The British Open- How The Beatles' predictions from 40 years ago came true this weekend

With the British Open at Royal Liverpool, it is difficult to ignore the fact that The Beatles began their legendary careers in the same area. In fact, the last time the championship was held at Hoylake, the Beatles were at the peak of their popularity. And when one looks more closely at some of their songs, both the well-know and the obscure, it becomes eerily obvious that the fab-four not only knew their way around the guitar strings, but also were able to predict many of the events that would transpire at the next Open to be contested near their home town.

“And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree/there will be an answer/let it be”

The lyrics, written in 1969, point directly to the fact the Tiger Woods and Chris Dimarco, both having recently lost parents, would find solace, even if only for a moment, here at Royal Liverpool. The two tied for the course record on Friday with a 65, and then went on to finish first and second.

“Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain, where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies”

The Beatles preferred to be somewhat inconspicuous in their prophecies, and thus they gave us these lines. This string of words together makes exactly as much sense as Nick Faldo saying that Tiger “still has flaws” in his swing after Friday’s round, and with “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” they were helping us practice finding meaning in absurd statements.

“Why don’t we do it in the road?”

Wait - that must have been a prediction about last year’s 17th hole. Their foresight was not bound only to their hometown, but stretched across the entire U.K.

“Think of what you’re saying. You can get it wrong and still you think that it’s all right. Think of what I’m saying We can work it out and get it straight or say good night. We can work it out”

Lennon and McCartney wrote this song with the sole purpose of helping Tiger make the overblown feud between he and Faldo a thing of the past, thereby allowing him to build a lead he would never relinquish.

“Life’s what happens while you’re busy making plans.”

They tried to warn Mickelson about his OCD-like preparation for the Open, but it was too little too late. Tiger was racing cars and bungee jumping while Phil was plotting line graphs and studying statistics. Here’s an equation for Phil to analyze (Number of Tiger’s majors >Number of Phil’s majors times 3 plus 1)

“Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, and I need a place to hide away, oh I believe in yesterday.”

The Beatles wrote this ballad to show their empathy for Mark Calcavecchia today. He followed up a pair of tasty little 68’s with an 80 on Sunday, leaving him longing for the past.

“I am the Walrus.”

Ok, so maybe their bold prediction of Craig Stadler pulling off a miracle didn’t come through, but at least they got everything else right.