For a decade we golfers knew that Tiger Woods was the Number one golfer in the world. For a few weeks Vigay Singh had more points than Tiger in the Sony World rankings, but we knew the truth, didn't we?

We knew that Phil Mickelson was the #2 in the world, and that Steve Stricker was #3. Paul Casey was 4th, etc. But who is #1 now? Sure, the Sony rankings claim that Tiger is still Number One, but come on! He hasn't played like the best golfer in the world since last fall.

Yes, I know his mind has been in turmoil due to his marriage problems, and I know as well as anyone how the mind can upset the golf swing, but really? With such an opening, I would think Phil would have come on strong and overtaken Tiger during his time of weakness. But has that happened? NO!

And it won't happen as long as Callaway owns Phil Mickelson. It seems Phil can't think for himself without consulting with Callaway or his ambulance chasing attorney, Glenn Cohen in Jacksonville, FL. As long as Phil plays Callaway drivers and the Callaway (Odyssey) putter, he will not come close to the golfer he should be. All just to con the public into believing that Callaway golf equipment is the best in the business!

I can read Phil Mickelson's head stone right now: "Phil Mickelson. He should, and would have been the best, but for Callaway Golf."

The fourth major championship of 2010, the PGA, is approaching, and is anyone favored to win it? I wouldn't be surprised if another nobody European wins the PGA. There is no American player who has stood up this year and claimed he is Number one.

But I am willing to make a prediction. Lee Westwood will finish runner-up at the PGA! That seems to be his mission in his life.

Last week at the Open Championship I was surprised to see Louis Oosthuizen win it, especially by such a wide margin. I attributed the win to his lucky round on Friday when he was able to miss the 50 to 60 MPH winds that hit most of the field that day.

I predicted that he was just a "flash in the pan" winner, and that we would not hear much more from Oosthuizen in the weeks to come. I may have been wrong!

Instead of taking a week off to celebrate his victory at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Oosthuizen entered the Nordea Scandinavian Masters in Sweden this last week, and was tied for the lead after the first round. I was especially impressed with his reason for playing. "It is good for the European Tour."

Oosthuizen continued to stay close to the lead through three rounds. In following the tournament, I was surprised to see that no Americans were entered in the field. KJ Choi from Korea was entered, which surprised me, because he has played so well for years on the PGA Tour.

The ultimate winner was Sweden's own Richard Johnson at 11 under par, and Oosthuizen finished a respectable three shots back.

This week the Senior British Open is being played at Carnoustie in Scotland, and Tom Watson who also played in the Open Championship last week at St. Andrews is in the field. One American who was scheduled to play this week is Mark O'Meara, but he canceled the trip after his Dad passed away. He decided that his place was with his family instead. It should be an interesting week watching the seniors play Carnoustie.

I also noticed that last week's Open Champion, Louis Oosthuizen, is playing at the European Tour event in Sweden this week. I would have expected him to take a week off after his first major victory, but according to the commentators he chose to play because, "It will be good for the European Tour."

That's commendable, and Louis made the most of the first round by shooting five under par and was tied for first when they went off the air. A few days ago the Golf channel commentators were taking bets as to whether Oosthuizen's win at the Open championship is a "flash in the pan" victory, never to happen again, or if he is the real deal, and will go forward and continue to win on tour. I personally think he got tremendously lucky when he missed most of the high winds that hit St. Andrews last Friday, and that lucky day led to his victory.

Time will tell if his swing and his mental game take him to new wins in the near future.

Oosthuizen's major victory also started an argument among the Golf Channel commentators about the status of American tour pros, and whether anyone would once again dominate professional golf in the near future like Tiger dominated prior to last year's indiscretions.

The consensus seemed to be, "No, no one player will dominate the tour for some time." Phil Mickelson's game is hurting, due in my opinion to his endorsement contract with Callaway. Phil is forced to play golf equipment that is in my opinion second-rate, especially his driver and his putter. I explained two months ago why I am no longer a Phil Mickelson fan, because tour players owe it to themselves and to their fans to play the best they can play, and not put endorsement money ahead of performance.

