Anthony Kim-inator - "i will be back...."

Good news golf fans - Anthony Kim is back. Kim will make his first start in three months at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational August 5-8 in Akron, OH. "i will be back next week at the wgc. looking forward to (being) back," he said via his Facebook page. Back in May, Kim had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb, an injury that was both painful and that cost him distance off the tee.

Why is Kim's return good news for the casual golf fan? Because he is one of those polarizing sports figures - young, brash, cocky, and really, really good. You love him or hate him, much like T.O. and Manny Ramirez. But love him or hate him, he's exciting. He's got a big personality in that little frame of his to go along with a big game. And that's exactly what golf needs right now.

The stretch run of the 2010 PGA Tour season is upon us and there's plenty of excitement and drama waiting to unfold. Next week's WGC event will have the world's best players and a major feel to it. Then it's glory's last shot, the final major of the season, the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, followed by the FedEx Cup Playoffs and the Ryder Cup.

Kim is currently ranked 4th in Ryder Cup points and 9th in FedEx Cup points. If he can get himself back into form quickly, this is a very good thing. We need Kim on the Ryder Cup. We need his fist pumping, all-out, reckless abandon style. Tell me an Ian Poulter, Anthony Kim singles match wouldn't be great drama. How bout Kim and Rory McIlroy in a head to head battle of young guns.

Let's hope Anthony Kim can get his game together in time for these big events. And let's just see if we don't notice a little more excitement in the air this fall.

What's In Your Bag?

Good Monday to you all. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Congratulations to last week's winners on the PGA and European tours, Swedes Carl Pettersson and Richard S. Johnson, respectively. Carl seems to hit his stride this time of year and usually either wins or contends in a tournament between the Open and the PGA Championship. I thought it was Dean Wilson's week, but strong, consistent play by Carl earned him another win. And I know Richard S. Johnson couldn't be more thrilled to win his home open, the Nordea Scandinavian Masters. The Swede played excellent throughout the weekend in tough conditions.

Today I'd like to introduce a new weekly feature for At Home On the Links, one that will help get you involved. Every Monday I'll post a Question of the Week. This might be something serious, something funny, something personal, something way out there. But I thought a great question to start off with is one that most golfers never seem to get tired of talking about - Equipment.

Specifically, what's in YOUR bag?

Share what clubs make up your 14....or 10....or 5, or whatever it may be. Old, new, dusty, antique, broken, we want to hear about them. Which one is your favorite, your "go-to" club? Which one scares the molasses out of you?

So share, complain, brag away on your set, and most importantly, have fun.

As the fearless leader of this blog and it's army of ______ strong followers, I'll lead the way. . .

Driver - 08 TaylorMade Burner (and I call him Old Tom Morris)
5w - Wilson Staff FYBrid 18 degree
3h - TaylorMade Burner
4h - Wilson Staff FYBrid
5-9, PW, SW, LW - Ping Zings from, oh, about 1991. OUCH! Think technology might help improve my game in this area???
Putter - Odessey Sabertooth (nice putter, it's my putting grip that's confusing the heck out of me right now)

My main focus right now is on becoming really, really close buddies with my new best friend, Old Tom Morris. Right now, we seem to have different ideas of where that tiny, white ball should go; and Old Tom is stubborn and strong and he's getting his bloody way at the moment. But I've got a little bit of stubbornness in me too (helps being Polish) and I will make nice with the Old guy and we will become old chums.

Now, what's in your bag?

Louis Oosthuizen - Champion Golfer of the Year

When did the song become lodged in your head, playing over and over, never knowing what the actual lyrics are? Was it sometime Friday morning when he took over the lead for the first time? Or was it Saturday morning as he waited to hit his tee shot on the famous first tee at St. Andrews? Or was it on about the 12th hole Sunday morning when the fat lady started her rendition....."Louis Louis....oh no....said we got go.....yeah yeah yeah yeah....." OK, so those aren't exactly the correct lyrics, but that's how it sounds in my head, and this is a PG rated blog.

