Forecasting Luck Of The Draw

As defending champion Darren Clarke and countless other past Open contestants through the years can attest, the weather can give certain sides of the draw an enormous advantage.

With that, I give you the latest weather forecast which the gents who put it together note, "may be amended at any time."

0200 to 0800 Thursday - Cloudy with outbreaks of rain until just after dawn after which it will become dry, 2 to 5mm possible.  Northwest 10 to 15mph becoming north decreasing 5 to 10mph

0800 to 1400 Thursday - Mostly dry with sunny spells and variable cloud. 10% chance of a light shower. North 5 to 10mph becoming northwest 10 to 15mph with occasional gusts to 20mph

Rest of Thursday: Mostly dry with sunny spells. Wind northwest 10 to 15mph occasional gust 20mph decreasing 5 to 10mph gusts 15mph. Max 17C.

Friday: Dry with sunny spells. Wind northwest 5 to 10mph gusts 15mph. Max 17C.

My read on the opening rounds: on paper the late early might have a slight advantage assuming Wednesday night's storm materializes. The northwest is the prevailing wind and makes the closing holes play into the wind, while the front nine plays mostly downwind (except the 4th hole).

But the forecast not long ago included West to southwest winds with gusts for the Thursday afternoon gang, which would flip the advantage potentially to the early/late.

Failing to reach a conclusion, I've turned to numbers and while ESPN.com's Justin Ray has some terrific trending stats related to several name players, he only left me more confused about my potential choices at the betting window.

Oh screw it, the Open starts in a few hours. We'll know soon enough.