British Open

Westwood vs. Donald Bill Dwyre Los Angeles Times This 140th edition of The Open Championship, also known on the United States side of the pond as the British Open, will come down to a country-wrenching battle for the title between Lee Westwood and Luke Donald. The English will be torn. Their tabloids will wring their hands in indecision that will manifest itself in big, black wobbly headlines. Whom to root for? Which one is truly our lad? They are both Englishmen, of course, but which is more English than the other?

Louis Oosthuizen Barry Stavro Los Angeles Times My Ouija board says the PGA champ will emerge from the group of 16 players who have won the last 16 majors and, no, Tiger Woods isn't in that mix. Sunday's winner will be … South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen. Granted, he's one of the more obscure names among the recent 16 major winners. But he's having a fine year. He came within a ball turn of sinking the winning putt at Augusta before Bubba Watson came out of the trees in a playoff to beat him for a green jacket, and Oosthuizen has continued to play well; he was in the mix last week at Firestone.

Tiger Woods is no stranger to success at the British Open, a tournament he's won three times in his career. He comes into the event having won three tournaments in his past seven, and has much to gain at the Open, including the world's No. 1 ranking, which could be his if he hoists the Claret Jug. The tournament is being held at the Royal Lytham & St. Anne's Golf Club, where it hasn't been hosted since 2001, one year after Woods won the British Open...

THURSDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS MLB Mets@Washington (T) MASN9 a.m. Mets@Washington MASN12:30 Orioles@Minnesota MASN21 Orioles@Minnesota (T) MASN7 White Sox@Boston MLB7 Mets@Washington (T) MASN11:30 Basketball United States vs. Great Britain ESPN22 United States vs. Great Britain (T) NBA12:30 a.m. NBA Summer Lg.: Milwaukee vs. Wash. (T) NBANoon Summer Lg.: New York vs. Toronto NBA4 Summer Lg.: Boston vs. Sacra.

GULLANE, Scotland -- If Muirfield were a person, it might be the kind of grim British schoolmaster that many of its members -- the prideful and all-male Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers -- happen to resemble.Lessons would be delivered with brisk condescension and an undeniable truth: "Place your drives in the fairway, young sirs, or golf for you will be little more than heavy labor."Indeed, missing the short grass at Muirfield, where the 121st British Open begins today, usually forces a player to bend his back in the hayfields that pass for rough or excavate earth from craters that pass for bunkers.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- From one end of the golf spectrum to the other, the first round of the 124th British Open provided something for everyone yesterday.It ranged from a sublime story line to a frightful spectacle -- from Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, John Daly and Mark McNulty all going around the Old Course in 67 strokes to Jack Nicklaus taking a 10 on one hole.There have been wilder rounds in the 124-year history of the Open, but not many. Watson, 45; Crenshaw, 43; McNulty, 41; and Daly, 29, are an unusual quartet of leaders at 5-under par.Three older guys and a good old boy on the Old Course?

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - He's baaaaack. Like his namesake in those 1980s horror movies, the golf career of Freddie Couples hasn't been killed off yet. A bad back, a bad marriage and a bad attitude brought Couples down from the top of the world rankings, but his immense talent keeps giving him a chance to win another major championship. It happened two years ago at Augusta, where Couples led the Masters with six holes to play. He drove into the trees and, after pitching into the fairway, put his approach on the par-5 13th into Rae's Creek.

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- The name of Sergio Garcia, familiar to the world's golf fans for eight years and 36 major tournaments seems ripe for new recognition. Sometime today, here on the east coast of Scotland, the Spaniard could fulfill his huge promise by commanding this 136th British Open and claiming his first major title at age 27. British Open Final round today, Carnoustie, Scotland TV: 6 a.m., TNT; 8 a.m., chs. 2, 7

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England - Mark Wiebe wandered through the clubhouse at Royal Lytham and St. Annes one day this week as if he were in a museum. This was only the second trip to the British Open for the 18-year PGA Tour veteran, and he wanted to soak everything in. The atmosphere. The accents. The history. "It's totally different from any other tournament we play," said Wiebe, whose previous appearance was in 1997 at Royal Troon, where he missed the cut. "The golf courses are all natural.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - Will he or won't he? That was the question fans of Jack Nicklaus here were asking yesterday after watching the 60-year-old legend take a sentimental stroll down the 18th fairway, stop on Swilican Bridge to accept their applause and close out the 129th British Open by missing an 8-foot birdie putt for a round of 1-over-par 73. Nicklaus, who earlier indicated this would be the 37th and last Open of his career, left the door open...

