Brandt Snedeker is playing some great golf this week and he seems to have an interesting pattern to his success. On the Web.com Tour, he broke his collarbone and came back to win again. On the PGA TOUR, he hurt his hip and then won the RBC Heritage. He hurt his other hip and he won the 2012 Farmers Insurance Open. He is playing in The Open Championship having recently recovered from a hip injury that forced him out of the U.S. Open.
Lee Westwood is playing with some question marks on some issues. A lot of people had Westwood as their favorite to win because of his performances in Majors and experience with links golf. Not many people knew until this week that Westwood has been having some issues involving a swing change. He ended his post-round practice on Thursday with one-handed chips just to get a feel for his swing and he is under a lot of pressure to at least make the cut. If he can get to -2 after 36 holes, he will likely be back in the tournament.
Graeme McDowell proved to himself that he can contend and win another Major at The Olympic Club although he ultimately did not win the 2012 U.S. Open. It is interesting that so far this week, he is not under a lot of pressure and certainly not as much as he was at The Olympic Club. Along with McDowell, Ernie Els seems to have gained some new confidence from the U.S. Open. Els was also in contention late on Sunday at The Olympic Club before recording a top 10 finish. Like McDowell, Els feels as though he can still contend and win in a Major Championship.