Welcome to the Tour Blog, where Golfweek reporters Jeff Babineau,
Jeff Rude, Rex Hoggard, Dave Seanor, Alex Miceli, James Achenbach, Alistair Tait and
Beth Ann Baldry deliver the latest inside news and happenings on the
PGA Tour, LPGA and European Tour.
Editor's note: This is the archived
material from the British Open through the Women’
s British Open.
ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – Nicole Castrale fell victim to the Road Hole in
Friday’s round, injuring her right hand while hitting out of the rough.
Castrale shot 10-over 83 Saturday and had her hand x-rayed later in the
afternoon. Doctors diagnosed her with a strained tendon.
Castrale
still plans on heading over to Sweden Monday with potential members of
the U.S. Solheim Cup team even if she isn’t well enough to play the
course. King invited the top 12 points earners through the McDonald’s
LPGA. Juli Inkster, Pat Hurst, Natalie Gulbis, Paula Creamer and Morgan
Pressel all decided not to go for various reasons. That leaves
Castrale, Angela Stanford, Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lang, Brittany
Lincicome, Stacy Prammanasudh, and Sherri Steinhauer making trip.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Aug. 4, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – Lorena Ochoa certainly doesn’t look like a player
who prefers to hit it high and watch it fly. She’s maneuvering her way
around the Old Course like a seasoned links veteran, missing only six
greens in 54 holes.
“The way I’ve seen her play this week
reminds me of Seve,” said her English caddie, Dave Brooker. “It’s like
she’s been playing here all her life.”
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Aug. 4, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – Can you imagine Tiger Woods patiently signing
autographs as he walks from a press interview to the clubhouse?
Didn’t think so. Neither can I.
Yet
that’s what the world’s No. 1 women’s golfer did after finishing her
second round. There were 10 young girls waiting for Ochoa as she exited
her press conference. Most were taller than her.
Ochoa greeted the girls with a smile and fulfilled every girl’s autograph request.
The numbers swelled as people realized what was going on. But Ochoa didn’t stop.
She signed for everyone.
Class!
– Alistair Tait
Posted Aug. 3, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – Gary Gilchrist’s explanation for Suzann Pettersen’s
mediocre British Open performance thus far was simple: Poor putting.
His student didn’t one-putt a single green today over the Old Course
and barely made it to the weekend, shooting 3-over 76 to make the cut.
“There
she is looking for the secret,” said Gilchrist, pointing toward
Pettersen who had just arrived on the putting green. “She ought to go
out to Barnes and Nobles and buy it.”
(For those who don’t watch “Oprah,” “The Secret” is Rhonda Byrne’s best-selling advice book.)
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Aug. 3, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – You have to pity the poor people carrying the
scoreboards this week. They need the skills of a veteran sailor to
chart their way around the Old Course.
With winds sometimes gusting above 20 mph, it’s often hard to hold the board still.
The
scoreboard carriers wear these aprons with a small pouch into which the
shaft of the scoreboard fits. The square board sits high above their
head, almost ike a small sail.
The lady carrying the board for
the Lorena Ochoa group was having a wrestling match trying to keep the
board still. She had both arms wrapped around the thing trying to hold
on.
Meanwhile, a small girl was tacking down the 12th fairway as she carried the board for amateur Sally Watson’s group.
And
to think each and everyone is a volunteer. I think they have the
toughest job this week. Many will have sore forearms by Sunday.
– Alistair Tait
Posted Aug. 3, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – You’d think by now the Brits would know how to
spell Sherri Steinhauer’s name. The three-time British Open winner’s
name was butchered (Stienhuer) on the Road Hole leaderboard, one of St.
Andrew’s most-watched signs.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Aug. 3, 2007
ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – I got an idea what a piranha attack is like after the second round.
Ai
Miyazato conducted her post round press conference with Japanese
reporters near the scorer’s hut. Then she stopped to talk to coaches
Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott.
That’s when the feeding frenzy started.
One
Japanese photographer started taking pictures and before you could say
“Tommy Nakajima,” another 10 turned up from nowhere and started popping
flashes!
No wonder it looked as if Miyazato was wiping away
tears from her eyes, while Nilsson and Marriott looked like they’d been
ambushed by the paparazzi.
– Alistair Tait
Posted Aug. 3, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, Scotland – The St. Andrews Links Trust does a great job in
trying to speed up play daily at the Home of Golf. They have to. With
so many visitors wanting to experience every moment, the Links Trust
needs to remind people that there are others on the course.
