Streaky Players Will Define Open Championship Buzz

Tiger Woods.  Padraig Harrington.  And, yes, Martin Kaymer.  All three are riding unique streaks going into this week's Open Championship at Turnberry.  The buzz before the tournament will seemingly surround the patterns developing around these players.

For El Tigre, it is that he has won each of his starts before a major championship this season - Bay Hill, Memorial, and his National.  So far, he is 0 for two in building off of the win into a major victory.

Padraig Harrington won his third consecutive Irish PGA Championship this weekend.  He did it this year by seven shots at the European Club - a course boasting a layout and rough very similar to what players should expect at Turnberry this week.  Though Harrington has not come across as particularly confident about his chances, the trend cannot be ignored: when Harrington wins the Irish PGA Championship, he wins the Open Championship.

Upstart German Martin Kaymer has made quite a splash on the European Tour is his few seasons on the circuit.  That success has not translated well to the United States, or into major championships, but Kaymer became the first player since Ian Woosnam in 1990 to win the final two European Tour events leading to the Open Championship.  There is no "if, then" statement that would indicate Kaymer is on his way to a major breakthrough, but it will be curious to see if Kaymer can make it a winning streak at Turnberry.

Then, there are streaks for the worse.  Sergio Garcia has finished top 5 in the Open for the period of 2005 through 2007.  In that time, he had two very legitimate chances to win his first major.  He seems to be more star-crossed at this championship than any other.  Might he end that this week?  Then again, he misses the cut in the Open every fifth year since 1999.  It's the fifth year.

How about Ben Curtis?  He missed three straight Open cuts after his 2003 triumph, but has top 10 finishes in the Paddy Harrington Era.  The same is true of Steve Stricker.  Actually, they flip-flopped 7th and 8th place in each of the last two years.

Ultimately, Turnberry will do more to decide the champion than streaks.  It is long, has deep rough, and will require precision off of the tee to win.  We should be in for a great week this weekend.