Final thoughts on an epic British Open

Random musings on an epic Open from somewhere over the Atlantic...

• My favorite Monday morning headline, spied while sprinting through Glasgow airport: CRUEL IN THE SUN, courtesy of the Daily Record.

• The lesson of the 2009 season is that if you're an old fart playing some of the most inspired golf of your life and you have a putt on the 72nd hole to win a tournament you want more than any other, you had better make said putt because all your juju will surely disappear in the ensuing playoff. Both Kenny Perry at Augusta and Tom Watson at Turnberry were carried along for 71 glorious holes by adrenaline and the roars of the crowd. When each made a weak effort of what could have been the winning putt it was like all the energy drained out of their old, tired bodies and the deflated crowds could not reanimate either player, leading to playoffs that were anticlimactic at best, tragic at worst. These opportunities come only come once in a lifetime, and, cruelly, they can disappear in a flash.

• A press room on Sunday night is not the place to go looking for empathy. Among the many oaths that were uttered during the final two holes of the excruciating playoff my favorite was courtesy of Bev Norwood, the longtime IMG operative: "We're gonna be late to dinner for this?!"

• Stewart Cink's golf couldn't have been any more macho down the stretch, whether it was converting a do-or-die birdie on the 72nd hole or playing like a young Ben Hogan in his prime during the playoff. One small factor that might or might not have helped Cink: Tiger missing the cut. Prior to last week this would've been my list of the those players suffering the most acute cases of Tigeritis:
1.    Sergio Garcia
2.    Ernie Els
3.    Rory Sabbatini
4.    Stephen Ames
5.    Stewart Cink

Cink has always been very candid about his admiration for Woods and there have been times when he has seemed intimidated competing against him. Had Woods been sneaking up the leaderboard on Sunday Cink may not have played so carefree. Tiger's MC doesn't devalue Cink's victory in any way, but it does make me eager to see how the new Open champ stands up to the world number one the next time they tangle. Cink has always been a sublime physical talent but such a head-case he employs two shrinks. Now he has the self-belief that can only be forged by surviving a major championship Sunday and I think Cink will very quickly grow into a world-class player and occasional Tiger-tamer. We certainly need some new candidates for that thankless job.

• Forget coffee and Brazilian swimsuit models, the leading South American export has become Argentine golfers. I've been a huge Cabrera fan going back to when I covered the 2000 World Cup in Buenos Aires but these days my favorite golfer is definitely Andres Romero. Dude's an absolute madman, relentlessly attacking every hole on every course, sometimes with seeming disregard for risk. Sunday at Turnberry he eagled both par-5s and made a trio of birdies en route to a 67, the low of the day. Someday he's going to win a Masters or Open Championship. Maybe both.

• Too bad Ross Fisher's wife didn't beep him as he was walking off the third green.

• How good is Turnberry? "Instantly one of my top 5 favorite courses in the world," Zach Johnson told me. It would have been even better if the R&A hadn't cluttered the course with very narrow fairways and so much knee-high rough. The brick-hard fairways and strong cross-winds made it almost impossible to hit (or hold) many fairways. Links golf should be about creativity and shotmaking, not penal rough that dictates defensive play.

• On your next visit to southwest Scotland make sure you maketime for Western Gailes, a spectacular course just north of Troon. The Gailes has hosted numerous amateur events and Open qualifiers but because it's not on the Open rota it is something of a cult classic. After touring it again for the first time in years it's definitely one of my favorite links courses, a jaw-dropping collection of heaving fairways, towering dunes, sweeping views and hero shots into beautifully framed greens. Last Friday I enjoyed a game at the Gailes in the distinguished company of colleagues Michael Bamberger and John Garrity. After a long day at the Open we blazed over to the course, arriving on the first tee at exactly 7 p.m. The soft light and long shadows only accentuated the course's beauty. At 10:10 we were putting out on 18, with just enough twilight for me to misread my 12-footer for birdie. Then we drove to Prestwick to have Indian food for dinner, emerging, heavy-legged, around midnight. Only in Scotland.

