Phil Mickelson will not be competing in the 2009 British Open, deciding instead to stay home with his wife Amy, who is battling breast cancer. The last few years have been nothing short of outstanding, even including Harrington’s four shot win last year. That may seem like a huge margin on the surface, but the tournament was quite intriguing with Greg Norman making a bid for his third major championship. Who will surprise at the 2009 British Open? Here’s the TV schedule for you to see for yourself.

2009 PGA Championship TV Schedule

Tiger Woods will be gunning for his fourth British Open title in 2009, and first since 2006. Woods and Harrington have won the last four British Open titles, each winning two in a row. Last man to win it before them? Dallas’ own Todd Hamilton. But despite the absence of Mickelson, there are plenty of other players that should be able to challenge Tiger for the 2009 British Open title, a few of which actually come from the Metroplex.

A couple of relatively recent past British Open winners include Hamilton and 1997 champ Justin Leonard. Leonard, 37th on the World Golf Ranking list, missed the cut at the first two majors this year, but has also placed fifth at three other tournaments.

Colleyville’s Hunter Mahan also could be a threat – he’s finished in the top ten in his last three starts and hasn’t missed a cut since last year, including a sixth place finish at the U.S. Open. For what it’s worth, the Dallas Morning News’ great golf writer Bill Nichols picked Mahan to win the Claret Jug in this weekend’s British Open.

Dallas’ own Anthony Kim also could be in the running after going toe-to-toe with Tiger Woods at the AT&T National earlier this year.

There are some other challengers as well, including tour veterans Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk. Perry has three top-11 finishes at the British Open in his career, while Furyk has finished 11th or better in his last eight starts.

Whoever ends up challenging for the title should be able to make the tournament interesting, as the last three British Opens have all featured close finishes and the 2009 British Open shouldn’t be any different.

SOURCE: http://www.pga.com/openchampionship/2009/

Woods photo: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/thetoydepartment/TigerWoods.jpg

Baseball Time in Arlington’s Top 25 Prospect Rankings – (Baseball Time in Arlington)

Mike Hindman’s prospect rankings (split into three parts) – (InsideCorner)

B.J. Ryan’s job interview – (Food Court Lunch)

The Showdown: Whitlock vs. Bennett – (Deadspin)

A defense of the Mavs front office – (dallasbasketball.com)

Why the 2009 Dallas Cowboys feel different – (Blogging the Boys)