The march towards the Open Championship arrives today at its last European stage: the splendid and prestigious Scottish Open, underway until Sunday at Castle Stuart Golf Links in Inverness. It's about a real dress rehearsal, given that the British Open, the third Major of the year, the only one in Europe, will be played next week again in Scotland, at Muirfield, near Edinburgh.
Many players from all over the world are already away in the old continent, last week Matt Kuchar, number five in the ranking, took part in the French Open (won by Graeme McDowell), while this week Phil Mickelson arrives from the States, the left-handed number eight in the world, already winner of four Majors (never a British though) and second, six times, at the US Open, lost again this year by a whisker. The 43-year-old champion is an outspoken and likeable man and before facing Castle Stuart he admits: “I had to digest the painful defeat at Merion. But golf is largely made of this, of the ability to bear disappointments and overcome them”. Great truth, which also makes this game fascinating for the public. The ghosts that populate the mind of the players often take shape on the pitch even for those who watch and those who know how to face them and, sometimes, defeat them are recognized. Mickelson is certainly one of these brave knights and his record bears witness to it. The same can be said of Ernie Els, the South African number 13 in the world, current reigning Open Championship champion and winner of two Scottish Opens, in 2000 and 2003.
Two Italians on whom the blue hopes are concentrated are also playing for the second week in a row: Matteo Manassero (number 26 in the world) and Francesco Molinari (number 41). A preparatory training that they judged essential before the big test in Muirfield. An important match for them and fundamental for the other compatriots on the field: Lorenzo Gagli, Matteo Delpodio and Alessandro Tadini, still hunting for an invitation for next week. The winner in Scotland enters the field of the British Open by right, but if he is already qualified, we look for the first in the standings still out of the small number of privileged ones. In short, a battle for survival and glory that everyone wants to win. The Inverness course is criticized for being too easy, but for this very reason it can be, psychologically, the ideal springboard towards a demanding test at the highest levels.
While waiting for the European tour and the US tour to make a common stop in Edinburgh, the Americans who remained at home meanwhile this week play the John Deere Classic in Illinois. The number one in the world, Tiger Woods, however, rests and takes care of his left elbow, in the hope of being in full health for the next weekend, while his technical sponsor, Nike, puts his hands forward and announces how the number one in the world will wear Muirfiled: black and white on the first day, light blue shirt and blue trousers on the second, black polo shirt and gray trousers on Saturday, red T-shirt, unmistakable signature of the champion, on Sunday. The news is not exciting from a sporting point of view, but it bodes well for the British: in short, Tiger should be on the pitch to defend his primates tooth and nail once again.
The Scottish tournament is broadcast live on Sky sports 2.