The Links Trust preaches a philosophy of 3 hour, 57 minutes. That’s the time it should take to play the Old Course.
That message is hammered home when you hit balls on the practice ground. The numbers “3:57” are printed on every practice ball.
But those numbers aren’t on the balls the top women golfers are hitting on the range this week.
The numbers “4:39” were significant on day one. That’s the time it took the first group to play 18 holes.
With that time setting the pace, the 3:57 target has about as much chance of being met as the R&A accepting women members.
– Alistair Tait
Posted Aug. 2, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, Scotland – Big professional tournaments can often be a hard
time for the local St. Andrews caddies. When the men’s Open comes here,
most of them get shunted aside as the world’s elite prefer to use
their own bagmen.
At least they get work when the Dunhill Links Championship, a pro-am event, is played here.
Local
caddies got a pleasant surprise this week. Many of them were employed
in practice rounds to help players and their regular caddies map out
the Old Course.
However, some 26 local caddies are in full-time action this week, including two women.
Guess the St. Andrews caddies would like to see the Women’s British
back here any time.
– Alistair Tait
Posted Aug. 2, 2007
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Rebecca Hudson is living proof of the gulf that exists between men and women’s professional golf.
Can
you imagine a top British amateur like Rory McIlroy having to spend the
winter working in a restaurant to supplement his income after he turns
professional?
No way.
That’s what Hudson has had to do the past few years to make ends meet.
The
former three-time Curtis Cup player and women’s British Amateur
champion has worked as a restaurant supervisor in the winter, sometimes
working 75-80 hours a week, so she can pay her bills.
Hudson won
her first LET event in Hungary last year. She is currently 11th on the
LET money list and on the verge of Solheim Cup selection. Maybe this
winter she can go somewhere warm to work on her golf, rather than
slogging her guts out in a restaurant.
You can bet that’s what McIlroy will be doing.
– Alistair Tait
Posted Aug. 2, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – The Brits here found it difficult to believe that
Laura Davies had never played St. Andrews prior to Wednesday’s pro-am
round. Davies said she’s been playing professional golf for 23 years
and at 33 tournaments apiece isn’t interested in flying to Scotland to
get a tee time with amateur players.
“That was my idea of hell,” she said with a laugh.
Davies actually hit her first tee shot off No. 1 at the Old Course on Tuesday left and out of bounds.
“I did a Baker-Finch,” she said. “I had people heckling me on the first tell as well so it was a hard shot.”
Davies
only played up No. 1 and then down the 18th Tuesday. In Thursday’s
round she teed off just as Lorena Ochoa was putting the finishing
touches on a bogey-free 67.
This time around Davies managed to
keep her opening drive in play. But that won’t be the shot that will go
down in Old Course lore.
“I gave her so much s***,” Suzann Pettersen said with a laugh. You can bet she wasn’t the only one.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Aug. 2, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – Just how good was Lorena Ochoa striking the ball on
Day 1 of the Women’s British Open? Well, consider that in addition to
her six birdies, Ochoa missed four birdie attempts from the 8-10 foot
range.
She managed to maneuver her way around the Old Course
without finding a bunker and missed one green, the par-4 16th, by two
yards.
Leaderboards on the back nine this morning featured only
two names: Ochoa and Michelle Wie, who was 2 under through 13 holes
before bogeying Nos. 11, 14 and 16.
Surely the fans who have already packed the Road Hole bleachers early Thursday won’t be disappointed.
– By Beth Ann Baldry
Posted Aug. 2, 2007
Was
glad to see Ryan Rue, the Tour caddie who worked for Chris DiMarco
before the two parted ways following the U.S. Open, was back on a
winning bag last week.
Rue looped Cory Whitsett to victory at
the U.S. Junior Amateur. Not bad for a caddie DiMarco dubbed “a burden”
on the golf course.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Aug. 2, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, Scotland – How can you tell there isn’t as much buzz for the
Women’s British Open as there is for the men’s? Count the customers in
Ma Bells.
Ma Bells is a popular watering hole on The Scores,
about 350 yards from the 18th green. During term time, when St. Andrews
University is in full swing, you can’t move in the pub because of
students. It’s the same during the British Open.
So last night I
decided to pay a visit. Now this trip was purely in the interest of
research you understand, not because I wanted to whet my whistle or
anything. (Are you reading this
Golfweek bosses?)
I didn’t have a pint because when I walked in the pub about 9 p.m., there were only about six customers.
Maybe the crowd that follows women’s golf don’t drink much as those who follow men’s golf.
