British Open Predictions 2012: 3 Players Who Will Fall Well Short of Open Title

The British Open has a way of turning some of the world's best golfers into frustrated hackers. These following guys are about to experience that frustration first hand. 

With the long and thick rough, deep and plentiful bunkers and likely wild weather at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, these guys will get into a bad rhythm, and it will go downhill in a hurry. 

Rory McIlroy 

McIlroy is starting to show signs of coming out of his recent slump, but the last event he needs to see is the British Open. 

He has finished in the top 10 in two of his last three events, but those are the only two times out of his past six tournaments that he has made the cut. 

This makes McIlroy's performance almost impossible to predict—except this is the British Open, and McIlroy is not a huge fan of the often-accompanying bad weather. Rory did tie for third at the 2010 Open, but his next best finish is last year's 25th-place finish. 

And all of this takes a backseat to the fact that he is especially ill-suited for this course. 

The rough on this course is brutal, and McIlroy is struggling with his driver. He is hitting just 50.5 percent of his fairways in European and PGA events. That is a huge reason why he struggled at the U.S. Open, and it is a big reason why he will struggle here. 

Bubba Watson

Bubba Watson is in the same boat as McIlroy when it comes to potential problems at this course. While Watson's booming drives can find him making up strokes in a hurry, he is not the most accurate driver. 

Watson is hitting just over 58 percent of his drives in PGA events this year, and that is going to be more than he can overcome. 

While he knows how to get out of trouble, Watson typically does that with high-lofted shots better suited for non-links courses.

Watson finished 30th in last year's Open, and that was far better than missing the cut, which he did in his other two appearances in the Open.

Dustin Johnson

Are you noticing a trend yet? Like our first two golfers, Johnson can destroy the ball off the tee, but controlling it is another issue altogether. 

This, I can't stress this enough, is going to be an especially big problem at this year's Open. Johnson is hitting just 55.9 percent of fairways in PGA events this year. 

Johnson proved that he can handle links-style golf with his tie for second place at last year's Open, but he is going to have too hard a time recovering when he gets into trouble at this year's event.