D4 Thursday, July 16, 2009

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Golf

The Washington Post

Players to Watch: Ten Who Could Hoist the Jug

BY RUSSELL CHEYNE — REUTERS

Paul Casey

Age: 31 Home: Esher, England Best Open finish: Tied for seventh, 2008

Much is expected of the Englishman, who is ranked third in the world — and is the second-highest ranked player here, with Phil Mickelson’s absence — despite never having truly contended in a major. When he won the Houston Open prior to the Masters, it seemed like he might be ready to charge this season. But he cooled off in his subsequent PGA Tour events— he was one of the only promi- nent European players to enter the AT&T National at Congressional Coun- try Club earlier this month, and missed the cut. Still, he might be better suited to Europe, where he has five top-10s in his last seven starts. Turnberry, he said, “is maybe my favorite links golf course.”

BY MATT DUNHAM — ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sergio García

Age: 29 Home: Borriol, Spain

Best Open finish: Second, 2007

Of all the chances García has had to rid himself of contention for the title of Best Current Player Never to Win a Major, the one that might eat at him the most came in the Open in 2007 at Carnoustie, when he led after each of the first three rounds and took a one-shot lead to the tee box on the 72nd hole. He found a greenside bun- ker, left himself 10 feet for par — and the title — and couldn’t roll in the putt, even- tually losing to Padraig Harrington in a playoff. Now, García has six top-10s in his last eight Open starts. He tied for 10th at the U.S. Open. He’s ranked fifth in the world. And still, he arrives here an- swering questions about whether he’ll ever win a major.

Rory McIlroy

Age: 20 Home: Holywood, Northern Ireland Best Open finish: Tied for 42nd, 2007

It may seem ludicrous to declare a 20- year-old newbie who embodies golf’s gen- erational shift — he idolized Tiger Woods as a kid, memorizing facts about him — a contender in the Open Champi- onship, but McIlroy brings a bravado that far outweighs his experience. His record in the first two majors this year — 20th at the Masters in his first time at Augus- ta, tied for 10th in the U.S. Open — is solid, and his tie for fifth at the Accenture Match Play gives him a stellar finish in a stellar field. He grew up dealing with conditions he’ll face at Turnberry, and he’s the kind of player who expects to contend — and even win — regardless of his age.

BY RUSSELL CHEYNE — REUTERS

Ian Poulter

Age: 33 Home: Buckinghamshire, England

Best Open finish: Second, 2008

The man with the wild pants — we’re likely to see a Union Jack this week — is sniffing around this winning-a-major thing, and his 69 in brutal conditions on Sunday last year vaulted him past Greg Norman and into the runner-up spot at Royal Birkdale. Look, too, at his recent results: third at the French Open, eighth at Colonial, tied for 18th at the U.S. Open, second at the Players Champion- ship, tied for fifth at Quail Hollow. Poul- ter hasn’t won this year, and that second- place finish last year is only his second top-10 in 24 Open appearances. But he’s a better player than that, and perhaps this is the week he shows it.

BY FRANCOIS MORI — ASSOCIATED PRESS

BY MICHAEL COHEN — GETTY IMAGES

Steve Stricker

Age: 42 Home: Madison, Wis. Best Open finish: Tied for seventh, 2008

Picking Stricker to win, say, the John Deere Classic — which he did last week- end — makes complete sense. Picking him as a contender at the British? Not so much. But it’s hard to escape the fact that seven of his last 14 starts have resulted in top-seven finishes, including a tie for sixth at Augusta and two victories. He also, quite quietly, has risen to a ranking of sixth in the world. And at brutal Royal Birkdale a year ago, he overcame an opening 77 with rounds of 71-71-73 for a more-than-admirable finish, and he tied for eighth at Carnoustie in 2007. He would seem an unlikely champion, but he’s playing well enough to contend.

BY SCOTT HALLERAN — GETTY IMAGES

Jim Furyk

Age: 39 Home: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Best Open finish: Fourth, three times

From 2001 to ’05, Furyk missed the cut at the British every year. Since then, he’s finished fourth, tied for 12th, tied for fifth. There’s no escaping, too, that he has eight top-10 finishes in his last 13 starts, including a runner-up finish to Ti- ger Woods at the Memorial. It might seem odd that Furyk has won only one major (the 2003 U.S. Open), but he cer- tainly considers himself one of the elite players in the world, and he has nine top-10 finishes in majors this decade. A victory in another major would get him, rightfully, out of the obscurity of the “one-time winners” category.

