Not to turn this into an Earl thread, but someone mentioned Earl. I think he is gone crazy. At first, I thought it was an elaborate sharking technique to make people think he's that way to get an edge. That was the conspiracy theory side of me. Reality is, he's nutz.
But, I still think he's got enough stroke to win for a while. He's not an 8-ball player as the IPT has proven. But 9-ball is definately his game. He's a machine at it. No need to think, just gun balls in. If he's on, there's no one that can stop him.
So he's always a threat. But, does he still have the fire to win the U.S. Open? Dunno. I doubt he cares, he's done it so many times. The drive for the U.S. Open will be purely the money, whereas for other players, it is also for the title.