The British Open (The Open Championship)

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Tee times are up so I suppose it's not to early to post.



The Open Championship Official Site
Americans may prefer this site

American television coverage is on ESPN from 4am to 3pm Eastern.

Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama and Phil Mickelson (4:44 a.m. ET on Thursday and 9:45 a.m. ET on Friday): Mickelson was at his best on Sunday when he won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open with a brilliant chip to a foot on the first playoff hole. McIlroy is looking for his first win of the season on either side of the Atlantic while Matsuyama, the 21-year-old who has already won three times on the Japan Tour is playing in his first Open.

Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen (9:45 a.m. ET on Thursday and 4:44 a.m. ET on Friday): Woods played a practice round at Muirfield with Jason Day and Dustin Johnson on Sunday. He says the left elbow strain is healed and he's ready to go. McDowell is fresh off a win at the Alstom Open de France, his third win in his last seven starts worldwide -- a stretch that also includes four missed cuts. Oosthuizen, who won the 2010 British Open, is currently 138th in FedExCup points.

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After Round 1

Zach Johnson -5
Phil Mickelson -2 (T9)
Tiger Woods -2 (T9)
Jimmy Mullen (low amateur) Even (T21)
Ernie Els (defending champ) +3 (T59)

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Tough conditions for Round 2. Windy but it hasn't rained in ages.

Miguel Angel Jimenez -3
Tiger Woods -2 (T2)
Phil Mickelson +1 (T11)
Matthew Fitzpatrick and Jimmy Mullen (low amateurs) +7

Missed cut (+8):
Camilo Villegas
Jim Furyk
Luke Donald
Rory McIlroy
Sir Nick Faldo

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Round 3 tee times (ET, local in parentheses)

3:10 a.m. ET (8:10 a.m.) - Shingo Katayama, Richard Sterne
3:20 a.m. ET (8:20 a.m.) - Carl Pettersson, Jonas Blixt
3:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m.) - K.J. Choi, Chris Wood
3:40 a.m. ET (8:40 a.m.) - Mikko Ilonen, Todd Hamilton
3:50 a.m. ET (8:50 a.m.) - Peter Senior, Mark Brown
4:00 a.m. ET (9:00 a.m.) - Geoff Ogilvy, Paul Lawrie
4:10 a.m. ET (9:10 a.m.) - Richie Ramsay, Thongchai Jaidee
4:20 a.m. ET (9:20 a.m.) - Boo Weekley, Gareth Wright
4:30 a.m. ET (9:30 a.m.) - K.T. Kim, Jimmy Mullen (a)
4:45 a.m. ET (9:45 a.m.) - Josh Teater, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano
4:55 a.m. ET (9:55 a.m.) - Keegan Bradley, Fred Couples
5:05 a.m. ET (10:05 a.m.) - Jason Dufner, Bud Cauley
5:15 a.m. ET (10:15 a.m.) - Bo Van Pelt, Matthew Fitzpatrick (a)
5:25 a.m. ET (10:25 a.m.) - Russell Henley, Tim Clark
5:35 a.m. ET (10:35 a.m.) - Ernie Els, Graham DeLaet
5:45 a.m. ET (10:45 a.m.) - Shane Lowry, Oliver Fisher
5:55 a.m. ET (10:55 a.m.) - Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington
6:05 a.m. ET (11:05 a.m.) - Sandy Lyle, Y.E. Yang
6:20 a.m. ET (11:20 a.m.) - Steven Tiley, Ken Duke
6:30 a.m. ET (11:30 a.m.) - George Coetzee, Thomas Bjorn
6:40 a.m. ET (11:40 a.m.) - Brandt Snedeker, Stewart Cink
6:50 a.m. ET (11:50 a.m.) - Matt Kuchar, Fredrik Jacobson
7:00 a.m. ET (12:00 p.m.) - Marcus Fraser, Danny Willett
7:10 a.m. ET (12:10 p.m.) - Martin Kaymer, Eduardo de la Riva
7:20 a.m. ET (12:20 p.m.) - Gregory Bourdy, Graeme McDowell
7:30 a.m. ET (12:30 p.m.) - Stephen Gallacher, Kevin Streelman
7:45 a.m. ET (12:45 p.m.) - Ben Curtis, Bernd Wiesberger
7:55 a.m. ET (12:55 p.m.) - Shiv Kapur, Jamie Donaldson
8:05 a.m. ET (1:05 p.m.) - Branden Grace, Harris English
8:15 a.m. ET (1:15 p.m.) - Tom Lehman, Mark O'Meara
8:25 a.m. ET (1:25 p.m.) - Johnson Wagner, Hideki Matsuyama
8:35 a.m. ET (1:35 p.m.) - Jason Day, Hunter Mahan
8:45 a.m. ET (1:45 p.m.) - Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson
8:55 a.m. ET (1:55 p.m.) - Ian Poulter, Bubba Watson
9:10 a.m. ET (2:10 p.m.) - Francesco Molinari, Webb Simpson
9:20 a.m. ET (2:20 p.m.) - Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel
9:30 a.m. ET (2:30 p.m.) - Darren Clarke, Jordan Spieth
9:40 a.m. ET (2:40 p.m.) - Ryan Moore, Angel Cabrera
9:50 a.m. ET (2:50 p.m.) - Zach Johnson, Rafael Cabrera-Bello
10:00 a.m. ET (3:00 p.m.) - Martin Laird, Dustin Johnson
10:10 a.m. ET (3:10 p.m.) - Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood
10:20 a.m. ET (3:20 p.m.) - Henrik Stenson, Miguel Angel Jimenez

[ViperPilot]

Log jams all the way down the Leaderboard... 18 players within five strokes of the lead, and more behind.

Exactly the way a Major championship should play out; many players in position to make a run.

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After 3 rounds we have 10 players within 5 shots of the lead.

Lee Westwood -3
Hunter Mahan -1
Tiger Woods -1
Adam Scott Even
Matthew Fitzpatrick (low amateur) +9

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I did a little research. If Lee Westwood wins he will be the first Brit to win the British Open since Sir Nick Faldo in 1992. Faldo also won in 1990 and 1987. Westwood has never won a major tournament.

Close but no cigar:

2011 Darren Clark - Northern Ireland
2007, 2008 Padraig Harrington - Ireland
1999 Paul Lawrie - Scotland

[ViperPilot]

Looks like Phil's got his Claret Jug!

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What a tremendous back nine.

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World Golf Ranking

1. Tiger Woods
2. Phil Mickelson
3. Rory McIlroy

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Let me tell you how it will be.
There's one for you, nineteen for me.

Phil Mickelson Faces 61 Percent Tax Rate Following Back-To-Back Wins

LOS ANGELES (cbslA.com) — Thanks to his recent wins at both The Open Championship and the Scottish Open, Phil Mickelson pocketed more than $2.16 million in just two weeks.

The world’s top golfer —who came under fire earlier this year when he complained about his supposed 60 percent tax rate as a California resident — is taking another hit on his recent earnings.

According to Forbes, Mickelson has been subjected to the United Kingdom’s 45 percent tax rate for those who make more than £150,000 a year. In addition, the magazine reports, he will be taxed on a portion of the endorsement income he earned during his time in Scotland.

While Mickelson can take a foreign tax credit to avoid being taxed again by the U.S. government, he still has to pay self-employment taxes, the new Medicare surtax, and hand over 13.3 percent of his wages to the state of California, which does not have a foreign tax credit, Forbes reported.

Forbes estimates he will take home $842,700, which, of course, does not include any of his tax-deductible travel expenses and the additional 10 percent he owes to his caddy ...