Some 2008 Predictions

Ron Kroichick, a guest of The 19th Hole Golf Show, penned his predictions for 2008. Are they really all that likely?

Woods wins Grand Slam - Sure, why not? Let's just go ahead and give him Augusta and the US Open at Torrey Pines which are two courses he basically owns. Birkdale and Oakland Hills are the only challenges for him. O'Meara, Woods' best buddy, won at Birkdale so Woods has the scoop. Oakland Hills is just plain long. Advantage: El Tigre.

Ochoa qualifies for Hall of Fame. - Automatic. As Kroichick says, you need 27 points to get into the HOF under the LPGA guidelines. Lorena will have at least 21 at the end of the year. That means Lorena has to score six points between now and the end of next year by notching wins (2 points for a major) or postseason awards. Check and check.

Kroichick is 1.5/2.

U.S. wins Ryder Cup. - I've been calling this for weeks now. Unless Azinger goes all Hal Sutton on us, ruins the Euro dissent going on in the media between Faldo/Monty/Torrance/McGinley, and pulls out some kind of guarantee, this should be in the bag. Valhalla is a joke course in terms of difficulty and Americans always do well there.

Tiger & Phil skip FedEx event. - Given my previous post quoting Rex Hoggard, this becomes less likely than ever. The first wrong one.

Daly falls out of Top 500. - Almost a certainty given that he is less than 20 spots away from this distinction. Can someone cut this guy a break?

Wie contends in an LPGA event. - Not likely. She has no game, no agent, borderline no coach, and not a lot of PR on her side. Too much for her to handle probably. Hopefully she does the right thing and enjoys rooting on the Fighting Harbaughs at Stanford.

Day makes splash as rookie. - That's Jason Day. He's a 20 year old Aussie who did very well on the N'Wide Tour this year. He's the next in line of Aussie kids who prove their talent very young - Aaron Baddeley, Nick Flanagan, and now Day. He may make a splash, but if he is anything like the two in his company, it will take him several years to realize how good he can be.

Inkster sets LPGA record. - That record would be the oldest player to win on the LPGA Tour. Considering that she is 47, has the stamina of someone in her 30s, and still plays into the Top 5 regularly, there is a good chance of this.

Dramatic finish at AT&T Pebble Beach. - A toss up here. The last close finish in this event (one shot or a playoff) was in 2003 when Davis Love III beat a surging Tom Lehman by a shot. Heard from either of those guys lately?

I'll give him 5 out of 9 points here. Not too bad of a prognostication on the Miss Cleo Scale.