Golf Capsules: Amateur Tom Lewis shoots record 65, ties for lead
SANDWICH, England (AP) — Thomas Bjorn and Tom Lewis have nothing in common except for the unlikely position they shared Thursday atop the leaderboard at the British Open.
It’s not just that one is twice as old.
Or that Bjorn is a 40-year-old pro who wonders how much longer he can compete at the highest level, while Lewis is an amateur making his major championship debut, his best golf still to come.
The biggest difference are their memories of Royal St. George’s.
Bjorn took a small step toward atonement with a birdie on the par-3 16th — the hole that cost him the claret jug in 2003 when he took three shots to escape a pot bunker — on his way to a 5-under 65 in the toughest conditions of the opening round.
He made a birdie on Thursday, and couldn’t help but smile when he saw it bounce away from trouble and toward the flag.
“When I hit the shot, I thought, ‘This is going to struggle.’ So when it just made it over that bunker, that was just a smile of knowing that things were going my way today,” Bjorn said.
Lewis ran off four straight birdies late in his round, an amazing stretch that began on the par-5 14th. That’s the hole where Lewis wrapped up the British Boys Amateur Championship two years ago, the highlight of a sterling amateur record. A par on the final hole gave him a 65, the lowest ever by an amateur in the British Open, making him the first amateur to lead this championship in 43 years.
“It was a special moment for me, winning here, and to come back to where you’ve won is extra special,” Lewis said. “I was just thrilled to be here, but to shoot 65 the first round was something I wouldn’t have thought. I was just happy to get the drive off the tee at the first, and that was all that mattered.”
Adding to the nerves was playing alongside Tom Watson, such a popular figure in the Lewis household that they named their oldest son after the five-time Open champion. And to think the kid only wanted to make sure he didn’t embarrass himself in front of Watson.
“He could be my grandson,” Watson said. “I just had to smile inside to watch him play. I didn’t play particularly well myself, but I certainly was impressed by the way he played.”
Equally impressive to Watson was to overhear Lewis’ caddie tell him there were still 54 holes left.
But what a start.
Bjorn wasn’t even in the tournament until Vijay Singh withdrew on Monday, giving the Dane another shot at Royal St. George’s. When someone suggested if he would be better off not playing to avoid memories of his meltdown, Bjorn cut him off.
“A couple of people asked me that question, ‘Would you not just want to go home?”’ Bjorn said. “This is The Open Championship. Where else do you want to be?”
Miguel Angel Jimenez also played in the windy morning conditions and had a bogey-free 66. He was joined later in the round by former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and Webb Simpson.
A dozen players were at 68, a group that two major champions from last year — PGA winner Martin Kaymer and U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, who was 3 over through five holes until a ferocious rally.
It was vintage links golf along the Strait of Dover, where the seaside wind can be as fickle as the bounces on rolling turf of Royal St. George’s. Flags that were crackling throughout the morning when Bjorn and Jimenez faced cold conditions and a spot of rain were only rippling when Lewis teed off in the afternoon, and they were drooping when the round ended.
The change was reflected in the scores.
Rory McIlroy, coming off an eight-shot victory in the U.S. Open that made the 22-year-old the centerpiece of this major, rallied from a sloppy start for a 1-over 71, and he had no complaints.
“Anywhere around even par is a good start,” McIlroy said.
It didn’t feel that way toward the end of a long day.
The morning half of the draw were a combined 223-over par. The afternoon half combined to go only 94-over par. There were a dozen rounds in the 60s in the morning, and 23 in the afternoon.
“Looks like the wind gods are having an afternoon tea?” came a tweet from John Daly, who was proud of his 72 in the morning.
The calmer conditions are expected for Friday morning when Lewis goes out for his second round, with the wind shifting and becoming more fierce in the afternoon. That figures to only help Lewis, Glover and those who got the late-early portion of the tee times.
Lewis figures he has other advantages.
He has been around golf all of his life — his father once played the European Tour — and he really feels at home on links courses. The Royal & Ancients tends to play its championships for amateurs on the seaside courses, and Lewis has played only links this summer except for one tournament.
“We’re used to the wind,” Lewis said. “Watching it on the TV this morning, I didn’t think scores would be as low as they are. But the wind dropped, and that was the opportunity to shoot a good score. And I’m thankful I did play well.”
Far more impressive was Bjorn, because of the conditions and his history on this ancient turf. Players stuck their hands in the pocket to fight the chill, the wind and occasional rain. Bjorn also made his move on the 14th, making back-to-back birdies.
And then came the par-3 16th.
It was his first time on that hole in competition since that dreadful Sunday afternoon in 2003. Eight years later, the difference was the day of the week — and what was riding on it. Just like then, he had a two-shot lead in the British Open. His tee shot had him concerned as it drifted in the blustery wind toward one of the seven bunkers guarding the green.
