Your 2006 British Open Preview.  Storylines to watch for:

The Tiger Woods/Nick Faldo pairing. After Faldo was critical of Woods last year, Tiger has vowed to not speak to Faldo. Now that they are paired together for the first two rounds, things could get ugly. This has the potential to be more awkward than a Paris Hilton/Nicole Richie reunion.

Phil Mickelson's comeback. With a par on the 18th hole of the U.S. Open Mickelson would be in serious contention to match the Tiger Slam with his own Phil Slam, by winning this tournament. Instead of worrying about trying to win this week, he might be spending more time trying not to choke again. I don’t think he will finish in the top ten.

Ernie Els. Where have you gone Ernie? A year ago people were talking about him overtaking Tiger at the top of the world rankings. He then proceeded to play like a driving range duffer, dropping down to the No. 8 ranked player in the world. Luckily for Els he fares well in British Opens, so expect him to ditch his duffer status, at least for this week.

Geoff Ogilvy's goes back-to-back. After sneaking in as U.S. Open champ, can he keep the momentum rolling? By the way, hopefully he thanked Phil for that collapse or we would all still be asking “Who the hell is Geoff Ogilvy?” If you still are asking that question, be on the look out because this kid has the game to win another major. I just hope he doesn’t expect someone to hand him the trophy a second time.

Excuse me,who are you again? The British Open has a history of producing out of the blue winners. Recently guys named Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton won the event. Not exactly household names. This year’s winner has a good chance of again being a complete underdog. (More on this in a second).

And the winner is. A few names to keep on eye on this week are Jim Furyk, Padraig Harrington, and David Howell. Okay, so you still might not recognize their names but these guys can play. But deep down, how can you bet against Tiger? He won this tournament last year, is always geared up for majors, and is coming of####ood showing in his last tournament. Tiger Woods will be your 2006 British Open champion.

Unknown player to keep an eye out for. Carl Spackler. If Woods falters, look for Spackler to make a charge at the trophy.  Coming off a strong Master’s performance, this Cinderella story has as good a chance to win as anyone in the unpredictable field. Check him out here.