Souvenir City

So, who’s it going to be?  Will Tom Watson at age 59 years young be able to hold off the younger players to capture his 6th Claret Jug?  Or will it be Retief Goosen with his 3rd major title?  Matthew Goggin is up near the top of the leaderboard along with Lee Westwood, Stewart Cink and Boo Weekley.  SC’s pick is Mr. Consistent, Jim Furyk.  You know how it works, head into the comments and get your refresh finger ready.  Younglefty here to bring us through to the finish.

Let’s go live-bloggin’!

Hello again, everybody.  We’ll be following along the live blog here, which is in turn following Jason Sobel.  We’ll also have some observations of our own.

2:44 EST – One final update.  Many thanks to all of you that hung out here for the Open, as well as many gracious thanks to Rockabye at The Arena, and Jason Sobel at ESPN for being good sports.

2:37 EST – Well folks, that will conclude our coverage of the coverage of the coverage of the 138th Open Championship.  We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  In honor of the Champion Golfer of the Year (and, as promised), here are the lyrics to the best fight song in the land:

I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech, and a hell of an Engineer
A Helluva, Helluva, Helluva, Helluva, Helluva Engineer
Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear.
I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an Engineer

Oh, if I had a daughter, sir, I’d dress her in white and gold,
And put her on the campus To cheer the brave and bold.
But if I had a son, sir, I’ll tell you what he’d do–
He’d yell: ‘TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!’ Like his daddy used to do.

Oh, I wish I had a barrel of rum, and Sugar three thousand pounds
A college bell to put it in, And a clapper to stir it round.
I’d drink to all the good fellows, who come from far and near.
I’m a Ramblin’, Gamblin’, HELL OF AN ENGINEER!

2:33 EST – Classy move from Cink, as he applauds Watson after his final putt.  He follows that by coolly knocking in his birdie putt.  Stewart Cink is your Champion Golfer of the Year for 2009.

2:31 EST – Cink with a masterful approach at the last, and Watson plays his third to just off the green.

2:28 EST – Watson continues to do himself no favors, but he should get a hero’s welcome as he approaches the eighteenth green.

2:26 EST – From Rockabye:

2:22: Ways Cink can lose this: Earthquake, physically picking up his ball and throwing it at the hole, sudden outbreak of golf flu, the incineration of all of his clubs.

Barring that, nothing.

2:25: Cink’s in the fairway. Watson sprays right.

2:21 EST – Watson makes double at seventeen, and Cink rolls in a birdie putt.  Four shot lead for Cink heading to the last.

2:17 EST – Cink is on the green in two, and Watson is on in four.  Also, some GT love from Tirico and Co.

2:12 EST – Watson hits a dribbler to Yunel Escobar.  The Open Championship is slipping away.

2:08 EST – Cink’s drive on 17 trickles into the first cut, and Watson’s is well left.

2:03 EST – Hell of a par for Watson.  Cink rolls his in as well.

2:00 EST – Great recovery from Watson.  He’s still got some work for par, but it’s makeable.

1:55 EST – Cink looks to have brought his A game for the playoff.  Great tee shot on 6.  Watson sprays his right.

1:53 EST – Par for Cink, bogey for Watson.

1:50 EST – Watson’s on the green, but far from home.  Cink has a legitimate par opportunity.

1:47 EST – Cink and Watson both find greenside bunkers from the fairway.  Watson’s looks nasty.

1:43 EST – Both tee shots find the fairway.  We’ll give away a guest post to whomever can guess the number of shots taken in the playoff by the winner.

1:38 EST – Alright, down to bidness, folks.  5, 6, 17, and 18.  Low aggregate score after the four holes wins.

1:35 EST – If Rockabye’s waiting, so are we:

1:32: Go search for Tom Watson on Twitter. I’ll wait.

1:25 EST – Watson babies his par putt, and we’ve got free golf!

1:24 EST – Goggin’s birdie bid goes begging, and he’ll finish fifth.

1:22 EST – A mid-range putt is all that separates Watson from the Claret Jug.

1:21 EST – Watson will play first, from behind the green.

1:19 EST – Watson hammers an eight iron, and will need to get up and down to win in 72 holes.  Huge ovation as he approaches the green.

1:17 EST – Bogey for Westwood, and a Watson par earns him the Claret Jug.  Bogey for Watson means a playoff with Cink.

1:16 EST – Westwood left some pizza in the box, and will have some work to do for par.

1:13 EST – Watson splits the fairway at the eighteenth as Westwood, up ahead at the green, stalks his birdie putt.

1:10 EST – Westwood with a fantastic bunker shot at the last.  He’ll have two putts to tie Cink in the clubhouse.

1:07 EST – Maybe no video, but the lyrics are going up.  SC will just have to scrub it himself.  Censorship!!!

1:02 EST – If Cink wins this thing, we’re definitely posting the lyrics to the fight song, and maybe even a video of it.

Programming Note: No, he won’t.  SC.