– Alistair Tait
Posted Aug. 1, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, Scotland – Don’t look for Janice Moodie to spend any more time
on the Ladies European Tour than she has to. Not with the LET’s
attitude to members who decide to have children.
Moodie isn’t impressed with the LET’s maternity scheme, or lack thereof.
She
is not eligible for this year’s Solheim Cup team because she has not
played in enough LET events this year. She has to play in a minimum of
six and hasn’t been able to because of the birth of her son, Craig,
last year.
“There’s no maternity clause on the (Ladies) European
Tour to allow a player to have a maternity and then instead of playing
six mandatory events, play three,” Moodie said.
“I guess having a baby is a bad thing.”
LET officials sought legal advice and were told they could not change the policy.
Solheim Cup captain Helen Alfredsson tried to get the rule altered, but the LET refused to budge.
“I mean, so what if I give her a wild card?” Alfredsson said. “Who’s going to complain? It’s just crazy.”
When my wife and I had both our children, my employers at the time gave me two weeks paternity leave in each case.
You’d have thought an organization that caters for women would have a child-friendly attitude.
– Alistair Tait
Posted Aug. 1, 2007
Not to say ShotLink isn’t useful, but we’ve got to question some of this stuff.
Says
here Bubba Watson is leading the Tour in driving distance with a
316-yard average. No surprise there. But we’ve also been informed the
season’s longest poke belongs to that renowned “Sultan of Swat” Steve
Flesch, who recorded a 447-yard bomb earlier this year in New Orleans.
This
factoid would be easier to swallow, of course, if Flesch didn’t rank so
far below the Mendoza Line in driving distance (114th with a 285-yard
average).
An even bigger statistical stunner is Jim Furyk’s
pedestrian putting performances from 5 feet (he ranks 167th on Tour).
But then, our generation’s “Boss of the Moss” did hammer that 5 1/2
footer past the hole to finish his round last week at the Canadian Open.
Seems Mark Twain was only partially correct. There are lies, damned lies, statistics and ShotLink.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted Aug. 1, 2007
ST.
ANDREWS, SCOTLAND – Crossing the pond, I’ve discovered, is never easy.
A three-hour delay in Orlando left me sprinting the length of a long
par 5 to the gate in Newark, N.J., to catch a flight to Edinburgh.
(When a flight attendant tells you to run, you run.) At the gate I ran
into two players (Katherine Hull and Beth Bader), a caddie and a coach
who were waiting to board. My out-of-breath story paled in comparison
to theirs: They’d each spent the night in Newark, losing a full day of
work on the Old Course. Talk about disappointing.
Players were
taking copious notes Tuesday around St. Andrews. Traffic was backed up
five groups deep on the 11th tee this afternoon, a prelude of the
difficulties that lie ahead on the difficult par 3. Many hired local
caddies for the practice rounds to gain extra insight (keep it left)
and were greeted with strong winds.
Groups did, however, take
time out from their studies to snap pictures on the Swilken Bridge.
Players, caddies and their entourage posed to take their place in
history.
Can’t wait for Sunday.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted July 31, 2007
The
PGA of America announced Monday a partnership with Royal Bank of
Scotland, an arrangement which will include various partnership
opportunities at the PGA Championship, PGA Grand Slam of Golf and Ryder
Cup.
As best we can discern, the deal allows RBS to expand its
marketing presence in the United States. And for the PGA, the
caretakers of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, must be looking for some of that
“auld” country magic in what has become a biennial blowout.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 30, 2007
It’s
always good to see Juli Inkster atop the leaderboard, especially with
the Solheim Cup just around the corner. How about this stat? Should
Inkster hold on to win the Evian Masters Sunday, she’d become the
oldest winner on the LPGA Tour at 47 years, one month and five days.
Inkster’s good friend Beth Daniel currently holds the record at 46
years, eight months and 29 days for her victory at the 2003 BMO
Financial Group Canadian Women’s Open.
It might be the one time Inkster doesn’t mind the media fixating on her age.
– Beth Ann Baldry
Posted July 28, 2007
There
is no lay-up. No bailout. No place to hide. Only 1,208 yards of
gorse-ringed trouble protected by a cool steady breeze, otherwise known
as the meanest closing street in the game.
Carnoustie’s 18th
hole was etched into the golf consciousness in 1999 when Jean Van de
Velde waded, bounced and slashed his way to a triple bogey-7 to let the
claret jug slip away. And Padraig Harrington’s love/hate finish at the
18th last week added another surreal chapter.
