Why (Gasp!) Tiger Woods Won't Win the British Open

Turnberry is groomed. The British Open odds are posted. Yes. it's mid July, so it's time for golf's most storied tournament.

It would be fitting to see the greatest golfer of all time win the oldest golf event of all time this week, right? And that's going to happen this week, right?

Wrong.

Don't worry; Eldrick "Tiger" Woods still has plenty of Major Championships and Tour victories left in him. However, if you've followed Tiger over his amazing career, you've probably noticed that he has an "off" season every few years. During those years, he sees majors pass him by as he tweaks his swing mechanics and posts so-so results.

The good news: after those off years, Tiger usually explodes into dominance with his reconstructed swing, In other words, he'll swallow the Tour whole next season. This year, however, has truly been hit-miss for Tiger, particularly in majors, as he works his way back from his knee injury.

His putter has been hot-cold. Even his wins have been come-from-behind efforts. Most importantly, his driver has totally eluded him. That's bad news at Turnberry this week. It's not a particularly long course, so Tiger's length won't give him an advantage, and the course punishes inaccurate tee shots.

Call me crazy, but I think Tiger will hit more approaches from the fescue than the fairway this week. He's scrambled with the best of 'em this season, so he'll find a way to make pars and probably crack the top 10, but I think the Open Championship goes to a shotmaker. How about David Toms? Henrik Stenson? Kenny Perry?

Like Lance Armstrong's 2010 Tour de France odds, Tiger will be back with a vengeance -- maybe as early as the PGA Championship, the fifth, er, fourth major. But don't count on brilliance this week.