An intern's view of the Open.
- Thursday, 17 July 2008
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2 months into my internship at Golf Monthly, I was beginning to feel a little like Colin Montgomerie. I am not in the habit of castigating SkySports technicians, and i am scarcely over half Monty's age, but I was clinging onto the vain hope that I may gain a wildcard pick for the GM team heading to the Open. Sadly I missed out on selection, so I will have to settle for following the tournament from the comfort of the office, on BBC's interactive service!
So what exactly can the armchair golf fan expect to see at Birkdale? The BBC will be providing wall-to-wall coverage, and are bound to provide few surprises along the way. Gary Lineker will be tanned and suave; Peter Alliss will provide whimsical charm, and forthright opinion in equal measure. Sam Torrace will not have his expanded his adjectival vocabulary beyond “beautiful”, and Ken Brown will inform us on everything that we need, and don't need to know about every nook and cranny on the course.
Tiger Woods will certainly not be there, but his absence is unlikely to mean that he will not be mentioned at regular intervals during the course of the event. Having watched Tiger at close quarters at Carnoustie last year, I believe the tournament will be poorer without his participation.
Without Tiger in the field, this particular scribe is unlikely to be putting any money on the tournament. I do however hope that we will see a second successive European champion on Sunday night. There is no doubt that the in form Europeans, Westwood, Karlsson, Jimenez and Ross Fisher all have a fantastic chance of winning their first majors next week, though my tip for the title is the young German Martin Kaymer, particularly if the weather stays fair.
Keep up to date with all the latest news from the tournament on our dedicated Open Championship microsite. Our team of (rather fortunate!) experts will be providing regular blogs, news updates, and all the latest photos from the tournament. Stay tuned also for opinion and reaction from those of us who will be in Southwark, not Southport!