What is often lost, however, is how collectively cruel the course’s closing holes can be.
“There
is nothing that compares to that,” Tom Lehman said of Carnoustie’s
16th, 17th and 18th holes. “(No. 18) is the hardest hole in golf,
without a doubt. It’s 520 yards . . . it’s a par 5.”
Actually,
Carnoustie’s finishing hole is a par 4 that played just under 499
yards, but Lehman’s hyperbole can be forgiven. Most players echoed the
1996 British Open champion’s sentiments, comparing Carnoustie’s
troubling threesome to the final three at Quail Hollow at the Wachovia
Championship, Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass. But even those famous finishes
paled.
“The 15th is a birdie hole at Wachovia,” Lucas Glover
said. “I wouldn’t call any of these (final) four, with this wind, a
birdie hole.”
To most not even Quail Hollow’s closing stretch
stood as imposing as Carnoustie’s final turn, and statistically no
other Tour venue could compare. Carnoustie’s final three played 1.145
shots over par for the week, compared to 1.145 over at Bay Hill and
1.05 over at Quail Hollow.
Carnoustie’s 18th took a particularly
steep toll, playing more than a half stroke over par (4.611) thanks to
the omnipresent winding of the Barry Burn and out of bounds looming
just 12 paces off the left edge of the final green.
“You wonder
why Van de Velde hit into the bleachers (at the ’99 Open),” said
Charley Hoffman, who played the final three in 10 over. “Now I know. If
you go left, you’re dead. I was shocked when I walked over there during
a practice round and saw it was OB. It’s right there.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 27, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
SCOTLAND – Wow! What a finish! What a Sunday at the storied Open
Championship!!! Kudos to Padraig Harrington for surviving a potentially
disastrous 72nd hole, to Sergio Garcia for hanging in there after a
rough start, for Andres Romero for making 10 birdies on a golf course
not playing all that easy. And kudos to Carnoustie for showing that, if
set up correctly, it's one of the top venues in the Open rota.
Once
again, the U.S. Golf Association should take notice of the finish: A
four-hole aggregate playoff ON SUNDAY that ensured those at Carnoustie
who'd invested an entire day into the golf had a chance to see it
through to its finish.
An 18-hole Monday playoff? Pass the No-Doz ...
Harrington
is a fitting champ, and a real class guy. At U.S. Tour events, he's
always the guy who gives Vijay a run for his money as the last man
standing on the practice tee or putting green. He thought he might make
a decent journeyman pro, and now he's a major champion. Great stuff.
By
the way, what a week for Ireland. Legendary Joe Carr gets into the Hall
of Fame; Rory McIlroy wins the silver medal as the Open's low amateur;
and Harrington delivers Ireland's first Open title in 60 years.
Wonder if the pubs are still open in Dublin ...
Well,
it's 6:03 in the morning here, and the Golfweek group is headed to
catch a few winks. Then it's off to St. Andrews for a little late
afternoon golf.
Start the countdown to Royal Birkdale. Hope it's half as good as this one ...
Cheers.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted July 23, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
SCOTLAND – Guy plays a couple practice rounds, shuffles around
Carnoustie in 7 over to miss the cut by three strokes, you’d figure he
would have had enough of this links thing.
Not Loren Roberts.
As
our foursome was putting out on No. 18 early Saturday at St. Andrews
Bay, an enjoyable layout just down the road from the “Auld Grey Toon,”
we spied “The Boss” heading out for a two-ball in a steady breeze and
light mist.
Some guys just can’t get enough.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 21, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
Scotland – Good news for Sergio Garcia fans: Just saw his weekend
wardrobe for British Open weekend. It won't include that crazy yellow
banana suit he wore last year at Hoylake when Tiger Woods squashed him
like a bug ...
Instead, Sergio will be wearing "kiwi."
Wonder if kiwi was an option for Ben Hogan when he won here in '53?
– Jeff Babineau
Posted July 21, 2007
As
if competing against the British Open wasn’t enough of a hurdle for the
HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship, nine of 10 top seeds have
been eliminated before the weekend.
Mi Hyun Kim (10th) was only top seed to advance to the third round Friday at Wykagl Country Club.
Giant
slayer Meaghan Francella was at it again, this time ousting Lorena
Ochoa, 1 up. It’s the second time she’s stared down a World No. 1 in a
one-on-one format and come out on top. Earlier this year she notched
her first LPGA victory by stunning Annika Sorenstam in a playoff. The
girl’s got guts.
