I’ll start with the women because, candidly, I’ve started liking the women’s game as much as the men’s. Their swings are superb, they are excellent putters, they’ve got fun personalities, and they’re so much more mature on the course than the men. And, this is their fifth and final major, so highly interesting event at Carnoustie, better and more notoriously known as “Car-Nasty.”

Twenty three year old Nelly Korda has been the story of the season as the young American won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in late June at the Atlanta Athletic Club and then won the gold medal in Tokyo at the Olympics. She is a spectacular player and has the perfect temperament and competitive spirit to leave quite a legacy in the game. She is focused and homed in on her second major.

Nelly is the 8/1 favorite. Lydia Ko, the 24 year old New Zealander, who finished second last week at the Scottish Open and won the bronze at Tokyo and has two majors on her resume is next at 12/1.

The others,

Atthaya Thitikui, 16/1

Sei Young KIm, 25/1

Jeongeun Lee6 22/1

Inbee Park, 22/1

Ariya Jutanugarn, 25/1

Minjee Lee, 35/1

Charley Hull, 35/1

Leona Maguire, 40/1

Danielle Kang, 28/1

Lexi Thompson, 28/1

So it’s a riveting field, and this course is beyond challenging.

Carnoustie, in Scotland, will be playing 6,649 yards, and a par 72. Here are some of the key holes.

No.2, Called “Gulley,” 435 yards, Par 4. Usually a tricky crosswind according to the Brit write up I read. Any errant tee shots will find the totally penalizing bunkers. The green is over 50 yards in length. That’s 4 club lengths different from a front to a back pin location. Get outta here with a par and the player should be happy.

No.6, ‘“Hogan’s Alley,” Par 5, 520 yards. Another Hogan’s Alley hole, like Colonial and Riviera on the men’s tour. Wow, what a player the 9 time major winner was. Would have won at least 4 or 5 more majors if it wasn’t for his service in WWII and his horrendous car accident in 1949, which he barely survived and took a year and a half to come back from. The 6th can be brutal, particularly playing into a prevailing wind. There is out of bounds running all the way down left side and two bunkers sit in the middle of the fairway. The players can either go down ‘Hogan’s Alley’ a narrow strip of fairway to the left of the bunkers and tight to the out of bounds, that Hogan famously hit all 4 days on his way to winning the Open in 1953, or they can bail out to the right-hand side. Choosing the latter option, however, brings more bunkers and rough into the equation and the lay-up area becomes just as intimidating as going for the green. On a still day, it’s a good birdie chance, but on a windy day, a par here will likely pick up shots on the field.

No.10, “South America,” 422 yards, par 4

South America at 420 yards provides the most difficult start to one of the toughest 9 holes in championship golf. Bunkers guard the right side of the fairway, and a safe shot is a long iron towards the longest bunker away. The Barry Burn, the water on the course, more on that in a second, intersects 30 yards short of the green, and a tree overhanging down the right side is another problem for drives on the right side. Two front left bunkers make the entrance to the small green very tight. A regulation par would be a very good result.

No.13, “Whins,” 159 yards, Par 3

Carnoustie’s shortest hole can be tricky whenever the winds gust, which is quite often. The green is 43 yards long and shaped like an hourglass, so pin position will dictate the shot the players attempt. A difficult front bunker lurks for poorly struck shots, while run off areas to the right and left also possess “magnetic” bunkers for off-line shots. With a friendly wind and pin, though, players will be looking to make a 2 on this hole.

No.16, “Barry Burn,” 220 yards, Par 3

Tom Watson described this hole as the hardest par 3 in golf. A short left bunker is placed to catch running shots and there is a trio of traps on the right hand side. A shot over the bunker and to the left side of the green gives players missing the green the best chance to salvage a score. As is the case for the 2 upcoming holes, a par is an excellent score.

No.17, “Island”,” 421 yards, Par 4

The Burn comes into play and the players will not be able to use a driver on this long par 4. The best tee shot is down the right side, which will leave a shorter approach, while a shot down the left side, which is much riskier, and leaves a longer approach, opens up the green more. There are bunkers guarding the front of the green, so if the player can clear them, and 2 putt, par is another excellent score.

No. 18, 430 yards, Par 4

Very few holes have provided more drama in the history of the game with the most notable, Frenchman Jean Van de Velde’s collapse in the 1999 Open. Van de Velde, 55 years old now and 33 at the time, had a 3 shot lead going into 18 over Justin Leonard and Craig Perry, only needing a double bogey to capture the Claret Jug. He would have been the first Frenchman since 1907 to win a major championship. He had birdied the 18th in his 2 previous rounds of the tournament. He used a driver and drove the ball to the right of the Burn and was lucky to find his ball. Rather than laying up and hitting the green with his third shot, Van de Velde decided to go for the green. His shot drifted right, ricocheted backwards off the railings of the grandstands to the side of the green, landed on top of the stone wall of the Barry Burn and then bounced 50 yards backwards into knee-deep rough. His club got tangled up in the rough on his third shot and went into the Barry Burn, a water hazard. He removed his socks and shoes and stepped through shin deep water as he debated whether to try and hit the ball out of the Burn, which guards the 18th. Ultimately, he took a drop and hit his 5th shot into the greenside bunker. He blasted out to 6 feet and sank his putt for triple bogey tying Leonard and Lawrie. Lawrie won in a playoff. Seems like his biggest mistakes were the first 2 shots. In 2016, USA Today ranked it 4th on its list of worst collapses in sports. So you don’t want to mess with 18 at Carnoustie. Play smart if you’re in the lead and on the verge of capturing the major championship on Sunday.