BY JON SUPER — ASSOCIATED PRES

Padraig Harrington

Age: 37 Home: Dublin Best Open finish: First, twice

Shouldn’t Harrington be considered more of a favorite coming into this year’s event? Perhaps. But the winner of the last two Opens has been tinkering with his swing — changes he believes will help over the long haul — and surprising- ly tied for 35th at the Masters and missed the cut at the U.S. Open. Since 1885, only one man has won three straight Opens — Australian Peter Thomson from 1954 to ’56. Harrington, whose world ranking has dropped to 14th, would have to over- come his recent play — five consecutive missed cuts — to become the second. “I would say it’s very sketchy,” Harrington said of his current form.

Five Who Could, But Won’t:

ANGEL CABRERA: Shouldn’t he be a con- tender at any major, what with a U.S. Open (2007) and Masters (2009) to his credit? But he’s missed as many Open cuts as he’s made (five each), and his best fin- ish here (tied for fourth) came 10 years ago.

MARTIN KAYMER: The 24-year-old German has won the last two events on the Euro- pean Tour, making him a hot choice here. But do golfers not named “Woods” win three events in a row?

KENNY PERRY: There is no more resurgent 48-year-old in the world than the Kentucki- an who infamously botched the final two holes of the Masters — he’s now ranked fourth in the world — but he hasn’t played in the British since 2006, and once skipped it 11 years in a row.

VIJAY SINGH: The ultimate PGA Tour grinder is still ranked 10th in the world, but he has all of three top-10 finishes in 20 appearances in the Open.

LEE WESTWOOD: After Casey and Poulter, England’s best hope. But has time passed Westwood by? He has not finished higher in a major than third, one shot out of the epic Rocco Mediate-Tiger Woods playoff at last year’s U.S. Open.

— Player capsules by Barry Svrluga

BY ANDREW REDINGTON — GETTY IMAGES

Geoff Ogilvy

Age: 32 Home: Melbourne, Australia Best Open finish: Tied for fifth, 2005

What to make of the Australian, who re- cently slipped from fourth to seventh in the world rankings, overtaken by resur- gent 48-year-old Kenny Perry, Steve Stricker and García? Ogilvy has the ma- jor title — the 2006 U.S. Open — so many other players of his capabilities and generation covet (Hello, Sergio), but his record in the British is spotty at best — only two cuts made in six entries. He missed the cut in 2007 and 2008. Still, he is one of the world’s best ball-strikers, and that is what Turnberry — with shift- ing winds, ridiculously penal rough and spotty weather — will demand.

BY ANDREW REDINGTON — GETTY IMAGES

Henrik Stenson

Age: 33 Home: Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Best Open finish: Tied for third, 2008

If you’re looking for a sleeper — if some- one who is ranked eighth in the world can be labeled a sleeper — this might be him. Stenson is a mainstay on the Euro- pean Tour, and has been a contender in events with major-caliber fields such as the Accenture Match Play Champion- ship. The Swede’s first true contention in a major came at last year’s Open, where he finished behind Harrington and Poul- ter. He’s coming off a ninth-place finish at the U.S. Open. He won the Players Championship, and he might be the next subject of “When will he break through” questions if he doesn’t win a major soon.

Tiger Woods

Age: 33 Home:Windermere, Fla.

Best Open finish: First, three times

Woods does not hold one of the four ma- jor titles for the first time since before the Masters in 2005, and he last went a full season without a major championship in 2004. But there are some oddities this week. For one, he had never played Turn- berry before a careful practice round Sun- day. Of course, he won the last of his three Open titles in 2006 at Royal Liver- pool, where he had never competed, ei- ther. And the world’s top-ranked player might have won the U.S. Open last month had he had a reasonably good put- ting week. The end result: another week in which Woods-vs.-the field is a bet that’s reasonably difficult to assess.

BY WARREN LITTLE — GETTY IMAGES

Turnberry Has a History of Bringing Out the Best

BRITISH, From Page D1

est moments. In 1986, it was Nor- man, who shot that brilliant 63 in the second round — “One of my better rounds,” he said Wednes- day — and won by five. And in 1994, it was Nick Price firing four rounds in the 60s, winning by a shot over Jesper Parnevik, pro- pelling himself to a win at the PGA Championship later that summer.

Those three champions — Wat- son, Norman and Price — were, without much argument, the best player on the planet at the time of their title here.