How strange to have a weekend with a hefty
purse on the line and not have Ochoa, Sorenstam, Creamer, Kerr,
Pressel, Webb, Pak, Pettersen or Inkster in the field. Seems this tour
can’t get a break.
– Beth Ann Baldry Posted July 20, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
Scotland – The weather forecast for Round 3 is less dire than
anticipated, which means it still won’t be any picnic. Look for heavy
rain in the morning, with the wind shifting from east to northeast.
That’s when it comes in from Siberia.
“I need to get organized
for tomorrow,” said Tiger Woods, who at 1-over 143 is seven shots off
the lead and goes off at 12:15 p.m. “Because tomorrow will probably be
a pretty tough day.”
It’s about time, because this Open has been
sorely lacking in buzz. It’s a reasonably compelling leaderboard after
36 holes, and everyone will be watching to see if El Nino can stand up
to the nasty weather. Let’s be honest; the biggest stories so far have
been Gary Player’s allegation that several players have used
performance-enhancing drugs (they told him so) and the ill-advised
attempts at humor by a couple of politically incorrect speakers at the
annual Association of Golf Writers dinner.
(I have no doubt
that there’s something to the Black Knight’s claims, but until he’s
ready to name names, he should keep his mouth shut. As for the outrage
over the after-dinner jokes, there’s no question that a couple of them
made everyone in the room cringe. But at least the insults were equally
distributed between sexes and among various ethnic groups. Seriously,
gone are the days when remarks made at a private function stay private.
It’s hard to fathom that the speakers didn’t know better.)
Back
to the weather, Angus. Wind and rain notwithstanding, Woods said
Saturday still will be moving day. “You can make moves tomorrow,” he
said. “You shoot anything around par, you’ll be looking pretty good.”
Woods’
decision to play a Monday practice round in horrendous conditions might
be looking pretty good, too. “You’re just going to have to go out
there and grind it out and try to stay away from big mistakes,” said
Woods.
– Dave Seanor Posted July 20, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
Scotland – Won Joon Lee, playing in the final group Friday, finished
birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey to ensure that the cut fell at plus 4, with
exactly 70 players moving on to the weekend. . . . . Not sure whether
it was shown on ABC’s telecast in the States, but the BBC offered a
close-up of the tee marker that Henrik Stenson bashed after making a
poor tee shot at No. 8 in Round 2. Stenson was fined 500 pounds by the
European Tour. More costly, he bogeyed that hole, then triple-bogeyed
the par-3 eighth, and missed the cut by a shot.
– Dave Seanor
Posted July 20, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
Scotland – To better appreciate the essence of the British Open
experience, check out the “Major Moments” video feature about Spink’s
Original Smokies from Arbroath on Golfweek.com.
This is my 12th
British Open, and never on the grounds have I tasted anything better
than Iain’s smokies. We’re talking trout and haddock, smoked using a
traditional method that dates to the late 1800s.
How good are
they? Boo Weekley has been stopping by the Smokies stand every day
since arriving at Carnoustie. “Probably some of the best you’ll ever
eat,” said Boo, who knows a thing or two about fish. “Yes, sir, it was
good.”
– Dave Seanor
Posted July 20, 2007
CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND – One of my favorite
parts of this British Open gig is getting to listen to BBC radio
broadcasts while roaming the ancient fairways.
Unlike their American counterparts, BBC announcers are a lively, creative bunch. Some of our favorites on Day 2:
-After a player found some of Carnoustie’s gorse: “He’s in the middle of George . . . as in George Bush.”
-Following
another player’s poor finish one announcer deadpanned: “That’s 5-5-5-6.
That’s an ambulance (as in the on-course number to dial for a medical
emergency).
Stay tuned for more on Day 3.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 20, 2007
CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND - A lot of interesting things happened on the
first hole Friday. Leader Sergio Garcia shanked an approach shot. Tiger
Woods hit a drive out of bounds. And, though unconfirmed, John Daly
might have scarfed down a muffin to go with his breakfast cigarette.
– Jeff Rude
Posted July 20, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
SCOTLAND – Still chilly here on the Angus coast, but the clouds parted
just long enough this morning to flush a few Scots out of their houses
and onto the beaches adjacent Carnoustie.
It’s the rarest of
scenes, Tour pros wrapped tight in GoreTex just a few hundred yards
from sunning locals. But then, the Open Championship always seems to
break the mold.