• Stats of the week: Over the final 36 holes Steve Marino made only 14 pars, cluttering his card with 12 bogies, two doubles, a triple, an eagle and six birdies. In his first Open the kid showed a definite flair for links golf. Once Marino learns to keep the ball in front of him he'll be a perennial darkhorse at the Open.

• One thing that's cool about the linksland is that it forces players to go retro with their equipment. Billy Mayfair dusted off a 1-iron while J.B. Holmes dropped two new-jack sticks -- a 64 degree wedge and a hybrid -- in favor of 2- and 3-irons. I asked him when the last time he carried a 2-iron on the PGA Tour was. "Never," said Holmes. But at Turnberry he was routinely rolling it 330-340 yards downwind.

• One more reason I was rooting for Mark Calcavecchia to win: Last week his wife/caddie, Brenda, was rocking on her calf a tattoo of the Red Hot Chili Peppers logo. I know Flea loves golf -- if Calc had won maybe he would have played the bagpipes next year at St. Andrews. My favorite Calcavecchia story: Years ago, when I was working out SI's New York office, I was editing a feature about the 1989 Open champ in which he discussed his burgeoning romance with Brenda. I asked our fact-checker to get from Calc some basic info on his gal: age, occupation, hometown, physical description. For the last of these Calcavecchia offered the following scouting report to a stranger on the phone: "tight, athletic body." Gotta love it.

• Leaving most every Scottish town there is a sign with an evocative farewell: "Haste ye back." After this wild Open I'm already dying to see what the Old Course serves up next year. Haste ye back, indeed.

If Tom Watson had won, would it have been golf's greatest victory?

For 71 holes, it looked like Tom Watson, at 59, was going to pull off a miracle in the 2009 British Open at Turnberry. He came up just short, but what if he had held on to win? Would it have been the greatest victory in the history of the game? In the history of sports? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Live British Open Championship coverage: Round 4

Michael Walker Jr., senior editor for GOLF Magazine, blogged the final round of the British Open. Cameron Morfit took the early shift.

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Old Tom Watson and the older Royal & Ancient Golf Club

Golfers who are eligible for AARP benefits aren't supposed to win major championships, but Tom Watson is doing his best to punch back at conventional wisdom.

Should Watson win on Sunday at Turnberry, the governing body of the Open Championship, the R&A, will find itself in a quandry. The R&A has deemed that players past the age of 60 can no longer play in the Open. Watson is 59. Winners of the British Open receive automatic 10-year exemptions into the championship.

So what would give? Would Watson then be eligible to compete in the championship until age 69, or would the 2010 edition at St. Andrews be his final curtain?

According to a British Open official, Watson would be allowed to play until age 69, at which time his British Open career would end. Unless, of course, he were to win again between the ages of 60 and 69.

Video: Bryce Molder on his Saturday 67 at 2009 British Open

Bigger story at British Open: Tiger Woods or Tom Watson?

We can all agree that the first 36 holes at Turnberry were surprising, but there is a debate brewing among (between?) sports fans and golf fans -- What's the biggest story of the day? Some would argue it's Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer of all time, missing the cut at a major championship for only the second time in his career. Others would say it's Tom Watson, arguably the greatest links golfer of all time, leading at age 59 on an artificial hip. Want to join the debate? Leave a comment below.

Live British Open Championship coverage: Round 3

Connell Barrett, editor at large for GOLF Magazine, blogged the afternoon action at Turnberry for the third round of the British Open Championship. Michael Walker Jr. was our early morning blogger. Read the recap below.

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Tiger's worst shot came after missing the cut

Tiger's worst shot of the day wasn't one of the 74 strokes he took on the course at Turnberry. It was his refusal to do a one-on-one interview with TNT after his round.

Tiger's refusal is indicative of a pouty aspect of his persona that often crops up after his rounds, especially bad ones. Tiger knows he's a rock star who draws nearly as much attention as the president. He knows the world wants to see and hear him describe his rounds in a personal interview.