Steve Stricker is supposed to be the Number 3 player in the world, but his game varies tremendously depending upon the course he happens to be playing at any one time. Then look at the European players who have won recently. Justin Rose won twice on the PGA Tour, then McDowell won the U.S. Open, to be followed by Oosthuizen's win at the Open championship.

Lee Westwood finished as the runner-up for the umpteenth time, and in my opinion will do so for the rest of time. He just doesn't have the mental strength to see himself as the best, only the second best!

The upcoming PGA Championship may bring out a player who separates himself from the pack, but I doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if another "nobody" takes that major as well.

I remember the first time I saw a PGA Tour player on TV during a tour event with a significant growth on his face. That's right, a beard! I thought to myself, "Wow, this guy is going to get in trouble with the PGA Tour."

For some reason I thought there must be a rule on tour that no one could grow a beard, that all players had to be clean shaven. After all, what would happen to professional tour golf if a bunch of hippies showed up to play?

Then, when I didn't hear any comments from TV commentators about the beard, I saw a player with long hair on tour. I thought to myself, "Now this guy has done it! He's going to catch it for sure." But then nothing seemed to happen to him either.

More recently I learned that the PGA Tour pretty much keeps its tour players from being approachable by equipment manufacturers that want to show tour players new equipment that is intended to make each player a better driver of the ball, or a better wedge player, or a better putter. The tour's rules do not allow any equipment manufacturer from approaching any tour player unless that manufacturer already has a contract to play that manufacturer's equipment!

And when those kinds of rules apply to tour players, you know what happens, right? That's right, lawyers then run the tour. Lawyers that "represent" each tour player then dictate who can talk to their "client" on tour.

But what about each player's thoughts? Can the tour control what players are thinking? Can the tour control what each player says in front of a camera? Unfortunately, I believe the tour (PGA, European, Nationwide, etc.) not only can control what players think and say, they do control what they think and say.

Last week's British Open is an example. I watched virtually 100% of the telecast of the 2010 Open Championship, and have taken the position that Louis Oosthuizen was given a gift, and the victory, on Friday morning, when he finished the first two days with a huge lead over the rest of the field because the wind did not blow during the hours that Oosthuizen was on the course on Thursday and Friday.

Was that lucky for him? Yes. Does the PGA or the Royal and Ancient try to control the starting times to make the first two days' tee times as fair as they can each week for the entire field? Yes. But does that mean the weather will be the same both days? No.

It was obvious to me that Oosthuizen received the ultimate gift in a professional golf major championship, almost perfect weather for himself while most of the field suffered through tremendous winds that made the Old Course at St. Andrews virtually impossible to play for 95% of the field.

But did we hear any of the commentators speak up and tell the world of that gift? No. Nada. The professional tours have control over those commentators, as well as the players that tee it up every week. And telling the world that the winner was lucky is not in the cards. They MUST praise the winner as the one player who conquered the course in all kinds of conditions when the rest of the field, including the best players in the world, simply failed to measure up that week!

I was watching the Golf Channel's tape delayed interviews on Monday morning, many of which I had already seen Sunday evening after the Open had ended hours before, and I witnessed one interview where the actual truth almost came out about Oosthuizen seven-shot victory.

The media asked Rory McIlroy about the 80 he shot on Friday during the hurricane that blew most players off the course, when he had shot his record-breaking 63 on Thursday, and followed the 80 with two more rounds in the 60's on the weekend.

I could tell Rory was picking his words very carefully, trying not to mention the fact that Oosthuizen missed the 60+ miles per hour winds that almost canceled Friday's round because the tour considered the course unplayable. But he did, for one second, almost make the statement about Oosthuizen's amazing luck, but then changed his chain of thought and said Oosthuizen "held on like a champion over the weekend, and did not choke coming down the stretch" (with his seven shot lead).

Granted, the tour officials don't want a lot of name calling and sore losers on tour, but what about honest feelings and emotion on the part of players? Is the tour justified in trying to make tour stars appear dishonest, void of emotion, when the truth is so apparent?