Top 10 things you don’t expect to see at a British Open:
10. Europeans pacing the field
9. Camouflage (Boo Weekley’s undershirt)
8. Standing water (behind 18th fairway)
7. Green fairways (everywhere)
6. Red on leaderboards (everywhere)
5. Trees
4. Phil Mickelson on leaderboard
3. More Frenchman than Spaniards
2. Sergio Garcia in the top 20 in putting (T-12)
1. Scott Hoch or Woody Austin
– Rex Hoggard and Jeff Rude
Posted July 20, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
Scotland – It's 10 minutes to 10 here in the Auld Country, a long day,
and just left the putting green as darkness finally is falling. The
last man standing out there? This may surprise you: It wasn't Vijay
Singh.
No, last man out there, bundled up in waterproofs to
keep warm, was none other than Steve Stricker, who'd finished his
opening round of 71 more than 10 hours earlier after teeing off at 7:25
a.m.
Stricker is a tough player, mentally tough, and a
contender anytime making pars is a battle, and I wouldn't be surprised
in the least to see him in contention on Sunday if he can drive the
ball well. If I were Jack Nicklaus, I'd have him on my Presidents Cup
side in a heartbeat.
As far as the Open is concerned, at 100-to-1 odds earlier this week, Stricker was what they call "good value."
So why on earth was he out there rolling the rock so late into a Scottish evening?
"I'm out here so I don't fall asleep," he said with a smile.
– Jeff BabineauPosted July 19, 2007
Twenty-one players have played in the British Open the last nine years, which is exactly how long
Golfweek has been using the
Sagarin ranking system to compute the Performance Index. Below is a ranking of those players’ performances in the last nine Open Championships.
1. Tiger Woods
2. Ernie Els
3. Retief Goosen
4. Davis Love III
5. Darren Clarke
6. Phil Mickelson
7. Mark O’Meara
8. Vijay Singh
9. Bernhard Langer
10. Thomas Bjorn
11. Mark Calcavecchia
12. Lee Westwood
13. Michael Campbell
14. Stuart Appleby
15. Stewart Cink
16. Jim Furyk
17. Paul McGinley
18. Nick Faldo
19. Paul Lawrie
20. Sandy Lyle
21. Tom Lehman
– Lance RinglerPosted July 19, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
Scotland – Carnasty? Methinks not. The feared beast we saw in '99 is
little more than a meek lamb today in cool and blustery Scotland. K.J.
Choi already has more birdies through 13 holes than the entire field
posted eight years ago.
OK, maybe that's a stretch.
In
some ways, the day reminds me of the opening round of the 2004 PGA
Championship at Whistling Straits. People feared the golf course,
saying 10 over might win, and then a man went out and was something
like 6 under through seven holes. (Though we should note that in the
days and weeks leading into this British Open, players all were saying
that Carnoustie was playing quite fairly and rather easily, and today's
early scoring, if the wind lied down, was pretty much expected.
One
reason I think of Whistling? The man who went out and lit the place up
on Day 1 was none other than K.J. Choi, who just missed a makeable putt
to go 5 under at 14 and is the man everyone is chasing here in the very
early going at Carnoustie.
– Jeff Babineau
Posted July 19, 2007
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Nae wind, nae rain, nae golf.
Well,
as usual, it’s raining with dark overcast skies, but no wind, yet. It’s
been two days of no sunshine, but anything can happen in Scotland –
just wait five minutes. Of course, we’ve been waiting more than 36
hours.
Of course this is nothing new, but it's been awhile
since the first tee shot was hit in the rain at a British Open – like
365 days ago, when at Hoylake lightning delayed the start and soon
after a little drizzle fell. You expect that at the home of golf.
My
real question: Do they pay weathermen in the UK? If so, somebody needs
a refund. It was suppose to be only 20 percent chance of rain. It’s
more like 100 percent. I digress.
The first tee shot at the Open
is an experience. In this case the first tee at Carnoustie is a bit
unusual. The Carnoustie Hotel is behind the tee, pretty close because
it was built in the last decade. So guests can come out on their
balconies and watch the first ball at 6:30 a.m. – yes, that's right,
6:30. There is no two tee start at the British Open. That explains the
back end of the field teeing off as late as 4:21 p.m.
One of
the interested spectators this morning was Butch Harmon, looking down
from his first floor balcony. We asked if he was doing his commentary
for SKY from his room. Butch quipped back: “It’s my SKY Box.”
While
I'm writing this the rain is coming down harder on the massive media
tent and you can hear the rain hitting the roof. It won't be much fun
for those following the first group of Joe Durant, Simon Wilson and Ben
Bunny.
