The British Open gets underway at some ungodly hour this morning. Hell, they might be playing right now. And I think it shapes up as one of the more compelling major tournaments in recent memory, at least in the pre-tournament build up. Storylines abound. You’ve got Tiger, still dealing with the loss of his father, having played poorly at the last major, but well in recent weeks. And there’s Phil Mickelson, fresh off of his debacle at the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open. And I suppose it’s something of a big deal that Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo (who is kind of awesome) are paired together for Thursday and Friday.

They’re not the best of pals, Woods and Faldo. Tiger Woods, you see, is Jordan-like in his ability to carry a grudge, over even the slightest of slights. Faldo, as a commentator for ABC, once criticized Woods for a poor shot he hit, and then critiqued his swing. Tiger didn’t like it, nor does he like Nick Faldo. They haven’t spoken since then. It could be a frosty first 36 holes between them. A British bookie is offering 6-4 odds that they won’t shake hands on the first tee, and though it started at 100-to-1, the odds that they two end up in a fistfight currently stand at 25-1. 1,000,000-to-1 seems a little more realistic to me. Tiger might be ultracompetitive and not that friendly, but a fighter, I’m guessing, he is not. If they did come to blows, I might lay a few bucks down on Faldo beating his ass.

Also on the subject of Tiger, he couldn’t find comfortable lodging in the Liverpool area this week, so he’ll be confining himself to Michael Owen’s mansion (pictured above). I thank my brother for the link. Owen, star British soccer player, is currently in the States getting his knee worked on. He heard somehow that Tiger didn’t have a suitable play to say, so he called him up and made the offer. A very sweet gesture. I hope Owen’s got some kind of hidden camera system in there that he plans to use to catch Tiger and Elin doing it.

As for the actual tournament… if I take the PTI question of Tiger vs. The Field, I’m taking Tiger. The course sets up well for him, the rough isn’t all that heavy, and if the winds stay down, he’ll just overpower the thing. I think he could end up winning it by five strokes.