FanHouse RossFisher

Englishman Ross Fisher has a lot on his mind this morning. His wife is expecting their first child back in Surrey, England, and Fisher has vowed that as soon as she goes into labor, he's walking oft the course to be by her side. In the meantime, he began the final round at the British Open in second place, one shot behind 59-year-old Tom Watson, a five-time Open Champion.

Watson has been the story of the week, even with Tiger Woods missing the cut. As players half his age succumb to the course and the elements, Watson trudges along, improbable birdie putt and improbable birdie putt. But three holes into his final round, Watson suddenly looks his age. He bogeyed the par-4, 1st after his second shot found the sand, and carded another five on No. 3.

UPDATE (10:25 AM ET): So much for that. After bogeying No. 3, Fisher scribbled a snowman on his scorecard at the par-5, 4th hole. He's now even par for the week, good for 7th place. And Watson, at 2-under, is back atop the leaderboard with Chris Wood. For the time being, anyway.

Tiger Woods didn't fire off his best round Monday at the 2009 US Open, but he didn't shoot poorly either, wrapping up with a 69 that left him at even par for the tournament. Unfortunately for Tiger, a three-bogey/four-birdie round probably won't be enough to land him in any potential playoff for consecutive Open titles.

That's not to say that the leaders aren't falling back -- Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Ross Fisher and Lucas Glover aren't up a substantial margin on Tiger, but at this point, it seems pretty unlikely that Woods will have a shot at any playoff that takes place.

The 2009 Masters are underway, and unlike last year, when Arnold Palmer hit the ceremonial first shot into a cloud of fog, it has been an incredible day, weather-wise, from the start.

Palmer's first shot this year found the middle of the fairway and the first group built on that momentum. In the second group of the day was Par-3 Tournament winner Tim Clark, who, in typical form, bogeyed his first two par-3s before getting it together and reeling off four birdies on his closing 12 holes before posting a 4-under 68, leading the tournament in the clubhouse.

Right behind Clark are Ross Fisher, Kevin Sutherland, and Prayad Marksaeng who all posted 3-under 69s and will enjoy the rest of the mid-70 degree day fine-tuning their game while other golfers try to put the finishing touches on some rather salty (read: "good") rounds.

It might not have been Tiger Woods against Phil Mickelson. Heck, it isn't even Ernie Els playing Vijay Singh, but the two professional golfers playing the best right now will face up against each other Sunday exactly 125 miles away from their home course.

Australian Geoff Ogilvy, who won this tournament in 2006 and was runner-up in '07, will take on Englishman Paul Casey in a 36 hole final to see who can claim title of Best Golfer During Tiger Week.

As the wind continues to sweep around the links of Royal Birkdale, the scores balloon and the leaders are bringing more and more names into the equation.

Chris Wood? Simon Wakefield? Ross Fisher? Really?

Greg Norman, the leader heading into Sunday, has struggled while Padraig Harrington has kept it steady through seven holes and is currently leading the Open Championship.

Sitting around wondering who is going to win this thing? Confused why the ABC is playing Dropkick Murphys during transitional graphics? Contemplating with yourself about how much Wood weighs? Swing by the live blog, currently in third gear, and drop us a comment.

It's Sunday morning in Scotland and the Claret Jug is completely up for grabs.

If you're not sick of us, we're not sick of you as we continue with the FanHouse Media Guide.

• Johan Edfors -- CUT -- A Swedish golfer who spends most of his time on the other side of the Atlantic, Edfors won three times on the European Tour in 2006. Also, a known long hitter around Europe (16th on tour) won't hurt on a course that can be stretched to 7,600 yards.

• John Ellis -- DNP -- Red hot on the Canadian Tour, Ellis has played in five tournaments this season, winning two and finishing in the top-10 in the other three.

• Ernie Els (above) -- WON -- It's pretty strange to think Els has won two U.S. Opens, both before I was even in high school ('94 and '97). Maybe a telling stat for the caliber of player Els used to be, he has 27 top-10s in majors and three wins.

• Sean English -- DNP -- English has played one PGA Tour event, the 2004 PGA Championship, missing the cut. He landed a spot on the driving range at Torrey Pines with a 64 in the first round of sectional qualifying.

• Niclas Fasth -- 4 -- Just typing his name gives me a lisp. If somebody told you in 2001, after David Duval won and Fasth finished second at the British Open that Fasth would be around longer than Duval, how much would you have bet? $600? $5,000? Your 401K?
  

• Derek Fathauer (a) -- DNP -- The University of Louisville senior got through sectionals in one of the toughest qualifying spots around, beating the likes of Davis Love III, Pat Perez and Rocco Mediate, to name a few.

• Fernando Figueroa -- DNP -- If you're thinking this was the 1907 to 1911 President of El Salvador, boy do you have the wrong Fernando Figueroa. This guy played golf at North Carolina and shot a 62 in local qualifying to make it to sectionals.

• Ross Fisher -- DNP -- Another European Tour members playing in his first U.S. Open, Fisher won a Jaguar in a 2006 tournament for closest to the pin. Currently Fisher is 20th on the Order of Merit and has the free-est Jaguar of anyone in golf.

• Steve Flesch -- t-7 -- It's interesting to look at results for the U.S. Open and see a guy finished 84th in the 1993 championship. They let 84 guys on the weekend? Really? Only three top-10s in major championship history, with one being at this year's Masters.

• Alastair Forsyth -- DNP -- Winner of the "Most Likely to Become a Famous British Author" award for his name, Forsyth won earlier this year on the European Tour and is now the highest ranked Scottish golfer, overtaking Colin Montgomerie.