The Loop
The Grind: British Open predictions, restless flights and a golfer's worst nightmare
By Alex Myers
Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we don't know where to begin. There was an epic playoff, a teenager made history, and 59s were flowing like soda pop at a Taylor Swift concert. We need to take a deep breath and let it all sink in. It's a good thing this next week is a slow one. Oh. Wait.
WE'RE BUYING
Big checks are AWESOME.
Jordan Spieth: An incredible season for the 19-year-old Spieth is now historic. With his playoff win in the John Deere, which followed a holed bunker shot for birdie on the final hole of regulation, Spieth became the youngest PGA Tour winner in 82 years. Oh yeah, we also PICKED him to win. That's our boy!
Phil Mickelson: After two decades as a pro, Phil Mickelson's Scottish Open win proves he's finally mastered links golf! OK, so the weather in Scotland being more like what Phil grew up with in San Diego certainly didn't hurt. But hey, with those benign conditions supposed to continue this week, is it possible Phil will win a British Open before he wins a U.S. Open? It's Phil. Anything is possible.
People shooting 59s: First, a 16-year-old (Will Grimmer), then a Web.com player (Will Wilcox), then a PGA of Canada pro (Brian Hadley). We don't know what's crazier: the fact that they all shot golf's magic number in the same week or that the first two didn't win their respective events.
Kenny Perry: We expected him to dominate the Champions Tour after nearly winning the Masters at 48, but things didn't come easy. Until now. Trailing by 10 shots through two rounds of the U.S. Senior Open, his 64-63 weekend gave him a five-shot win and a second straight major. 64-63? Did the USGA let the PGA Tour run the event this year?
WE'RE SELLING
Steve Stricker: First of all, he only finished T-10 at the John Deere. what gives? But more importantly, he's skipping this week's British Open after coming up painfully short at the U.S. Open. The semi-retirement thing is fine (and so is him wanting to celebrate his 20th anniversary with his wife), but he can't play in the FOUR majors of the year?
Inbee Park: Wait, a Park (Hae Young Park) won last week's LPGA Tour stop and it wasn't Inbee? C'mon, Winbee, you're supposed to win every week! Oh, you shot 65-67-68-68? Well, that's not good enough!
Sleeping on overnight flights: We don't care if you pop a sleeping pill or have a few cocktails, unless you are a contortionist, you're not going to get a good night's sleep in economy class. Oh, and memo to the jerk trying to read a book while EVERYONE else on the plane is trying to sleep: There's no such thing as a "personal light."
Waiting at the baggage claim: Having your clubs not show up is the worst nightmare for any golfer, but especially one who plays the game for a living. We saw Bo Van Pelt wait before leaving the Edinburgh Airport empty handed. Fortunately for BVP, his clubs showed up later and through the magic of Twitter, we were able to alert him to this. Sorry we couldn't bring them to you, Bo. We really were running late to a tee time.
ON TAP
The world's best golfers head to Muirfield for the Open Championship, aka the British Open to us rude Americans.
Random tournament fact: The last time this Scottish links hosted the game's oldest major was in 2002. Ernie Els won and Tiger Woods shot a third-round 81 to end his chance at a calendar Grand Slam.
WEEKLY YAHOO! FANTASY LINEUP
Starters -- (A-List): Sergio Garcia: We've got a feeling this is the week. Of course, we probably won't get another pick right for five years after nailing our Spieth pick last week.
(B-List): Hunter Mahan: His performance at Merion showed he's ready to start consistently contending at majors.
(B-List): Bo Van Pelt: Hey, at least we know he has his golf clubs.
(C-List): Lee Westwood: Like Garcia, he has to win a major at some point, right? And now he's got Sean Foley on the case!
Bench: Bill Haas, Louis Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson, Adam Scott.
THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY DISPLAYS OF PUBLIC AFFECTION
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, Paulina did tweet this lovely picture of herself, but no PDA from the two lovebirds this week. Has DJ actually been focusing on his golf game?
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Pro players hitting golf balls "Happy Gilmore" style? Awesome. Our only question is: What took so long?
Tiger Woods was seen testing out a new Nike Covert driver at Muirfield. Of course, he was also testing out that injured elbow. It's a shame there's never any intrigue surrounding this guy! . . . Nick Faldo will play the Open at Muirfield one last time. With two wins there, we think he's earned it. . . . Yes, that's a picture of Bill Haas rolling his clubs away from the Edinburgh airport baggage claim. No, I'm not stalking him. Nice monogrammed luggage, Bill!
RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER
Will they ever make advancements in airline food?
Did all the players' clubs arrive?
Are there any Chili's in Scotland?
-- Alex Myers is an Associate Editor for GolfDigest.com. Feel free to email him and please follow him on Twitter since he has self-esteem issues.