I for one would like to see tour players tell it like it is for once, and not have the fear of suspension hanging over them every time they answer a question posed to them by the media.

In my 50 years watching 200 major golf championships, this is the first time I have ever seen the weather determine the winner! During a week when almost hurricane winds blew virtually 99.9% of the players off the Old Course at St. Andrews at one time or another, Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa played early Thursday in no winds, and then got lucky by playing during a lull in the weather on Friday.

To give you an idea how tough the conditions were for most players on Friday, the first round leader, Rory McIlroy, followed his opening 63 on Thursday with an 80 in the wind on Friday. He then shot in the 60's again on Saturday and Sunday.

Oosthuizen built up such a lead over the rest of the field the first two days that no one could mount a charge over the weekend to catch him!

And looking at the rest of the field on Saturday and Sunday, no one even seemed interested in trying to catch Louis since his lead was so large! Tiger Woods on the front nine on Sunday hit two very stupid tee shots with driver that he should have known would put him in two of the dangerous bunkers that cannot be played forward toward the hole.

Tiger had to play sideways out of both of those bunkers, wasting two shots when he needed to put up a charge to try to catch the players in front of him. He started birdie, par, birdie, then drove into one of those bunkers and made double bogey. Then he made two pars, only to make another double bogey from driving into another bunker! Tiger, Phil Mickelson, and the rest of those chasing Oosthuizen seemed to lose all common sense on Sunday, making one bad mental decision after another!

Here I am on Sunday morning watching the Open Championship, and with nine holes still to go I am giving the victory to Louis Oosthuizen.

Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen! Take this gift and make the most of it with the rest of your career!

I'm heading to the golf course.

Yesterday I talked about the importance of today's weather conditions in determining who will have the advantage going into the weekend at the Open Championship. Friday's weather was not even close to being the same as Thursday! Very early players on Friday did get a tremendous break from the weather, as did the early players on Thursday.

Louis Oosthuizen, for example, received the gift of a lifetime Friday morning when he was able to play in no wind and light rain, so the greens actually held shots. The wind then picked up so quickly after he finished that the officials suspended play for an hour and six minutes. If the wind had not died down a little so play could continue, officials would have canceled the entire second round for Friday, canceling Louis's round of 67! As things stand as of this writing, Louis will have a tremendous lead over the field starting Saturday's round because players are fighting just to make pars Friday afternoon.

After play continued, the average scores increased by three shots per player over the players who finished before the suspension! Scoring difficulty increased tremendously after play resumed. Rory McIlroy, for example, had shot 63 on Thursday, 9 under par, but then hit the windy conditions Friday and was +8 through 16 holes for the day when I discontinued following Friday's round!

After all players finish their rounds Friday evening, it will be interesting to see what score is required to make the cut for the weekend.

The first round of the Open championship ended about as I had predicted, with most of the leaders playing early, before the wind picked up. Friday's forecast shows the weather will not be the same as Thursday, however, so conditions will probably not be equal for everyone after the first two days.

Phil Mickelson showed why he can't score at the British Open when it is windy, because he can't hit the ball low when necessary.

Two of the players I mentioned yesterday that we should watch out for are Ernie Els and Justin Rose. Both players shot under par today.

Tiger shot well as he always does at St. Andrews, and a nice surprise for American viewers was John Daly's six under par start.

The leader after the first day, Rory McIlroy, represents one of the young players in the field this year.

Six of the players on the first page of the leaderboard are Europeans with whom I am unfamiliar, but unknown Europeans near the lead on day-one of the Open Championship is nothing new. They usually fade after the first day, so it will be interesting to see if any of them remain near the top after Friday.

One reader commented to me that Edoardo Molinari should be among the top picks to win after his performance last week at the Scottish Open, and I agree. Edoardo shot three under on Thursday.

After Friday's round, and we get to see if the same weather holds as Thursday, we will have a better look at the leaderboard and the potential outcome.

The 150th British Open starts tomorrow, and predicting the winner at this time is impossible, obviously! The day before the U.S. Open started, I picked Dustin Johnson to win, and after three rounds, he had a three stroke lead. But then the press scared the *&#$ out of him Saturday night, telling him he was not human if he was not scared to death as the leader of the Open!

