2012 U.S Open Golf Championship

The 2012 United States Open commences on Thursday June 14 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco California. The Olympic Club last hosted the U.S Open in 1998 when Lee Janzen was the champion. Since 1998 the greens have been remodeled so the course is different for two of the favorites who are both California natives: Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. As a result of the course changes, the strenuousness of the course, and the historical difficulty of any U.S Open many players will be in contention to win this annual event which concludes on Fathers Day.

The players that have the best chance for success are the ones that keep the ball in the fairway off of the tee. The second key indicator for success is putting. Players who have the least putts will position themselves for the best finish.


Favorites
1) Tiger Woods - Tiger is playing well. He is confident.
2) Jason Dufner - Dufner is the leading money winner. He is ranked 30th in Putting. He is ranked 11th in Driving Accuracy. Based on his play alone Dufner is probably the favorite. The concern is that he has not won a Major before. The tournament is pressure packed and Dufner needs to prove that he maintain his play under pressure.
3) Matt Kuchar - Kuchar is ranked 25th in Driving Accuracy. He is ranked 13th in Putting. Kuchar won the Players Championship and seems to have the temperment to maintain his play. If he can make the cut his consistent play will give him a good opportunity to win
4) Phil Mickelson - Phil is ranked 140th in Driving and 20th in Putting. If can his 65-70 percent of the fairways and maintain his putting prowess he will be in contention again. Mickelson has finished second 6 times. He finished second in 2006 and 2009. Phil is due to finish number one after finishing second three years apart. If the pattern continues a second place in 2012 would not be surprising.

Dark-Horse
1) Zach Johnson - Great Driver and Putter. Zach is ranked 15th in Driving Accuracy. Zach is ranked 1st in Putting. He has been in contention several times over the past several weeks. Nobody is considering him this week. He has the mental fortitude, a Masters Championship, and the game to be U.S Open Champ
2) Jim Furyk - Jim won the U.S Open in 2003. He ranked 2nd in Driving Accuracy. He is ranked 43 in Putting. Jim is a precise player who is mentally strong. He is a grinder and has finished in the top ten several times. He may not win but I bet he will be in the top ten going into Sunday.

Boston College beats University of Florida

Boston College beat the University of Florida in football recruiting, finally. Tim Boyle of Middletown Connecticut and St. Xavier High School verbally committed to Boston College last week.

In the 2011 class St. Xavier had a linebacker Graham Stewart that committed to Boston College. Graham was scooped up by the Gators late in the recruiting process. Graham ended up at UConn for family reasons. However, one of the comments from Tim Boyle last week make me think that Grahams experience at Florida had a good deal to do with Tim verbally committing to Boston College(among other reasons).

Tim Boyle said "Honestly, being young I was looking for a program like the (Florida) Gators. I've come to realize it's not about that. It'd be cool to be a Gator but are you going to play?"

This is the crux of the pitch that Boston College recruiters need to use with good players.

Also:
1) We will give you the academic support to graduate.
2) The NFL is waiting. If you have the talent Boston College has the connections to get you there.
3) Proximity to Boston.