US Open Favorites 2012: Bold Predictions for Weekend at Olympic Club

Tiger Woods played like a champ on Thursday, finishing the day tied for second place. He is living up to the label of U.S. Open favorite after the first round at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. 

The same can't be said for Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood—the other players considered to be the betting favorites at this tournament, according to Bovada.com. All four men failed to live up to expectations after the first round, and they will all have a tough task ahead of them on Friday if they hope to play on through the weekend.

Will Woods continue to play like the Tiger of old? Will the other top contenders regain their composure in time to make a run at the U.S. Open Trophy? 

These questions will be answered as I will make bold predictions for all five men in the slides ahead. 

Phil Mickelson Will Miss the Cut

Phil Mickelson has temporarily lost his mojo. His game isn't tight, and on a golf course like the Olympic Club, that is the equivalent of a death sentence. 

Mickelson sprayed his ball all over the course in the first round—on his way to shooting a 76—six-over par and tied for the highest opening round of his career in this tournament. I knew things wouldn't go smoothly for Lefty after the first shot he hit on the day was lost. 

Mickelson spoke to the media after his disappointing first round, via CyberGolf.com:

"

Yeah, I didn't play very well, obviously. You could see that. I fought hard there for a while trying to keep it a few over. 3 putting 4 really hurt because I probably tried to get a little aggressive, I felt like I needed one birdie there and got a little aggressive and ended up 3 putting. But it was a tough day when you play it the way I did. 

"

Even though I predict the leaders will slide a bit tomorrow, I don't see Mickelson fixing his game enough overnight to play well enough on Friday to make the cut. 

Rory McIlroy Will Make the Cut but Finish Badly

Rory McIlroy is not at the top of his game. He is in the midst of a terrible slump, the principal reason being that he doesn't have control of his swing.

Even in last week's showing at the FedEx St. Jude Classic where McIlroy finished tied for seventh place, he wasn't hitting many fairways or greens. While he was able to get away with it last weekend, that kind of control problem doesn't bode well on a course like the Olympic Club.

Making matters worse, McIlroy's putter is also on the fritz. He missed a number of short putts in the first round, and things will only get tougher for him tomorrow as the greens dry out.

McIlroy shot an opening-round 77—seven-over par—and he's now tied for 117th place. 

He is on the verge of missing the cut this weekend, but I predict he'll collect himself enough to shoot just low enough on Friday to make the cut. After that, McIlroy is going to collapse.

McIlroy's final two rounds will be horrible, and one of the biggest stories after the tournament will be whether McIlroy was a one-year wonder.

Lee Westwood Will Slowly Work His Way into the Top 10

Lee Westwood's first round got off to an inauspicious start when he double-bogeyed the first hole after pounding his drive about 350 yards right in the middle of the fairway.

He then bogeyed two out of his next five holes. It wasn't pretty.

Westwood managed to somehow pull himself back together after the sixth hole, though, and shot one-under par the rest of the way, finishing the round at three-over par. He still has a long ways to go, as he currently sits in a tie for 38th place, but Westwood will play better tomorrow. 

By the end of the tournament, Westwood will be in the top 10. 

The remarkable part of this to me is that Westwood's playing partners, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald, didn't play well at all. It would have been easy for Westwood to follow suit, but he gutted out a respectable round in the end after such a disastrous start.

Luke Donald Will Miss the Cut

Luke Donald is one of the most consistent golfers on tour, which is why he is the No. 1 golfer in the world, but he broke away from the status quo and was consistently bad on Thursday.

Donald's opening round at the 2012 U.S. Open is one he'd like to forget about. He shot a 79 on the day—nine-over par—and he is currently tied for 142nd place.

There is no way Donald comes back from such an atrocious round to make the cut tomorrow. If anything, I expect Donald to continue struggling tomorrow, as the course will play even tougher and the greens get faster and firmer.

It won't be long before Donald loses his No. 1 spot to the next man on this list.

Tiger Woods Will Win Major No. 15 This Weekend

In golf, consistency is key—especially in a pressure-packed and tough environment like the U.S. Open. 

Tiger Woods is playing with excellent consistency right now, and I'm not just talking about his opening-round 69 at the Olympic Club on Thursday. He is in full control of his swing right now, and his ability to hit both a cut and a draw on any given shot gives him a huge advantage over most of the players in the field. 

Woods' first round was stellar by U.S. Open standards. He shot three birdies, two bogeys and 13 pars. That's going to be a winning formula heading into the weekend. 

Woods is also playing the game as relaxed as I've seen him since before 2008. His emotions are in check, and his demeanor on the course makes me wonder if he's on Xanax or something (I kid). The point is that Woods finally looks like himself again.

When Woods is himself, the rest of the golfing world looks weak in comparison. The way he took down the leaders on the back nine of the Memorial Championship was reminiscent of days past.

For that matter, it's been a long time since we've seen Woods make a shot like the one that sealed his win—the shot that Jack Nicklaus called the “most unbelievable, gutsy shot” he'd ever seen, according to Golf.com.

Nobody is playing as well as Woods right now, and he will walk away from the 112th U.S. Open with major victory No. 15.

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