12:58 EST – If Cink wins this thing, we’re definitely posting the lyrics to the fight song, and maybe even a video of it.  Also of note, Bobby Jones, another Tech alum, won this championship three times.

12:56 EST – STEWART CINK!!! CLUBHOUSE LEADER!!!

12:55 EST – Rockabye beats us to the punch:

12:52: The “Mathew Gaggin” jokes are forthcoming.

He makes his second straight bogey and falls behind the clubhouse lead at even.

12:51 EST – Watson leaves his birdie putt 3 feet short at the sixteenth, and Cink is looking at a birdie putt at the last.

12:48 EST – Westwood sprays his tee shot on the seventeenth well left.  One under looks better and better by the minute.

12:44 EST – Westwood makes bogey at the sixteenth, so Watson has the solo lead at the moment.  A playoff at one under would be unbelievable.

12:42 EST – Cink misses a birdie putt at the seventeenth that would have given him a share of the lead.

12:40 EST – Watson’s drive at the sixteenth just rolls into the rough, as every rule against cheering from the press box is violated.

12:38 EST – The ABC crew channeling Johnny Miller and excoriating Lee Westwood for his approach at the sixteenth.

12:33 EST – Watson, Westwood, and Goggin are knotted at two under, with Cink one back.

12:30 EST – Pump the brakes, there, Rockabye:

12:26: “Stewart Cink was touted as the guy who was going to give Tiger trouble for a little while.”

Really, ‘Zinger? When was that?

12:26 EST – Is Stewart Cink playing with Bryce Molder?  Holy jeez!  A Yellow Jacket twosome!

12:21 EST – Watson narrowly misses a par putt at the fourteenth.  The biggest story that hasn’t been talked about is the number of missed putts we’ve seen today.

12:17 EST – We love the Top Flite commercial with Kenny Mayne.  The best part about it is the complete lack of acknowledgement of the inherent irony of its content.  If you’re playing Rock Flites, you’re probably playing winter rules, accepting gimmes, and taking mulligans.

12:14 EST - In case you didn’t know, each major has a different playoff scenario.  From Sobel:

12:08 p.m. ET: An addendum to that last note: The four playoff holes would be Nos. 5, 6, 17 and 18.

12:12 EST – Rockabye’s a better son than we are:

12:07: From feed to gorgeous HD, because, finally, the family’s up.

12:07 EST – As if on cue, the Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech (and a helluva engineer) birdies the fifteenth to move within a shot of the lead.

12:05 EST – We’ll see Rockabye’s laziness, and raise it:

12:01: I’ll leave my scoreboard updating to Sobel:

11:54 a.m. ET: Tom Watson and Mathew Goggin each make par on No. 12.

With six holes to play, we have a three-way tie at the top.

Cink is two back at -1. Donald’s in the clubhouse at the same mark. Time for grit-your-teeth pars.

12:02 EST – Non-golf related: We just started following @Chick_fil_a on Twitter.  That’s one of the things we miss most about Atlanta.

11:56 EST – From Sobel:

11:51 a.m. ET: “He had yellow eyes! So, help me, God! Yellow eyes!”

Scut Farkas — er, Chris Wood — can’t convert his par effort on the final hole and settles for bogey instead.

We’re starting to think Sobel could live blog grass growing and it would be enjoyable.

11:53 EST – Boo Weekley is tied for ninth at one over.  Looks like our prediction of a top twenty finish for him is solid.  Take that, whoever it was that disagreed with us at TBL!

11:51 EST – Chris Wood burns the edge on the putt of his life.  His final score of one under makes him the clubhouse leader.

11:45 EST – Westwood almost jars a chip for birdie at the twelfth.  This is some amazing theatre.

11:40 EST – ‘Uge birdie for Watson at the eleventh.  Almost as ‘uge as the ovation he got for it, but nowhere near as ‘uge as the dip we’ve got going.

11:38 EST – From Rockabye at The Arena:

11:37: Kate Walsh, still in Cadillac commercials for no discernible reason.

They could put Kate Walsh in just about anything and it would be okay with us.

11:32 EST – Westwood singes the cup on a birdie putt at the eleventh, seconds after Watson does the same at the tenth.

11:26 EST – Dan Jenkins tells us via Twitter that Ross Fisher carded a front nine 40.  Goo.

11:21 EST – With Westwood in trouble at the tenth, Chris Wood splits the fairway at 17.  He’s in great position to post a number that the other guys have to catch.

11:15 EST – Stewart Cink birdies the 11th to move to one under.  Stewart Cink!  Yellow Jacket!  And you thought we wouldn’t be able to homer this thing up in any way.

11:10 EST – Watson and Goggin both miss the ninth fairway.  Here’s a leaderboard update from Rockabye:

11:06: A score check.

At -4: Westwood. At -3: Watson. At -2: Goggin. At -1: Cink, Wood, and Goosen. At even: Swede Richard Johnson.

