As a non-fan (not a hater of, just not a fan) of Tiger Woods, this isn’t what I want to say, but…. I predict Woods will win this week’s U.S. Open by six shots over Padraig Harrington and one other player (at least) from among a group including Lee Westwood, Spencer Levin, Davis Love, and Senior Tour player Michael Allen.

Then again, my sports predictions haven’t been worth much in recent years. After many years of being freakishly successful at predicting golf tournaments, NCAA hoops tourneys, and some other sporting events — and after correctly choosing Funny Cide and Smarty Jones 9both somewhat long shots) to win the Kentucky Derby, and choosing Giacomo the next year to place (another long shot) — I thought I had a knack for this sort of thing. Well, other than Ryder Cups, that knack has gone click-clack, out the back, and completely out of whack. On the horses, I keep picking the runner-up: the third and fourth place horses to go 1-2 in the Preakness, and the second-place horse (Paynter) to win the Belmont. All of which is to say, take this with a grain of salt. That said, if I were in Vegas, I’d bet heavily on Woods.

Of course, this being Olympic, with its record in Opens, it might just be that Tiger’s six-stroke edge will occur with nine holes left, but when the smoke clears somebody like Geoff Ogilvy will have stolen it away. 

But don’t bet on it.