Return of the Shankapotamus

The British Open at Turnberry begins this evening/morning around 1:30 AM and that means the return of the fantasy golf game on espn.com. As you might remember, I created an entry for the US Open. A few weeks ago was my first endeavor in the four-man best ball fantasy game. Needless to say, being a rookie hurt me. I did not realize that you take the best score from your four golfers on each hole. So basically you want to pick guys that will make lots of birdies. This gives you the best chance of scoring low. With the experience under my belt, I feel more prepared to create a dynamo squad for the British Open.

If you don't know much about the British Open, just know that it is THE tournament in Great Britain, aka the birthplace of golf. In Britain it is links style courses that most often are on the shoreline and are open to high winds and weird weather. The greens are large and the rough is thick. I would rank a British Open win as bigger than US Open and slightly lower than the Masters.

With my knowledge of British Open past, I think I have a pretty solid squad for the Best Ball Challenge. The roster for Shankapotamus II:

Golfer 1: Steve Stricker: Steve is coming off a big win last week where he finished 20 under par. He has been one of the most consistent players over the past couple years and I like him to play solid golf this week and be in contention come Sunday.

Golfer 2: Lee Westwood: Lee is arguably the best player in Britain. He plays a mostly European schedule and always performs well in the major tournaments. His knowledge of links courses and great game make him one to watch out for this week.

Golfer 3: Soren Hanson: I don't know much about Soren, but he did play well in the US Open and is from Europe. I have a feeling about him and who knows, I could be wrong.

Golfer 4: JB Holmes: JB hits the ball a mile, and while that is an awesome thing, it sometimes leads to bad holes. The flip side is that it leads to great holes. JB is the ultimate golfer for this fantasy game because of the number of birdies he will put up on the board in any given round.

That is the team, and I expect more than the 60% standing I had at the end of the US Open.