Yes, Tiger gave a group interview on Friday, but he often refuses one-on-one chats, and it bugs me.

He is on track to becoming the first billionaire athlete with the money earned out of his fans' pockets, and the graceful thing to do would be to give the network, and in turn his fans, a couple of minutes -- no matter what he shoots.

Thoughts on British Open weather, Steve Marino, Geoff Ogilvy and more

More random musings from Turnberry ...

• Hooray, the weather finally got nasty. This is what a British Open is supposed to feel like. On Thursday guys were sweating in short sleeves, and that's just not kosher. Aside from the aesthetic reasons, Turnberry simply needed more bite, and the testy conditions have already begun to separate the men (Goosen, Cabrera, Kaymer, Calc)  from the boys (Curtis, Senden, Mahan, Gay). I hope the weekend brings more wind and rain and punishment. At least outside the press room.

• Steve Marino is not going to win the first British Open he ever shows up for but he's a very legit player. A couple of veterans have told me they think Marino is the best player on Tour who has not yet won a tournament. He has a lot of firepower off the tee and very soft hands and more imagination than most, which has been evident during his two stellar opening rounds. The best shot I've seen so far at this Open was his 5-iron at 17, from 227 yards out. Marino hit a big, high, slinging cut that rode a stiff left-to-right breeze, falling out of the sky 20 feet from the hole for the eagle that keyed his 68. Pretty macho.

• Turnberry is sometimes called the Pebble Beach of Scotland because of the beautiful holes that hug the craggy coast but the similarities don't end there. Both courses are in a remote spot accessible only by a two-lane road. The drive into Turnberry is such a lovely way to start the day. It winds through green hills dotted with sheep and meadows exploding in wildflowers. The majestic ruins of two old castles are an evocative reminder of all of Scotland's ancient history. Just when you're getting antsy to arrive at the Open the road reaches the crest of a steep slope and then plunges downhill, revealing the course and coastline below. It's breath-taking, and sure beats the Long Island Expressway.

• I'm officially off the Geoff Ogilvy bandwagon. Dude made exactly zero birdies Friday en route to a sporty 78. For the week he had more double bogeys (5) than birds (3). Good thing he stole that U.S. Open a few years ago because he's looking increasingly star-crossed in the majors. The only positive for Ogilvy is that he finished one stroke ahead of Ian Poulter, a popular pick to win coming in. (That means you, D. Hack.) After his strong runner-up finish at last year's Open I think Poulter got Andymurrayized, which is too say, overwhelmed by the crushing expectations of being Great Britain's best hope on the home soil.

• One of the pleasures of being at the Open is getting to read the prose of the Euro golf writers. Ian Chadband in the The Telgraph had this to say about Woods's uneven first round: "He drove like a sizzled learner…He has that John McEnroe knack losing his rag -- the cry of 'Godamit!' after a shocking drive at the third had been replaced by something rather shorter and more Anglo-Saxon by the 13th." Can't wait to read what Chadband's brethren have to say on Saturday morning. As jingoistic as the press is over here, the loudest spontaneous eruption of the day was when T. Watson made his ocean-goer on the 16th hole. Just goes to show that more than country, all reporters love a good story.

• After watching a couple hundred fans fail to find Tiger's ball in the weeds on the 10th hole I suddenly don't feel so bad at failing to locate a couple balls in the Royal Troon rough during a glorious twilight round last night. Every fairway over here should be framed in red stakes because once a ball buries in the long grass it's a lottery as to whether it ever gets found.

• Fearless weekend prediction: Retief Goosen plays the best golf but, as has become a habit, lets it get away late on Sunday, handing the Claret Jug to... drumroll ...  Stewey Cink. Tweet, tweet.

Live British Open Championship coverage: Round 2

Connell Barrett, editor at large for GOLF Magazine, blogged all the exciting action at Turnberry for the second round of the British Open Championship. Read the recap below.

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