Louis Oosthuizen, whose name was pronounced this weekend more ways than there are Baskin Robbins flavors, hoisted the Claret Jug after winning his first major championship. But Louis (it's much easier if you just call him Louis, kind of like Madonna or Prince) didn't just win, he won going away and he won in style. Tom Watson and Paul Azinger ranked his driving performance among the best they had ever seen in major championship history. It was almost as if he was out for a nice, relaxed practice round Monday morning with a couple of old buddies.

He laughed and joked around with Paul Casey, his playing partner in the final group, like they were old college chums enjoying a little male bonding time away from family. Azinger mentioned this on the first hole and said that Casey has a knack for lulling his playing partner into a false sense of security and then pouncing on him like a hungry lion. But Louis never flinched. He never faltered. He played as steady and relaxed a final round as anyone I can remember.

Ooshuizen's failure to succumb to the pressure and let Casey or Westwood have an inch ultimately made for a somewhat, dare I say, boring championship. Yes, there was no push from Phil or Tiger or Westwood, or anyone for that matter. But for true golf fans, the performance of little Louis Oosthuizen, or Shrek as he is sometimes affectionately referred to, should be remembered for the clinical and strategic way he attacked the course, and his unwavering grit in the face of a golfing world just waiting for him to fail.

Well played Louis. See you in 2011 at Royal St. Georges.

139th Open Championship Picks

Perhaps never has there been a year when The Open was more . . . wide open. If the events of November 2009 had never happened, Tiger Woods would be the overwhelming favorite. As it stands, he is just the favorite at 6-1 odds. He won at The Old Course in 2000 and 2005. He claims it as his "favorite course." But this isn't 2000 or 2005 and odds are just odds.

This year's field is strong. Europeans dominate the World Top 15 and with Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell's U.S. Open win in June, the Europeans are feeling more confident than ever. Ross Fisher and Lee Westwood have come close to winning majors recently. Rory McIlroy, despite just turning 21, seems on the cusp of a major win and breaking out of the stratosphere into world super stardom. Padraig Harrington has won two of the past three Opens and is always dangerous on a links course having grown up playing his father's course outside Dublin. Ian Poulter is known for his flashy clothes, but the Englishman's game has substance, as proven by a near miss at the 2008 Open and a win at this year's WGC-Matchplay Championship. And let's not forget arguably the hottest of the Europeans, Justin Rose. Rose has finally broken through with wins in two of his last three tournaments, the Memorial and the AT&T, and what could have been another win at the Travelers if not for a bad hole.

With Tiger the favorite and Phil with a chance to take over the #1 ranking in the world with a win at St. Andrews, I still think it will be a European who takes home the Claret Jug on Sunday. Most of these players have grown up playing The Old Course at St. Andrews and that is so critical when it comes to playing a course like this, where course strategy is so crucial. They are also more experienced and adept at playing in the cool, wet, windy seaside elements.

So, let's get to the picks.

Favorite: Tiger Woods. Hey, he's a 6-1 favorite; he's won the last two Opens played at St. Andrews; and he's the #1 ranked golfer in the world. On paper, he's the favorite.

Dark horse: Steve Stricker. It's difficult to call a player ranked 4th in the world a dark horse, but Stricker hasn't won a major championship. He is coming off a solid performance at the John Deere Classic, albeit on a track not even remotely similar to the type of golf being played this week. But he also is one of the best putters on tour, year in and year out. And he's a great lag putter. The winner this week will need to lag more than his fair share of putts close.

Sleeper: Sergio Garcia. If ever there was a sleeper, Sergio is it. As a matter of fact, has he been pulling a Rip Van Winkle outside of Madrid since the fall '08 season? He is under the radar this week.....way way under the radar. But he's played well in Opens and if the weather doesn't get too nasty, Sergio could be near the top come Sunday.

Contender: Rory McIlroy. Rory's one of those players who has grown up playing links style golf and has played St. Andrews often during his amateur days. Can he be as strategic all week as he needs to be to pull off the inevitable? He could be the leader going into Sunday. Will he be able to navigate the final three holes and take another giant step toward the #1 ranking?

