Good Wednesday morning to you New England!

Consider this morning’s LEEInks entry, your mid-morning tee time as we’re going to dive right into all things US Open. Tomorrow, our nation’s championship will get underway in Farmingdale, New York on the famed Bethpage Black course.

In recent years, the US Open has become the tournament to watch for golf fans. Last year’s tournament at Torrey Pines has already reached legendary status.

That tournament had everything you could possibly look for in a great sports film. You had the best golfer in the world battling a knee injury and an unheralded “people’s champion” in Rocco Mediate.

That very brief summary doesn’t even include the 18-hole playoff the next morning! Woods and Mediate were still deadlocked after 90 holes, they needed one more hole to play before someone went home with the hardware.

In case you don’t remember the scene, check out Tiger’s birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force the playoff. It certainly was one of the best sports moments of 2008.

This year’s open has as deep of a field as possible. From PGA course professionals to Tiger and Phil, this field is filled to the brim with some of the best golf money can buy.

Far and away the best threesome of the day tees off at 8:06 tomorrow morning on Bethpage Black’s first tee. Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, and Masters champion Angel Cabrera get the ball rolling on this year’s tournament.

Bethpage Black, a public course on Long Island, was the scene of another memorable US Open in 2002. Naturally, Tiger took home the Open.

Newsday has an awesome smattering of US Open material on their website including an interactive look at Bethpage’s layout. You can even find the betting odds on who will win the US Open on the internet as well this morning.

Speaking of which, who aside from the ovious Tiger Woods choice does the LEEInks think will take the cake at Bethpage Black? After his performance on final round sunday at Sawgrass earlier this spring, keep an eye on Henrik Stenson.

I think Stenson will be reliable like another Swedish product, a Volvo.

Hope you enjoy this gorgeous June morning across the region. Stay Classy, New England

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