wazzap24

I've a feeling Day might have won it were it not for the Vertigo. It's a miracle he completed all four days. Assuming Spieth is the real deal and not a flash in the pan (I'm going with the former myself), it's shaping up to be a great rivalry with Rory over the next few years. The way I see it is, although I think Rory is the superior player, Spieth could end up with more wins. It's genius Vs consistency. Spieth seems to analyse each course thoroughly and then go and and play it. He does it with a methodical approach and swings within himself. Adapts his game well to suit conditions, especially for a 21year old kid, his short game is solid and his putting is amazing. Rory relies more on form/feel and when he's on it, he doesn't play courses, he murders them. On form, he is unmatched, no other player has all of the strengths put together like he does. His problem is, he's streaky and when he's off, he's properly off. If he could putt well consistently, there would be no contest, we'd be looking at tiger levels of dominance over the next few years, especially in the 3 stateside majors.

Your arse would have been going if he'd just holed that 6 footer for another birdie! 4 holes left including a par 5, if he keeps hitting it this close he could post a -9 under round here.

Rory is on the charge! -6 under through 13. Ridiculous golf on this course.

Can't really agree about either. The fact both have come back from adversity several times shows they have great mental strength. Was it the 2008 or 9 ashes Bell was dropped but came back and was outstanding in Australia, as well as being the best player in both teams the last ashes here. Bell is very much a form player and all it needs for him is to go back to his county, score runs then watch him go. Cook went through a terrible prolonged spell, but the selectors showed faith and now his form is excellent again. With Bell I kept thinking. he's going to be one of the greats but then his form goes and his average drops. He'll end up a very good player but not a great. Fair points Paul. Maybe mental strength might have been the wrong choice of words. The fragility of that strength is more what I am getting at. Eg, if Cook and Bell both have decent knocks in the first test, then yes I can see them building from that and having a great series. If Johnson or Starc go smashing through them early on and th Aussies 'get in their heads' then it could be a long summer for both. Not quite 'Trottesque', but something similar. I just think they are fragile and confidence remains on a bit of a knifedge.

I watched 'Lucy' last night on Sky. Great idea, poor execution. Would have been far better as a big budget HBO mini-series. The film was a bit rubbish.

Season 3 is probably one of best seasons of any show I have seen in a long while. Banshee is a brilliant and underrated show Agreed. I think if all of VT watched it, people would have it right up with some of best shows around. I've enjoyed it since the start, but it's getting better and better.

Episode 3 in the new series of Banshee is absolutely brilliant! It's such a good show.

Who judges what qualifies for mentally healthy and responsible though? The mum in question was a nuclear scientist, so whilst that doesn't make her responsible, I'd say she must have been reasonably intelligent - certainly not an uneducated redneck or anything like that. Maybe if more people had had guns on them in Walmart at the time, someone could have shot the toddler before he had chance to shoot his mum? I don't know, as other have said - the situation is probably too far gone now, but If they are not going to stop people having them, there should be tighter controls and they should have to be kept at home (unless travelling to/from a range or something). Allowing concealed carrying (or any kind of carrying) is a recipe for disaster imo. The example set by the police over there doesn't help. It makes me wonder if they use 'Police Academy' as an instructional training video, except there are no LOL's, they just run around shooting unarmed black people. I love the states, can't wait to go back in a few weeks, but some of the shit that goes on is just bat shit crazy.

Yeah, if t gets windy (or much dryer) it will be borderline unplayable. I watched Reed hit an approach into one green, which landed about 6 foot from the pin and ended up about 100 yards away! Good fun to watch though, much better than target practice golf they often play over there.

Anyone watch any of the US Open yesterday? What a brutal course! Remarkable rounds from Johnson and Stenson to get to that score. Rory played the course well. But his putting was shoddy, he would have been right up there f he'd holed a few. And as for Tiger, it's becoming painful. I know he isn't the most likeable of blokes, but I can't help but feel for him. Injuries or not, he's hitting shots than a Sunday morning hacker would be embarrassed of. It's becoming cringeworthy to watch and I almost feel like the cameras should just stop filming him. It's like rubber necking at a car crash or laughing at the sub-normals on Jeremy Kyle.