Durant hit first. He wore a gray sweater and a white
Cleveland hat. I only bring this up because he hadn't received his
clothes from his flight across the pond as of yesterday, so clearly he
either received them or Cleveland made a special shipment. All three
players hit hybrids off the tee. Durant hit his right, but managed to
make a par.
Well the rain has slowed down again, as will I. They are off and running here at Carnoustie.
– Alex Miceli
Posted July 19, 2007
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Here’s some of what I saw and heard the last 24 hours at the British Open:
Ian
Poulter told fresh-faced British Amateur champion Drew Weaver that he’s
been playing and practicing too much, that he needs to rest and relax
and save some energy for the actual tournament.
Poulter
apparently didn’t tell the same thing to Vijay Singh. If he did, the
big Fijian wasn’t buying. Singh got here a week ago and has been
playing and practicing daily. He was still practicing past 7 p.m. on
Wednesday, the eve of the tournament.
Singh introduced himself
to British mini-tour player Steve Parry and invited him to play a
practice round. Parry was both shocked and thrilled.
Phil
Mickelson was putting near Singh on the putting green in the dusk
Wednesday. Notable was the black and white brace on his still-sore left
wrist. Lefty may have played well at the Scottish Open, hitting a
remarkable 13 of 14 fairways in the third round, but apparently the
wrist still bothers him some.
The last time I saw Mark Roe, he
was among the 54-hole leaders of the 2003 British Open until an unusual
scorecard snafu disqualified him and robbed him of a chance to win on
Sunday. On Wednesday, I ran into him buying a big bag of candy at a
concession stand marked “Sweets.” He retired last fall and works as a
part-time golf analyst on television and radio.
Tom Pernice
looked haggard, and with good reason. He just got to Scotland on
Wednesday on an overnight flight. He left the U.S. Bank Championship in
Milwaukee on Tuesday afternoon when he was the Open’s first alternate.
He got the good news when he arrived in the old country – he got into
the field because Jose Maria Olazabal withdrew.
– Jeff Rude
Posted July 18, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
Scotland – Nearly every conversation heading into a major starts, ends
or turns on the simplest of questions: “Who ya like?”
Some answers are educated, some are founded on hunches, while others are based on mystical reasons beyond our understanding.
Consider
Dr. Morris Pickens’ answer when asked Wednesday who he fancied when the
flag dropped at Carnoustie: “Vijay (Singh).” said Pickens, the Sea
Island-based sports psychologist whose client list includes Zach
Johnson and John Rollins.
When pressed for his reason? “At
Augusta I watched (Vijay) on Tuesday and Wednesday and he was just
killing it, so I picked him and one of my guys (Johnson) won. So I
figured I’d stay with Vijay.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 18, 2007
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – One thing about Scotland, they love their dogs here.
This
morning, to the chagrin of more than a few Angus natives, during a
brisk jog along the Firth of Tay, some of the four-legged friends were
less than enamored with this daft American.
There was no blood drawn, but some of the spooked K-9s tried to take a bite out of your correspondent.
Beautiful country, Scotland. But we’ve got two words for the folks who run things – leash laws.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 18, 2007
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – I believe in omens. Here's why and here's who.
In
1997, I flew to Scotland for the British Open and one touring pro was
on my flight. Justin Leonard. He won the tournament. I cashed a small
winning ticket at the local betting shop.
In 2004, I flew to
Scotland for the British Open and one touring pro was on my flight.
Todd Hamilton. He won the tournament. I did not cash a winning ticket
on him at the local betting shop because I ill-advisedly didn't act on
the omen.
I decided then that I wouldn't let any omens go by
again. Which brings us to this week. I've got some omens to act on at
the window – I'm thinking pay window.
I flew to Scotland for the
British Open the other day and one touring pro was on my flight. Jerry
Kelly. I told him about the Leonard and Hamilton omens and he
brightened up and said he was already confident. So Jerry Kelly will
get a few omen pounds placed on him.
When we arrived in
Scotland, I was walking out of the Edinburgh airport rest room and ran
into Robert Allenby as he walked in. We almost collided. Consider that
an omen that almost hits you in the face. I said something to him about
omens and he laughed. So Robert Allenby will get a few omen pounds
placed on him.
A few minutes later, by baggage claim, Jim Furyk
walked up. My eyes brightened. Since Tiger Woods flies privately, this
is about as good of an omen as there is. I mentioned something to Furyk
about omens and I believe he liked it. So Jim Furyk will get more than
a few omen pounds placed on him.
