KARZMER: And the winner is ...

This week has always been one of my favorites to write about, whether it was retelling how The Claret Jug was created in 1870 after Young Tom Morris won three straight British Opens and was permanently awarded the original Champions Belt.

Or remembering how I ended up celebrating with that Jug when my old Kent State teammate Ben Curtis won the Open in 2003.

British Open week has always been special.

In terms of this column, I have always enjoyed sharing my “picks” for upcoming major championships. I’m “one-for-ever” (thanks Brooks!) so my apologies as always to the unlucky “pick” below.

The Americans: This might be my least confident major in years that an American will be competitive.

Brooks Koepka is an obvious pick. He has two wins and two second places in his last four majors. It’s hard to pick against that kind of streak. Unfortunately, I think the Open neutralizes some of Brooks’ dominating traits (long and high doesn’t always work on the Open’s links courses).

And mentally, when you’re that competitive for that many events in a row, if Brooks doesn’t get off to a great start, I think it could be a difficult to climb back up the leaderboard like he did at Pebble Beach in last month’s U.S. Open.

Tiger Woods is admittedly not on form. Phil Mickelson has quickly become irrelevant after winning on Tour earlier this year. I don’t know where Dustin Johnson has gone. And our young guns Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are nowhere near their previous top forms.

Rickie Fowler will be my top “big-name” American pick. I can see him get a Top 10 on Sunday. And my two other American picks are the “slow and steady” players of Matt Kuchar and Jim Furyk. I can’t see Furyk winning again until his Champions Tour debut. But I think both of these guys can compete well on a firm Open course.

The Internationals: I don’t really know where to go here. Marc Leishman, Jason Day and Adam Scott are solid Aussie picks for an Open. But I don’t see them in contention this week.

Matsuyama has dropped off considerably over the last two years. South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen could be up there. And then there’s the always “fun to type” Shubhankar Sharma and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

K.A. has performed well in majors before. But again, I don’t expect a winner from this group.

Europeans: In my mind, the obvious pick comes from this group. The Open has traditionally suited European players as it’s their “home” major of the year. And I feel like momentum is on the side of these top names; Rory McIllroy, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Francisco Molinari and others.

Rory and Graeme literally grew up playing this year’s host course, Royal Portrush. I think that “home course” feeling sometimes adds pressure because of the expectation to do well.

My opinion, Rory has become more Americanized (high, far, soft shots) and the Open doesn’t suit him as well as one might think.

And McDowell, although improving, hasn’t had a consistent “A-game” all year. I won’t be completely shocked if either were to win. But I can’t make either my official pick.

This year, I’m going to go with a first-time major winner who has been ready to break through for a while now. I can’t identify a specific trait why, but he checks all the needed boxes in my mind.

I hope to see some excitement from others. But my Champion Golfer of the Year, and my final pick of 2019 is Tommy Fleetwood.

Jonah Karzmer is a former golf professional who writes a golf column for The Vindicator. In his spare time he sells commercial insurance and loves getting feedback on his weekly columns via email at Jonah@thekarzmerinsurance.com.