Criminals yes, but not Joe Public. It's not just about having a gun or not, it's the whole attitude towards them in the states. It's not just relatively easy to get one, but it's not that difficult to get a concealed carry permit in many states too. So that's not just having one to 'defend your property', which I kind of understand, but people are just wandering around carrying the **** things. There was a recent story about a 2 or 3 year old shooting their mum dead in a supermarket, because she had left a loaded gun on top of her purse while dong the shopping. Kid grabbed it and shot her. What. The. Actual. ****.

The problem with Bell (and Cook) is not their ability, but their mental strength. I heard Vaughn talking about Bell on the radio the other day and he said he had never known a player, with such great technical ability, to have such a fragile confidence. Cook is similar to me, great when the goings good, but struggles with both his own game and the captaincy in the face of adversity. As Pong pointed out, this series has been played in a very 'jolly good show' fashion, competitive yes, but lots of back slapping and pleasantries between sides. The snarling Aussies are a different prospect. We need a fast start to give us a chance and keep confidence high.

You could stick Cissoko and Westwood in those blanks and that side should be capable of finishing 10th-12th with relative ease.

When England play like they have done against NZ, both formats are exciting to watch. I'm still fearful of the Aussies, but if we can carry on playing with this new ethos of confidence, freedom and agreession, then it will certainly be closer than I feared a few weeks back. I think we might win a test or two in the Ashes and we might even edge them in the one day series. The improvement recently has been immeasurable. I've got concerns about our opening 3 in the batting line up (test), but the emergence of Woods has eased some of my concern about the bowling attack, though the pack of a top class front line spinner is a worry. Confidence will be key, a good result in the 1st Test and who knows.

Cracking signing, looking forward to seeing him ITSOTP

Another cracking one dayer on the go here.

IMHO no, it was bollocks IMHO yes, it was brilliant

I read it about 18 months ago, it's a great read. It could be brilliant, just a bit concerned by the Network that's putting it together.

Tom Hardy would be brilliant as Bond. He's brilliant in everything.

It's been talked about for ages, but the TV adaptation of 'American Gods' has finally been confirmed. I was hoping it would be placed in the hands of HBO, but 'Starz' have apparently paid a fortune for the rights to do it. Slightly concerned, but it's being helmed by Bryan Fuller and Micheal green, who both have a reasonable pedigree. If you haven't read the book, it's absolutely brilliant. If they do a good job, this could be excellent. Much better on TV (as long as they have the production budget), a film wouldn't have done it justice imo.

I think he will do exactly that - a 'decent job'. I like Evans, TFI Friday and the Radio one breakfast show were massive when I was growing up. He's clever, funny and a talented broadcaster. Taking this on is a different kettle of fish though. It's not really about 'Top Gear' - it ceased being that years ago and became the Clarkson, Hammond and May show. For better or worse, they were the show. It will be interesting to see whch direction they go in. They can't follow the same format, as it will just become a poor mans replica, especially if, as expected, C/H/M tip up somewhere else, basically doing the same thing. I can see why the Beeb want to keep it going and I can see why they have chosen Evans. Not sure it's going to work though tbh.

I can give you all the advice you want on spending more than you earn if that's any good to you? I'm awesome at accumulating debt, not so hot on the rest.

I want Anita to come round and clean my place. I'd pay extra if there's a massage software option with a happy ending too. I would definitely have her wearing something more appealing though. 9/10 would bang.

Easily the funniest thing about at the moment (Silicon Valley runs it close, but with less of the Lols) Season 3 starts in America this Autumn, hopefully we won't be too far behind.

I like him. Good player. Great passer of the ball and more expansive than Westwood in the deeper role. He's a bit slow and not the most mobile, but if he was, we wouldn't be talking about signing him and he wouldn't be going for £5m quid. I think he'd be very good for us with the right players around him.