Weather

Thursday, 40% rain showers, 53, winds light at ESE 6 MPH.

Friday, 61, 52% chance of rain showers, Wind ESE 13. A factor.

Saturday, 63, 85% chance of rain, wind SE 10-15 MPH.

Sunday, 62, 90% chance of occasional rain, wind ESE 15 MPH.

TV

Thursday, 5 AM-12 PM CT, Golf Channel. Friday, 5 AM-12PM CT Golf Channel. Saturday, 5 AM-12 PM CT, Golf Channel. Sunday, 6 AM-11 AM CT, Golf Channel, 11 AM-1 PM CT, NBC.

Winner

I was all ready to pick Lydia Ko. She’s been on quite a tear lately, and shot a 63 last Sunday to finish second to American Ryann O’Toole at the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open. She won for the first time in 3 years at the Lotte Championship earlier this season, and that began a string of 100 holes without a bogey. Then I heard her in an interview on the Golf Channel today saying she wanted to retire at the age of 30 to do “other things.” She seems to be like Anna Kournikova, who wanted to be more of a celebrity than a tennis player. A commentator on Golf Channel was curious as to why she’d want to retire at 30 as many of the great players have won multiple majors after the age of 30. Annika Sorenstam won 8 of her 10 majors after the age of 30. She retired at age 37.

Ko seems to be a little bit of Head Case Central.

So, I’m going to go to the well once again with this young stallion, who isn’t even contemplating retirement. She wants to leave a legacy. Give me my pick from the KPMG PGA Championship and the Olympics, where she won, to win at Car-Nasty. She’s totally mentally tough. I’ll take the 23 year old from Bradenton, Florida. She along with Lexi Thompson and her sister, Jessica, are three of the longest players on tour, and like Jay Bilas says in basketball that, “size matters,” in golf, “long matters.” Beyond that, she’s a tremendous competitor and phenomenal putter. I’ll take,

Nelly Korda

Prediction for the Northern Trust

Odds, Rahm, 11/1, Morikawa, 17/1, Dustin, 17/1, Spieth, 18/1, Rory, 20/1, Koepka, 21/1, Xander, 22/1, JT, 27/1, DeChambeau, 29/1, What a Berger, 31/1, Abraham Ancer, WGC, Fed Ex champ, 31/1, Viktor Hovland, 31/1, Scottie Scheffler, 33/1, Patrick Reed, 35/1, Hideki, 36/1. Harris English 41/1.

Weather at Liberty National Course in Jersey City, New Jersey right across the Hudson River from the Big Apple.

Thursday, 88, 24% chance of rain, WSW !2.

Friday, 89, sunny, 5-10 MPH.

Saturday, 83, 39% chance rain, ESE 8.

Sunday, 85, slight chance of T-storms, 34%, N 8.

TV

Thursday-Friday, 1 PM-5 PM CT, Golf Channel.

Saturday, 12-2 PM CT, Golf Channel, 2-5 PM CT CBS.

Sunday, 11 AM-1 PM CT, Golf Channel, 1-5 PM CT CBS.

Dustin is the defending champion at the Northern Trust. He won at TPC Boston last August. He went on to win the Fed Ex Cup, and earn a cool $15 million check. I guess Dustin, despite what Latrelle “Spree” Sprewell, said when he was offered a 3 year $21 million contact in 2004 at age 34 with declining skills, upon which he said, “I’ve got to feed my family.” Dustin will be able to feed his wife/girlfriend, Paulina, whatever she is now, and his 2 sons.

So, these guys are playing for life changing rewards. Many of them already are sitting quite well.

Winner

I’ll take the 25 year old second year pro from Ridgewood, New Jersey, by way of the University of Texas. He shot 59 at the Northern Trust last season and I see him ready to win on tour. Give me,

Scottie Scheffler

Longshot/Sleeper

I’m going to take the 34 year old from Raleigh, North Carolina. He had a hole in one last week at the Wyndham and finished with a 62 to earn the 125th spot in the rankings, 1 point ahead of Justin Rose, who three putted 18 to lose out. His interview afterwards is classic and his hole in one celebratory jig is even better.

Chesson Hadley

Here’s the Hole in one spectacle and his interview below. The first 2:10 minutes of the interview are epic.