course Spieth a year ago at the age of 19), and boasts some of the best community support on the entire tour, along with a great corporate sponsorship situation. In short, it represents a lot of what’s right with the tour and doesn’t get enough recognition for that.

A certified Audubon bird sanctuary! Situated against the Rock River in Silvis, Illinois (one of the four quad cities), birds have been getting poached here since 2000 at an inexplicable clip.

It’s not a coincidence that an announcement came this week that the

. Seriously, since the course moved to this farmland locale in the middle of nowhere, the 

 winning score is -16, with Steve Stricker setting the scoring record in 2010 at -26. The course is so easy that Stricker shot 60 on Thursday that year…. 

. Seriously. He was -11 after day one, and not leading the tournament. Paul Goydos shot an opening round 59, finished at -24, and 

The D.A. Weibring design is less than spectacular both visually, and from a challenge perspective. The wide, rolling fairways give the players a green light to fire away with the driver, and the only par 4’s with any real teeth are the 9th (503 yards), the 15th (484 yards), and the 18th (476 yards, with a tough dogleg, and a green guarded by water). Despite the length of these holes, you’ll still see the longer hitters take 3 woods on them due to the firmness of the fairways. Soly played the course a few years ago, and noted that it’s an easy course even for an amateur.

The Quad Cities are located at the junction of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers, and used to serve as a major port in the mid 19th century during the industrial revolution. Beginning in the late 1970’s, economic conditions forced major industrial restructuring, which led to many companies relocating and scaling back their operations along these rivers. In recent years, significant progress has been made by the city governments to redevelop the region. Despite this, it’s hard not to feel like you’re in a time capsule looking back at what was once such a proud symbol of American capitalism, especially in and around Rock Island.

Set against the Illinois/Iowa border, this tournament is truly the most midwestern event 

. It’s basically a Big Ten clash between Illinois and Iowa fans, but for once they’re rooting for bosses of their sport rather than an Illini-Hawkeye Big Ten pillow fight on the gridiron. Honestly, the people drive hours to root for one of two guys. Those in orange pull for Illinois grad and three time champion Steve Stricker, and those in black and yellow are pulling for Wiz Khalifa Zach Johnson. In true midwestern fashion, just about every fan there thinks they know Strick and ZJ as personal friends, just because they’re wearing their school colors or their uncle’s best buddy’s son’s wife is somehow connected. You’ll hear plenty of first name basis yells on the broadcast for these two players from the masses who treat this event like it’s a family reunion.

Writing

PGA Championship Preview: Part II

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PGA Championship Preview: Part I

Breakdown of Rory's Blonde Admirer

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Open Championship: Thursday Roundup

British Open Preview

John Deere Classic Preview (Part 2)

John Deere Classic Preview (Part 1)

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The Greenbrier Classic Preview

Quicken Loans National Preview

Travelers Championship Preview

U.S. Open Recap

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