U.S. Open Field Loaded with International Talent by VC

Next to the NCAA Tournament and a Wildcat bowl game, the U.S. Open may be my next favorite sport to plop down and watch! I've got a great wifey! With the final round falling on Father's Day, she typically takes the kids and leaves me alone so I can enjoy NBC's coverage of this great tournament.

A total of 9,050 entries were accepted for the 110th Open June 17-20, the second-most in history, which this year is at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links which features the picturesque Stillwater Cove and the Monterey Peninsula. A record 9,086 entries were accepted last year when Bethpage State Park in New York's Long Island hosted the event. Local 18-hole qualifying was held at 111 sites back in May.

Now we're down to 156 players which will be trimmed to the low 60 scorers and ties and any player within 10 strokes of the leader.

If Patterson and I were teeing it up, we wouldn't be within 100 shots of the leader, but that's another topic for another day.

The International field is loaded, baby, and ready to even the 2010 Majors' score at 1-all going into next month's British Open. Because I'm only a hacker at best, I tried to think how I would condense the International threats to my final five. After some serious soul-searching, the Good Man Above delivered my golfing prayer.

My contact was a text message or Facebook message away. Ladies and Gentlemen, now on the First Tee Box, Bren Fisher of Emporia, Kan.

Bren and I have have communicated several times through Social Networking and didn't meet face-to-face until just a few days ago. Yep, complete strangers texting? For you wives and girlfriends out there, when two guys who love sports and one's a Beaker fan and the other a Cat Man, lively conversations tend to surface even if we had never met. When we finally did meet up, first words out of my mouth were "It feels like we've known each other for a long time."

He plays golf at Pittsburg State University and is busy this summer honing his golfing skills, including an appearance this week in the Kansas Four-Ball at a not-too-shabby course here in the Sunflower State, Alvamar in Lawrence.

He's full of golf knowledge, so I decided to stick my 3-iron back in the bag (no woods for me, please...they hate me, I hate them. Just ask Scott Paske or Dave Hendricks from previous adventures last month. Woods are not nice to me) and call on the man who earned Honorable Mention All-MIAA honors a year ago in his freshman year for the Gorillas.

My-sorry-Bren's top five International picks are Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Ian Poulter, Geoff Ogilvy and Michael Sim.

McIlroy, just 21 and from Holywood, Northern Ireland, tied for 10th last year at Bethpage. He carded a 68 in the final round last year and finished with a 282.

"The atmosphere has been great, especially playing with Anthony (Kim) which is just as well because I have played three rounds over four days with him," he said last year. "But obviously he is popular because he was a Ryder Cup hero last year and then there are a fair few Irish in New York so the support we have had has been great and helped us along a bit."

Scott, 29, was born in Australia but now calls Switzerland home. He competed for one season at UNLV before turning pro. He owns seven PGA Tour victories, the last at the Valero Texas Open earlier this year at San Antonio.

He once fired a 62 at Los Coyotes Country Club in southern California during sectional qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur. Sixty-two? Hey, I've shot 62 before! Just not tellin ya how many holes that was!

The 34-year-old Poulter from England shot a final-round 67 in last year's U.S. Open as he tied for 18th. He's played in six U.S. Opens and his best showing was in 2006 at Winged Foot when he tied for 12th.

Another Aussie high on Bren's list is Ogilvy, the '06 champ. Even more impressive is this: he's a distant relative of Sir Angus Ogilvy, part of Britain's Royal Family and an even more distant relative of Scotland's King of Bannockburn fame, Robert the Bruce.

Nice!

He was given a set of cut-down clubs by his father at the age of 7 and progressed to scratch handicap by 16.

Niiiiice!

The 5-9, 150-pound Sim (Dude, ya ever heard of McDonald's?) was born in Scotland but now calls Australia home, sweet home.

The co-leader of the 2008 Australian Masters with Robert Allenby, the 25-year-old Sim finished in a tie for 11th after a final-round 77. In his only U.S. Open appearance, he tied for 18th a year ago.

"I think Michael Sim is a young and upcoming star who will be very good on the PGA Tour once he gets some experience under his belt," Bren said.

"The others are all consistent and strong international players who I believe could win any tournament at any given time with their games," he added.

So which International player walks down the 18th fairway June 20 to a thundering standing ovation and is this year's champ?

Bren, take it away.

"I think that Michael Sim has a very great opportunity to take the U.S. Open title this year," Bren said. "However, it is only his second appearance and I just don't know if he is ready to handle the nerves of the U.S. Open quite yet.

"So if I had to pick my favorite International player to win the tournament this year, it would have to be Rory McIlroy! He may be young as well, but he has had a lot more time in the press and spotlight than Sim has had and McIlroy has already showed us that he can handle pressure and take home a victory."

Oh, by the way, McIlroy is listed at 22:1 odds to win the U.S. Open. Only five other golfers have better odds. I like your pick, Bren!
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VC's Vibes and Shout Outs:

My shout this week goes to 29-year-old Justin Rose, who won his first PGA event with a come-from-behind win at this past weekend's Memorial in Dublin, Ohio. His 6-under 66 did not include a bogey as he overcame a four-shot deficit. Tiger Woods also came from four shots back last year to win this same tournament.