11:03 EST – Absolutely love Peter Alliss’ description of the ninth hole: “It’s a way to get from the eighth to the tenth”.

10:56 EST – Rockabye channeling his inner Ty Duffy:

10:52: Wherever this feed is from, it has absolutely exquisite local commercials.

And by exquisite I mean execrable.

10:51 EST – Watson leaves his eagle putt short, but kicks it in for birdie.  He’s one back, and his playing partner Goggin is two back.  We could have a hell of a back nine in store for us.  Who said that you couldn’t have a great tournament without Tiger and Phil?

10:48 EST – The course is all of a sudden under assault.  Westwood eagles the seventh, and Watson has a chance to do the same.

10:46 EST – Ernie Els makes five at the last to post 1 over.  Probably puts him out of the picture.

10:42 EST – This is too good.  From Sobel:

10:34 a.m. ET: You know the long-standing live blog rule: Make me laugh and your e-mail gets in.

From Adam in Memphis:

If Chris Wood doesn’t win, then he’s got to be the frontrunner for the caddie scholarship, right? As long as he stays away from the judge’s niece.

So he’s got that going for him … which is nice.

10:33 EST – The best part about live blogging a live blog?  Sometimes the heavy lifting is done for you.  Leaderboard update, via Rockabye at The Arena:

10:29: Let’s do these leaderboard updates at the top and bottom of the hour:

Watson and Wood (and Westwood, who puts in birdie as I type this) are at -2. Cink, Goggin, and Goosen are at -1. Ross Fisher is even. A gaggle of golfers are at +1.

10:31 EST – PGA Tour tells us via Twitter that Lee Westwood birdies the sixth to join Chris Wood and Tom Watson as co-leaders at 2 under.

10:22 EST – Very cool of Jason Sobel to link us and The Arena.  Since we’re live blogging The Arena’s live blog, here are his thoughts:

10:17: From Sobel:

10:02 a.m. ET: Just in case you were wondering … why, yes, there is a live blog of the Live Blog — and a live blog of the live blog of the Live Blog, too.

For fun, go click the second link, then click a link to me, then a link to Sobel, then back to me, then back to…

Seriously, thanks for the link.

10:20 EST – Well, Fisher’s 8 has to make SC feel better about his back 9 56 yesterday.  These guys make mistakes too.

10:16 EST – At some point, the fact that Fisher is taking so long at the fifth may have an effect on Watson and Goggin, as well as his playing partner Westwood.

10:10 EST – Via Rockabye:

A young guns update:

16-year-old Matteo Manassero is at even par after a birdie on No. 15; 21-year-old Chris Wood is at -2 and just beginning his back nine; I feel as if I’ve done nothing with my life.

10:07 EST – Watson makes his par at the fourth, and Ross Fisher is in heap big trouble at the fifth, where he’s hit the ball three times, and still isn’t on the green.

10:00 EST – You can tell that Mike Tirico isn’t enjoying this Nicklaus interview.  Jack is monopolizing the conversation, and he’s tending to ramble.

9:56 EST – Watson makes another bogey at the third.  He needs to get it together, and probably will need some help as well.

9:49 EST – Els and Leonard are both at even par.  That could be a good number for both of them, as the weather might cause some problems for the later groups.

9:40 EST – Back to back bogies for Furyk.  Uncharacteristic of him.

9:32 EST – Ross Fisher holes out from off the green for a miraculous birdie.  If he’s going to have that kind of day, it could be tough for Watson.

9:29 EST – Watson bogies the first, and is now one shot back, but leader Ross Fisher is in a wee bit of trouble near the second green.

9:21 EST – The final group is off, as Goggin is just in the left rough, and Watson is in the fariway.  Up ahead at the first green, Ross Fisher birdies to take a share of the lead.

9:16 EST – Rousing ovation for Tom Watson at the first tee.

9:12 EST – The Big Easy chips in for birdie at 13 to get within four of the lead.

9:07 EST – Please please please let this me the last time they show this Reilly vignette.  It’s quite terrible.

9:00 EST – Furyk splits the fairway from the first tee.  We love the first tee announcer.  Great voice inflection.

8:53 EST – Rockabye lets us know that Paul Lawrie, possible the luckiest Open champion ever, holes out for a 2 on the par 5 seventh, scoring the elusive double eagle, or, albatross if you prefer.

8:48 EST – Rockabye gave you a reminder of his prediction, so here’s ours.  Retief Goosen was our pick on Friday.

8:45 EST – We’d love to see Watson win, but it would be super cool for an amateur to take the Claret Jug.  Mannassero is within a couple of shots.

8:42 EST – Almost 20 minutes before 9 AM, and we’ve already got a Cialis commercial.  Unbelievable.

8:39 EST – Really digging the Watson coverage.  It’s really nice that they haven’t screwed this up by forcing other storylines.

8:36 EST – Love the Scott Van Pelt NXT commercial.  Funny stuff.

Tags: British Open, John Daly, Tom Watson