Winner: Padraig Harrington. Harrington thrives in links golf. He also thrives on navigating courses, thinking his way from hole to hole. He's a grinder. He's used to big, undulating greens and should be able to lag his way to a bunch of two putts. Look for it to come down to the ol' Irishman and the young lad McIlroy as they navigate their way through the road hole and up 18. And look for the winner of the gold medal and champion golfer of the year to be....Padraig Harrington.

The 139th Open Championship from the Old Course at St. Andrews

Open Championship week begins today and judging by the tweets of players like Ian Poulter and Stewart Cink, the 150th anniversary edition is shaping up to be a classic. Following Poulter and Cink via their Twitter accounts, it is easy to see they are already having a blast in the land of kilts and bagpipes.

St. Andrews, “The Home of Golf,” plays host to a championship that was first played before the Civil War had even began. The Open was first played on October 17, 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland. Back then players used persimmon woods and gutta percha golf balls. Eight Scottish professionals vied for the title with Willie Park Sr. defeating Old Tom Morris by two strokes. Now the field is made up of 156 players from countries all over the globe including Japan, Argentina, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States. Persimmon woods and gutta percha balls only make appearances at museums or old time hickory stick competitions.

As this year’s players pack up their graphite shafted, 460cc titanium drivers and 3 piece golf balls and catch their charter flights to the UK, I eagerly await what is not only my favorite golf major, but my favorite golf tournament. What makes, as we Americans generally call it, the British Open so special to me? Pinpointing one particular aspect is difficult.

As a history buff, I cannot help but be attracted to a championship that started in the 19th century. But it’s more than that. It is links style golf. We don’t often get to see that style of golf played, especially here in the States. Links golf is about shot making and creativity and not just smashing the golf ball as far as you can. It’s about taking the bad with the good. The course isn’t always fair, but that goes for everyone. How you recover from the bad breaks has a lot to do with how you fair in the tournament.

Bad breaks come from the course itself. A yard to the right and you’re in the fairway. A yard to the left and you’re in fescue up to your waist. But bad breaks also come about due to the weather. Scottish weather. English weather. Seaside, coastal weather. Summer in Scotland can be cool and rainy, and often is the week of the Open. There’s nothing like baking in the hot, pounding summer sun here in America and envying those fans dressed in raingear and holding on to each other for dear life so they don’t blow away. The forecast for this week shows highs in the upper 50s and low 60s with a 50-60% chance of rain each day. I’ve promised my wife that when I watch this week, I won’t turn the air conditioner down to 58 and bundle up with a fleece while sipping hot tea. But I’ve thought about it.

The Open Championship is all of these things. It’s hearing Scottish fiddle music played as the TV network goes to break. It’s hearing Ivor Robson, the official starter of the Open, introduce the players at the first tee in his unique style. It’s having tournaments at places called Royal St. George’s, Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s, Carnoustie, and Royal Birkdale. It’s seeing fans eating their fish & chips and devouring massive amounts of ice cream while strolling the windswept links. It’s getting up at 5 a.m. here in Virginia to watch the opening round from Scotland live.

The Open Championship is all of these things and much more. So enjoy this week of golf as Stewart Cink gets set to defend his Open title and Ian Poulter stalks the Claret Jug like a lion. Enjoy this week for it is special – the 139th Open Championship at St. Andrews.

John Deere Classic Picks

While most of the big dogs are preparing for the British Open this week by playing links style golf at Loch Lomond in Scotland or trying to maintain a low profile in Windermere, FL, the rest of the PGA Tour is gearing up for the John Deere Classic in Silvis, IL.

With thoughts of St. Andrews and a long charter flight to Scotland on the minds of Open participants, look for someone not in next week's Open field to step up and grab the title Sunday.

A birdiefest is always possible at the TPC Deere Run course which ranked 43rd out of 54 in difficulty in 2009. At 20-under par last year, Steve Stricker looks to defend his title against a field that includes up and coming star Rickie Fowler, steady Eddy Zach Johnson, and Players Champion Tim Clark. But it could be someone farther down the World Golf rankings who steps up this week, someone without thoughts of kilts, old Nessie, and the Road Hole.

Favorite - Steve Stricker
Dark horse - John Merrick
Sleeper - Kenny Perry
Contender - Zach Johnson
Winner - Marc Leishman
Surprise Not to Make the Cut - Bubba Watson