Tiger Woods is no stranger to success at the British Open, a tournament he's won three times in his career. He comes into the event having won three tournaments in his past seven, and has much to gain at the Open, including the world's No. 1 ranking, which could be his if he hoists the Claret Jug. The tournament is being held at the Royal Lytham & St. Anne's Golf Club, where it hasn't been hosted since 2001, one year after Woods won the British Open...

Add Keegan Bradley's name to the PGA Tour roster of rising young American talent. Maybe even at the top. The Vermont native has power, charisma, a Hall of Fame pedigree and some serious moxie after shaking off a triple bogey and five-shot deficit to seize the PGA Championship in his first appearance in a major. The Wanamaker Trophy also gives Bradley a better trophy shelf than those of Dustin Johnson, Nick Watney, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler. It's a remarkable list.

The biggest winner in Northern Ireland's parade of major champions might turn out to be Royal Portrush. The scenic club overlooking the country's northern coast is getting a renewed look to bring back the British Open for the first time in more than 50 years. Meanwhile, there's new discussion about taking the Irish Open north as soon as 2013. Club officials said last week that Northern Ireland finance ministers have pledged the necessary financial support to lure the Irish Open, which has had eight host venues in the last 13 years.

Westwood vs. Donald Bill Dwyre Los Angeles Times This 140th edition of The Open Championship, also known on the United States side of the pond as the British Open, will come down to a country-wrenching battle for the title between Lee Westwood and Luke Donald. The English will be torn. Their tabloids will wring their hands in indecision that will manifest itself in big, black wobbly headlines. Whom to root for? Which one is truly our lad? They are both Englishmen, of course, but which is more English than the other?

140th British Open When, where: Thursday-Sunday, Royal St. George's Golf Club, Sandwich, England. Course facts: 7,211 yards, par 70. The Open's first venue outside Scotland has hosted the championship 13 times. Format: 72 holes, stroke play. Field cut after 36 holes to top 70 and ties. Four-hole playoff, if necessary, immediately after final round. Field: 156 players (149 pros, 5 amateurs). Openings remain for the highest top-five finisher not yet qualified at both the John Deere Classic and Scottish Open.

In golf parlance, bodies of water are classified as "hazards. " And, we've come to learn, not only for wayward shots. For Thomas Levet, a French Open victory leap turned into a British Open withdrawal when doctors told him his broken shin requires surgery to insert screws and a plate. "However, the wonderful memory of winning my national Open will definitely keep me going through my recovery," the Frenchman said in giving up his spot next week at Royal St. George's. Call it a consolation prize.

TURNBERRY, Scotland -- You wake one day on a golfing planet gone completely merciless and Sergio Garcia seems middle-aged, Adam Scott winds up dumped to No. 43 and the rankings teem with those who arrived young but ready to rumble. Nine of the top 26 players have the audacity not to have reached age 30, the same goes for 16 of the top 50, and one theme of this 138th British Open entails whether golf's largest wave of precocity to date might deposit one of its 20-somethings somewhere well up the Sunday leader board.

LYTHAM ST. ANNES - Scott Hoch says he doesn't know what kind of reception he will get today from fans at the 130th British Open. It could be as cold as the weather Hoch hates to play in, which is one of the reasons Hoch has played in the event only three times during his career. Hoch took heat last year on both sides of the Atlantic after passing up a chance to play at St. Andrews. His return this year after a three-year absence has as much to do with a planned vacation in Italy with his wife and a contractual obligation to one of the companies he represents as it does with the golf.

While such PGA Tour stalwarts as David Duval , Stuart Appleby and Rocco Mediate drew followers as they went through Monday's U.S. Open qualifying, a former Open champion trudged along in near-anonymity. Steve Jones might have gotten into the Columbus, Ohio, playoff, too, if not for a bout with low blood sugar midway through his second 18 holes. Two bogeys and a double bogey in a four-hole span left him with too much ground to make up. "I felt weird," Jones said.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Tiger Woods took 32 putts Thursday with the new putter he brought to St. Andrews. That's more than he averaged two weeks ago with his old one. Not that it seemed to bother Woods. Nor did it keep golf's No. 1 attraction from one of his best rounds of his post-scandal comeback. Woods opened his quest for a St. Andrews three-peat with a 5-under-par 67 — one shot off his season best and four behind leader Rory McIlroy. "You had to go get it," said Woods, who finished the day tied for eighth.