The US Open begins tomorrow...

Hey all!

Well, today we saw Germany inch past Poland in injury time. Tomorrow, we shall England explode against Trinidad & Tobago, as they will win 3-0. I predict 1 goal by Michael Owen, 1 by Beckham and 1 by Joe Cole. And Lampard, while not scoring, will be dangerous all game long.

Now, onto some Golf. The second Major of the year is upon us, and this one is very special as it marks the return to competition of Tiger Woods after a lenghty absence. This will be his first tournament since the death of his father. It will be very interesting to see how Tiger manages to deal with all these emotions for the next 4 days. Personally, I think he will be fine. He has taken a lot of time off to grieve, and I think he will show up with his game face on. Fact is, as much as his father's crucial health problems seemed to mess with Tiger at the Masters, he still managed to play a fantastic tournament, aside from the fact he had a few problems with his putting. I think Tiger will once again contend and be in the final 2 foursomes on Sunday.

But will he win? That's a much tougher question. Mickelson has become a true money player in the last couple of years, and you have to think that he will be there too come the final few holes. Vijay Singh played a great tournament last week, and he seems to be on his game. Retief Goosen, as much as I despise him, is always there too. I believe he's won a couple of US Opens in his career. That's the thing about golf... it's not like F1 or even the World Cup, where only a few chosen ones will for sure contend. We could see another rookie or unheralded player come up big on the first 2 days and be a contender throughout. Fred Couples is having a good year, and if he can find his putting, he can contend as well.

But in the end, and there's nothing fancy in this prediction, I think it will come down to the Big 3 when it comes to Majors: Woods, Goosen and Mickelson. The course will play longer than it's ever played, which favors Woods. Then again, they say that the rough will be as deep as it gets, which would favor Goosen and Mickelson. But Woods, before his hiatus, was as precise as he has been in years. And longer rough just might favor him (even if spends more time in it than his peers), as he is without a doubt the strongest player on the field, which might make him the likeliest to get out of tough positions unharmed. And so, in typical American fashion, I predict Tiger will come out the winner and crumble in tears thinking of his father when he sinks his last putt.

Dwarf out.