And a few minutes after that,
we had lunch with a Scot named Malcolm Duck. As you may know, U.S. Open
champion Angel Cabrera is known as El Pato, aka The Duck. So Cabrera
gets a couple of my quid.
So if you bet on those guys and they win, I expect 15 percent. The address is on the magazine's masthead.
– Jeff Rude
Posted July 17, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
Scotland – Players had an exceptional day for practice Tuesday at
Carounstie. Sunshine and light breezes until late in the afternoon.
Forecast calls for some rain Wednesday, with "some bright or sunny spells."
Weather
reports here come with disclaimers, such as the "Medium to High
Confidence" rating attached to the Thursday-Friday prediction of
"mostly dry with sunny spells developing after rather cloudy start with
possibility of a few light showers. Light winds on Thursday but rather
fresher northeast wind on Friday." (Think they covered all their bases?)
The
Saturday-Sunday forecast comes with a "Medium Confidence" rating. It
reads: "Mosty dry with sunny intervals and variable cloud. Moderate,
possibly fresh northeast breeze."
Warning: Wind from the northeast means it's gonna get cold.
– Dave Seanor
Posted July 17, 2007
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Looking for an edge in your British Open pool?
Adam
Scott, Geoff Ogilvy and Aaron Baddeley spent last weekend at St.
Andrews, working on their ground games over the Old Course.
So did Jim Furyk, who finished 4th last year at Hoylake after reevaluating his mental approach to links golf.
"My
game has been in very good shape the last few months," Furyk said.
"I've played well and been knocking on the door. I've had opportunities
to win tournaments and I'd like to do that again this week."
Padraig Harrington took yet another tack. He played in an Irish PGA event at the European Club, a links layout south of Dublin.
If
you're serious about winning the Open Championship, that kind of
preparation makes a heck of a lot more sense than playing in the
Scottish Open, which is contested over the American-style Loch Lomond.
– Dave Seanor
Posted July 17, 2007
CARNOUSTIE,
Scotland – You have to love Scottish summers. The auld country is the
only place in the world where you can go on holiday in July and have to
pack for all weathers – rain, sun, wind, and even hail.
So it
was no surprise when I arrived here on yesterday in shorts and T-shirt
and woke up this morning with rain pelting my bedroom window. The
temperature must have dropped about 10 degrees Celsius!
I walked to the golf course in full waterproofs, umbrella up, enjoying the soft summer rain.
There
are many good old-fashioned Scottish words that manage to give a good
sense of onomatopoeia, but none better than “dreich” to describe the
weather that greeted me. Think wet, damp and thoroughly dismal and you
get the picture.
Looks like my new set of waterproofs will get well used this week!
– Alistair Tait
Posted July 16, 2007
DORNOCH,
Scotland – To pilfer from that ubiquitous MasterCard ad; from Edinburgh
to the Royal Burgh of Dornoch is roughly 150 miles, 8,562 round-abouts
(give or take a few hundred), 20 pints (only for the lucky few not
perched behind the oddly placed steering wheel). Fifty-four holes on
this heavenly piece of linksland – priceless.
So far, the sights
and sounds have ranged from the divine to the curious. Early into the
first round our four ball was held up briefly while former
Charlie’s Angel Cheryl Ladd completed a quick photo shoot on the green ahead.
Ladd had breakfast at Royal Dornoch, played a brisk 18 and jumped on a helicopter out of town when she was done.
One Scot, playing in the group just behind Ladd, quipped about the former Angel: “She needs to tighten up a wee bit.”
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 16, 2007
Tadd Fujikawa is turning pro. The numbers, at least, don’t suggest it’s the right move:
Against
the top 50 players in junior golf, Tadd has a 70-70-5 head-to-head
record. In his last five junior events, he failed to break 70 and had a
scoring average of 73.3.
We could argue that Ty Tryon was in a better place with his game when he gave it go.
For Tadd’s sake, let’s hope there’s no correlation there.
– Lance RinglerPosted July 13, 2007
Coming
up on the busiest betting week of the year – to be honest, for this
just-above-cost-of-living scribe, the only betting week of the year –
and the pounds are already burning a hole in my “man purse.”
Got
two words for you: Graeme McDowell. The Northern Irishman grew up on
the storied links of Royal Portrush, seems to play his best under the
glare of major pressure (T-30 at this year’s U.S. Open and finished
T-11 in 2005 at St. Andrews), and at 126-to-1 (Ladbrokes.com) he’s a
lock for a 10-pound “each way” bet.
– Rex Hoggard
Posted July 11, 2007
Posted: 8/9/2007
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