British Open: Whose Win Would Make the Best Storyline?

If you're an average golf fan, and you decide to skip this years British Open, it would be hard to blame you.

With coverage beginning at 4 am, with gale-force winds predicted, and with a certain Tiger not in the field, its understandable that the American viewer might skip this one. Especially when the winner is almost certain to be one of three players if you listen to the pundits.

In all of my research leading up to the Open Championship, I was hard pressed to find someone that didn't pick one of the new European power-trio of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood or Rory McIlroy to win.Not that there is anything wrong with that per se, after all they have been the three best golfers on the planet for the last 12 months.

Still, barring something epic like Rory's beat-down of Congressional Country Club at the U.S. Open this year, none of them carry the panache to drag the casual fans out of bed on a Sunday morning.

With that in mind, here are five players who could be worth an early morning wake-up call if they find themselves in contention on Sunday.

No. 5: Ben Curtis

David Cannon/Getty Images

SANDWICH, ENGLAND - JULY 20: Ben Curtis of the USA kisses the Claret Jug after victory in the Open Championship at the Royal St. George's course on July 20, 2003 in Sandwich, England. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)

Ok, so maybe Ben Curtis isn't the most exciting player on the Tour.

He owns only three career PGA Tour victories, none of them coming in almost five years, and is currently 143rd on the Money List this season.

Yet in 2003, the last time the Open Championship was played at Royal St. George's, Curtis pulled off one of the all-time Cinderella stories and won one of the most memorable British Open's of my lifetime.

Playing in his first career major, Curtis shocked the world eight years ago. A win this time might not be quite as surprising, but could provide some serious excitement just the same.

No. 4: Jason Day

In the 12 Majors that have been played since Tiger last raised a trophy, its been Rory McIlroy that has garnered the most attention as a potential " Next Tiger." And with good reason.

His record breaking U.S. Open victory along with three other third place finishes in the last six Majors, Rory has established himself as the biggest threat to take over the golf world.

But Day might not be too far behind.

Since the PGA Championship last year, where Day finished tied for 10th, the 23-year-old Aussie has won almost $3 million Worldwide, moved into the top 10 in the OWGR and for good measure has finished runner-up at the last two majors.

A win in Sandwich this weekend and Day will move onto the short list of the best players in the World.

No.3: Any of the Golf Boys

I'll let you be the judge on both the comedic and musical stylings of "the Golf Boys," but you have to admit its nice to see some PGA Tour players showing a little personality off the course.

So far, the quartet of Bubba Watson, Ricky Fowler, Ben Crane and Hunter Mahan have little to show for as far as major victories go, but any of them could quickly become the newest superstar of American golf with a victory this week.

Lets just hope that doesn't lead to another music video.

No. 2: Sergio Garcia

Since he burst on to the scene in the late '90's, Sergio has been a lot of different things.

He started as the 19-year old upstart, ready to spend the next decade battling Tiger for golf supremacy .

Then he became the the player everyone in America loved to hate, with fans reveling every time he came up short in a major.

Finally, he settled in to the dreaded role of "best player without a major," and became largely forgotten around the sport.

Now, people seem to forget that it was Garcia, not Westwood, Donald or McIlroy that was supposed to dominate the European tour this millennium. Needless to say, it didn't turn out that way. However, if Garcia is in contention on Sunday, he just might be able to throw his hat back into that ring.

No. 1: Phil Mickelson

With just one win on the season to go along with too dismal major performances, it hasn't been a banner year thus far for Phil.

And considering he owns just one career top 10 in the Open Championship, this doesn't set up as a week for him to turn his season around. But that's what makes Phil great... you never know.

I'm not sure how many more Major's Mickelson has in him, but you better believe his name on a Sunday leaderboard will draw the attention of both causal and hardcore golf fans alike.

As for whether Phil or anyone else has enough to overtake the three-headed European monster at the top of the rankings remain to be seen, but it will make for some great TV if they can.