It is not the most storied venue for this championship, nor the most frequently used, nor even the sternest test of a player’s abili- ties. But the 7,204-yard, par-70 layout — lengthened since Price won here 15 years ago — has a way of evaluating the field and se- lecting a golfer that isn’t, say, a Ben Curtis or a Todd Hamilton—

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fluky winners who took titles at St. George’s in 2003 and Royal Troon in 2004, respectively. Turn- berry is where the best seem to play the best.

“Why some venues produce winners like that and others don’t, I have no idea,” said Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, golf’s governing body outside the United States which oversees the championship. “The setup of the courses and the type of player required is pretty simi- lar in all the Open venues. I think it’s happenstance, myself.” Some courses, though, seem se-

lective that way. Pebble Beach, one of the great American venues, has hosted four U.S. Opens. The champions: Nicklaus, Watson (over Nick- laus), Tom Kite and Tiger Woods, by a record 15 shots. St. An- drews’s British Open champions since 1970 have been Nicklaus (twice), Seve Ballesteros (twice), Nick Faldo, John Daly and Woods

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(twice). Turnberry, by now, has gained that reputation. The history is such that Rory McIlroy, the 20- year-old Irishman who is already considered a contender here, can tick off the key shots, accurately labeling the 1977 match between Nicklaus and Watson “the Duel in the Sun,” remembering Norman led all four majors in 1986 but won only here, and recalling Price’s monstrous birdie putt that used nearly all of the 17th green, even though McIlroy was only 5 at the time.

There are different theories why memorable players played memorably here, and some of them are inordinately technical. Norman talked at length Wednes- day about the way the fairways are sloped, requiring players to control the ball in the air so they can throw them into the camber at the right angle. Some greens, too, are bowl-shaped, more recep- tive to iron shots that are well- struck at the right moment. “There’s a lot of little nuances

around this golf course if you get to know it,” Norman said. “. . . The good players study it very, very well. They know it.” Though Woods has no major championship this year, he is, without question, the top player in the game, exceeding the stat- ure Watson, Norman and Price held in their primes. “He’s the best player that’s ever played the game,” Watson said. Yet he had never, before this

week, played Turnberry, because the last time the Open was held here was the summer he was win- ning his first U.S. Amateur title, still just 18. He played here Sun- day, Monday and Tuesday, and said he understood why the play- ers who have challenged here and won here — Watson and Nick- laus, Norman and Price — did just that. “You just can’t fake it around this golf course,” Woods said. “You just have to hit good golf shots, and those four guys you al- luded to, those are all some of the best ball-strikers of all time, or

certainly in their eras.” Watson was just developing into that back in 1977. He had already won the Mas- ters that spring, and was chal- lenging Nicklaus’s legend. What followed was one of the sport’s most gripping weeks, one in which Watson and Nicklaus matched scores for the first three rounds, when Nicklaus took a three-shot lead on the front nine on Sunday, and when Watson bat- tled back, holing a 60-footer on the 15th for birdie.

As the pair got to the 16th tee,

Watson turned to Nicklaus and ut- tered the line that perhaps most defines Turnberry.

“This is what it’s all about, isn’t it?” he said. It was. Wednesday, when that sun came out in his practice round, Watson — who is asked about the moment nearly every time he arrives in Scotland — couldn’t help but think back. “It was very similar,” he said, smil- ing.

Whether the wind picks up or whether it stays down, Turnberry will be here, waiting. And when it crowns a champion Sunday eve- ning, history indicates it will be a name you know, one that can raise the Claret Jug and join a list of champions who fit the title.

Turnberry Tweets

A selection of updates from golf writer @barrysvrluga:

K First thing you see in Scotland: billboard of Colin Montgomerie that says, “Scotland. The home of golf.” (And no majors?)

K Turnberry is on the Firth of Clyde, which would mean, in English, the “long, narrow indentation of the sea coast” of Clyde. Scottish thing.

K If you’re in Scotland, and the menu has homemade beef and ale pie, are you not required to order it?

K On course now. Completely still. If wind kicks up for the tournament, today’s practice rounds will be all but useless.

K Walking Turnberry with Tom Watson, five-time Open champion, winner of “Duel in the Sun” here in ’77 over some guy named Nicklaus. A thrill.

K I am standing in the rough. To describe it as “penal” is like calling Donald Trump “rich.”

K [Greg] Norman: “You only have to venture out of the fairway 9-10 feet and you might lose your ball. . . . Not too many drivers are going to be used.”

K How you know you’re covering the Open Championship and not, say, the Quad Cities Classic: They include a neck tie in the media kit. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66