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There are nine players with strong Southern California ties in this year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. The two favorites are obvious, but one will clearly outperform the other. Read on for my fearless predictions. Jason Gore. The one-time U.S. Open Cinderella Story may have looked solid while making it through sectional qualifying, but he’s had way too inconsistent of a year to realistically be a factor. As charismatic as the Valencia resident is, he won’t make the cut. Rich Barcelo. The Long Beach native has struggled to make a splash in his return to the PGA Tour in 2010. Pebble Beach marks his first U.S. Open, so don’t count on any splashes this week — save for some unfortunate bounces off the rocky shorelines. Paul Goydos. Goydos is a trendy yet murky dark horse selection. The Long Beach native and Coto de Caza resident contended at this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am before that gruesome quadruple-bogey on the par-5 14th. We know he’s a short hitter who manages his game well and can get hot with the putter, but what we don’t know (at least I don’t) is why Goydos withdrew from the second round of last week’s St. Jude Classic. Apparently it was an undisclosed injury, but that uncertainty leaves him questionable to contend. But I still say he makes the cut. John Mallinger. It’s hard to predict a strong finish for a guy who’s made only two of 16 cuts this season, but I’m going out on a limb and saying Mallinger will end up inside the top 15 this week. Why? Three reasons: The Escondido native tied for 13th at Colonial recently with four under-par rounds, and he’s done just fine at Pebble Beach in the past, finishing third at the Pro-Am in both 2007 and 2008. Plus, Mallinger has proven to be too steady of a player over the course of his PGA Tour career to maintain his current funk. Kenny Kim. One of the most unknown commodities at this year’s Open is Kim, a former member of the UC-Irvine men’s golf team who now plays out of Cerritos. The Korean won the Buick Invitational amateur qualifier back in 2008 but hasn’t made headlines since aside from shooting 69-67 at Sacramento’s Del Paso Country Club to qualify for Pebble. Don’t count on seeing Kim reach the weekend. Kevin Na. I want to predict a strong finish for Na at the U.S. Open, since this is the major where he’s best suited to thrive — he’s a superb putter and a pretty straight driver. But the former Diamond Bar resident lacks the major experience (three total appearances, two missed cuts) and hasn’t been playing his best since tying for second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (two missed cuts, one MDF). The 26-year-old will have some success at majors one day, just not this week. He won’t make the cut. Hunter Mahan. Since garnering his second career PGA Tour win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in late February, Mahan hasn’t exactly set the golf world ablaze. However, his best finish since then — a tie for eighth at the Masters — bodes well for this week. Although the Orange native is struggling on the greens this year (125th in putting average, 171st in putts per round), he is first in total driving and 18th in greens in regulation. Those stats will carry him to another top-10 major finish at Pebble Beach. Tiger Woods. Ten years ago, Tiger Woods assembled arguably the most masterful 72 holes of golf ever at Pebble Beach. And it obviously wasn’t a fluke, evidenced by what Woods did heading into the event — in the five tournaments leading up to his jaw-dropping 15-stroke U.S. Open win Woods had five top-five finishes, two wins and a runner-up finish. The vibe surrounding the Cypress native clearly isn’t as positive this time around. Even though Woods won’t have to hit driver much this week, he still isn’t swinging well enough to contend at a major. He’ll finish in 20th place. Phil Mickelson. Here’s your winner. I predicted a big season for Lefty, and despite a rocky start on the West Coast Swing, he’s righted the ship and positioned himself to become the No. 1 golfer in the world for the first time in his career. I expect Mickelson to stay conservative off the tees, which will help eliminate big numbers and keep him around par for most of the tournament. Come Sunday, he’ll be in good enough position to pounce and finally rip the U.S. Open monkey off his back. What do you think will happen? Comment below. ALSO SEE: Southern Californians who have won the U.S. Open |
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