5 Names For The Open

It's the middle of July and that can only mean one thing: The Open Championship in Europe. As the oldest major tournament hits its second day, golf fans are looking to Sandwich, England to see the likes of Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, and others to see how they handle the Royal & Ancient golf course. With unfamiliar names like Darren Clarke, Lucas Glover, and Chad Campbell at the top, golf fans are looking for the new generation of superstars like Rickey Barnes, Bubba Watson and U.S. Open champ Rory McIlroy. As part of broadcasting the tournament, ESPN

and CBS

generally keep the tournament with limited commercial interruption, but nothing like the Masters. The Masters tournament has 56 minutes of coverage out of every hour, nearly unheard of in the television industry. The real winners from The Open will be the club makers, and especially the club maker of the Masters winner. Other winners will be the sporting goods stores who sell the clubs. Names to consider are Nike

, which has Tiger Woods on its roster, despite him not playing in the tournament. Callaway Golf Company

counts Phil Mickelson amongst its players, and Phil is expected to be in contention in this tournament, as the course plays to his strength. Another name to consider is Fortune Brands

, which owns the Titleist line of balls, clubs, and other golf equipment. Fortune Brands is currently in the process of splitting up into three separate companies. Other names to consider are Dick's Sporting Goods

and Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp.

, which is a much smaller competitor to Dick's.