We’ve woken up with a heavy heart today as the events of yesterday
have sunk in. Congratulations Stewart Cink, it can’t be easy being ‘the other bloke’
in a playoff for the Open. But like the rest of the world we wanted Tom Watson to
role back the years & claim his 6th Claret Jug.
Check out the highlights of a truly remarkable last day at the Open. Oh what could’ve
been…
Sunday. In truth nobody thinks he can win. It would be epic. A romance above all others
in golfing’s rich history, but come on…it won’t really happen, will it? “The first day
here, yeah, let the old geezer have his day in the sun. The second day you said, well
that’s ok, that’s okay. & then now you kind of perk up your ears & say, this old
geezer might have a chance to win the tournament,” is what the 59-year-old Tom Watson
said last night after another battling round that left him holding court at the top
of the leaderboard. The man even cried coming down the 18th fairway as did his caddy.
Comparitively, Ross Fisher is stoic. A man who is just about to become a father, who’s
wife is on the verge of one of life’s most emotional experiences & he’s lurking
around the top of the leaderboard of his home nation’s Open – the most special honour
we have – yet you’d think he’d just been told he had to spend solitary confinement
with the mother-in-law. One fairway at a time, one shot at a time, playing well but
not allowing myself to think ahead too far. Christ, my deep-freeze is more excitable.
Sod it. Come on, Old Tom…
You couldn’t help but notice that it was a fraction subdued out on the course today,
despite some great pairings out there.
We followed Paul Casey & Graeme Storm down the back nine & also managed to catch
some sparkling golfing from Kenny Perry & Sean O’Hair & Sergio Garcia & Jeff Overton.
Sparkling golfing, however, was not necessarily yielding sparkling results. The greens
are shimmering as they slicken up for the final afternoon & some of the pins down
the final stretch are pure evil. 15 & 16 are both devlishly tucked in positions
where even good shots may find misfortune. Paul Casey may rue some missed putts on
the way home as he looked to be playing some great golfing. A succession of short putts
missed on the low side meant that his score was not reflective of his form & that’s
something he will have to work on before Hazeltine.
Morning all from the media centre on an exciting last day. It’s only 9.30 but already
there’s a real buzz about the place as to what might happen. So much already has.
So here’s our favourite quotes that sum up what’s been going on…
“I could have had a set of spades in my bag this week & I still wouldn’t have found
the middle of the greens.”
Ian Poulter
“The pin on 11 is impossible for any human to get to.”
Mark Calcavecchia
“I’m fine. I’ve slept a lot recently & I’m fine.”
He’d never played links golfing before the Open. It’s a familiar story with American
pros, including Ben Hogan & Tom Watson. But at least they both knew they were coming.
Just six days ago Steve Marino was totally unprepared for a trip to Scotl&. On Sunday
morning at the John Deere Classic he found out he would be replacing Shingo Katayama
in the Open Championship at Turnberry. “I didn’t have any warm clothes. I didn’t have
my passport. I had to fly my dad to my house in Florida so he could get my passport
& FedEx it to me at the John Deere. I wasn’t even expecting to play in this tournament.”