But the British Open is not so obvious to me. Experience versus youth, the weather, and who is hot right now all have to be figured into the mix.

The weather, to start with, often helps break winners away from the rest of the field. There are specific players who simply hit the ball too high to play in the wind. Others can't play in the cold, or the rain. So until tomorrow, and we get an idea of what the playing conditions will be, we will just have to wait and see.

I'd prefer to look at the list of players who are hot going into the event to try to pick a winner this early. Among hot players this year we have Ernie Els, and he is experienced at St. Andrews. This week is his fourth trip to St. Andrews.

Steve Stricker is hot right now, coming off a record-setting win at the John Deere Classic last week. He is ranked Number 4 in the world right now.

Many odds-makers give Phil Mickelson a good chance to win, but I think he hits the ball too high to win if the wind blows at all.

I think Justin Rose will have a good chance to win this week. He already has two wins in his last three PGA tour events, and this will be his ninth British Open. Although this is his first trip to St. Andrews, he knows how to play British coastal links courses.

Congratulations to Paula Creamer for her victory at the Women's United States Open! If you will recall, Paula is one of the women that I mentioned months ago who has an unusual quirk in her neck when she makes contact. The other two are Lorena Ochoa and Natalie Gulbis. Paula has always tilted her head to the right and dropped it toward the ground at impact.

Commentators talked this past week about how Paula was holding her head more upright at impact this last week, making her more consistent. That must have been something she has been working to correct if the change was that apparent to the course commentators.

I remember mentioning about three weeks ago that it is good that Lorena Ochoa was retiring at the young age of 28, because she might break her neck if she continues tournament golf much longer!

No matter who the golfer is, holding the head still during the golf swing is probably the most important thing you can do to be a consistent golfer. Everything else in the swing revolves around the head.

Now back to the Men's PGA Tour, and the upcoming Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

I finally learned where Tiger woods is. He is at St. Andrews. How long he has been there is the question I asked last week. Tiger won the last two Open championships that were held at St. Andrews, by eight strokes and by five strokes respectively. No one has ever won three consecutive Open championships held at St. Andrews, so Tiger has the chance to be the first.

Yes, he is still recovering from his personal problems and his divorce from Elin, which will make concentrating on golf difficult still. But maybe the Open at St. Andrews is important enough to him to be able to put that behind him and let him concentrate.

St. Andrews has been lengthened since the last Open there, and the key to winning the Open will be the ability of the players to stay away from the deep bunkers on their tee shots.

I for one am looking forward to watching the Open this year due to the number of new young players that have invaded the tour in the last three years. Weather will be a factor as well as it always is at the Open. I have not heard what the weather is forecasted to be this coming week, so it will be interesting to see the results of round one on Thursday.

That should tell us a lot about what we can expect for the rest of the week.

I asked earlier this week what Tiger woods was doing to prepare for the Open Championship at St. Andrews next week. No one seems to know!

I haven't been able to find any article online all week long that mentions where Tiger has been this week, or what he is doing to prepare for the next major championship.

There has been talk about his divorce from Elin, and that she may only be awarded $100 million from their divorce instead of the $500 million that the golf media was ready to give her six months ago. But judges usually know more about after-tax income and expenses than the typical reporter knows about that kind of thing.

If I were Tiger, I would be quietly playing the Old Course at St. Andrews this past week, in preparation for the Open Championship that begins Thursday, July 15.

So, assuming Tiger shows up on the first tee on Thursday, what are his chances of winning? He has won the Open Championship twice on the Old Course already.

I have already answered that question before, and I'll say it again; "It depends if he has put his personal problems behind him."

He already showed signs that he had done just that with several spurts of magic on the course in the last month; he just hasn't won yet this year. This will be a tough week to show his on course magic due to the publicity surrounding his divorce settlement that has been in the news.

I personally think he will play well this coming week, but not well enough to win his 15th major championship. I don't think he will be able to put his divorce out of his mind that soon.