The ball barely cleared a bunker, hopped onto the green and trundled toward the hole.
“That gives you the trust and belief that sometimes things can turn out your way, and it does that in links golf,” Bjorn said. “We all know what its’ like — a bounce here or there and then it goes either wrong or right. And today it went my way.”
But he was dismissive when it was suggested that hole — and this course — owes him something.
“This hole owes nobody anything,” Bjorn said. “No hole in golf does, and no golf course does. I played that Open and I played fantastic the whole week. I tried to hit the right shot every single time, and I didn’t hit the right shot on 16. That happens in golf. That’s the nature of this game. You’ve just got to deal with them things.”
He has coped as well as can be expected, even if no one believes him. Bjorn had a tough time when he returned to the British Open the following year at Royal Troon, then moved on. A year later, in the 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusrol, he was tied for the lead and poised for a playoff until Phil Mickelson birdied the final hole to win. That at least told Bjorn he could still contend.
Thursday was another reminder, although he is not sure how long it will last.
That holds true for Lewis, the English amateur who is advancing quicker than he could imagine. He poured in a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th for his last birdie, and was so locked into what he was doing that he didn’t take time to glance at the yellow scoreboard atop the grandstand, or even wait for Watson to walk first onto the 18th green, a tradition reserved for the most respected players in the game.
Either way, they were cheering for Tom.
McDowell recovers poise to stay in Open contention
SANDWICH, England (AP) — A pick-me-up from his caddie and a favorable change in weather helped Graeme McDowell remain in the hunt at the British Open after a horror start to his first round.
The 2010 U.S. Open champion was reeling after making a double-bogey 6 at the first hole at Royal St. George’s on Thursday, soon followed by another dropped shot at No. 5.
Weeks of preparation were threatening to be undone there and then. Thank goodness, then, for caddie Ken Comboy.
“I’ve got to thank him for keeping me in the moment because my head was spinning after a few holes,” McDowell said. “That’s what this course and what major championships can do to you. Maybe four or five years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to turn that round.”
McDowell, ranked No. 9, managed to recover his poise, and four birdies in a back nine played in benign, still conditions saw the Northern Irishman come home at 2-under 68. He is tied for sixth, three shots off the lead, and clear of many of his chief rivals for the claret jug.
“The old cliche (in the first round) is, ‘You can’t win it, you can only lose it.’ I tried to lose it but I managed to hang in there. I’m in a great position,” he said.
With Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy — three of the world’s top four — all shooting opening-round 71s, McDowell finds himself in solid position.
It could have been so different.
“I just got off to a horrible start. Three days’ perfect preparation, nice warmup, walk onto the first tee and just put one of my worst swings of the week on it,” he said. “My second shot, all I could do was just hit it over the back and I pulled a horrible lie.
“I make double and walk to the second tee wondering what the hell just happened.”
After his win at Pebble Beach and his Ryder Cup exploits at Celtic Manor last year when he holed the winning putt for Europe, McDowell is made of sterner stuff these days.
“Perseverance, staying in the present and just believing in myself,” he said. “Patience is what you need, especially in links golf.”
With the wind dying down to leave Royal St. George’s defenseless in the late afternoon, McDowell birdied Nos. 12 and 13, as well as the final two holes. He could also be fortunate with the weather on Friday, with the forecast predicting a calm morning when McDowell tees off before conditions worsen.
“You’ve just got to count yourself lucky when it happens because luck evens itself out over a year. It really is about jockeying for position the next couple of days,” he said.
-- STEVE DOUGLAS
A rugged start, solid finish for McIlroy
SANDWICH, England (AP) — For the first time in 11 months, Rory McIlroy walked off the 18th green in the early stages of a major championship and did not see his name atop the leaderboard.
That’s how good he has been at golf’s biggest events.
And the way he rallied from a rugged start Thursday in the British Open, McIlroy didn’t think his 1-over 71 was all that bad.
“Anywhere around even par was a good start,” McIlroy said.
Facing enormous attention coming off his wire-to-wire win at the U.S. Open last month, McIlroy made a few key putts in the middle of his round to steady himself against a stiff breeze at Royal St. George’s.
He was six shots behind Thomas Bjorn, who played extraordinary golf in the tougher morning conditions of wind and some rain.
Trailing by any margin can only be considered a strange spot for McIlroy based on his recent, amazing history. He has been in the lead after seven of the last eight rounds in the majors, the exception being the 80 he shot in the final round at the Masters to lose a four-shot lead.
This day was different. And if the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland didn’t know it, then he at least heard it.
The media has been building him up as golf’s next star after his record-setting performance at Congressional. And when he stepped on the first tee with a freshening wind off the Strait of Dover, the cheers resounded the length of the 444-yard opening hole.
“It was great,” he said. “I probably didn’t take it in as much as I could have. I was just trying to concentrate on that first tee shot and get that out of the way. But it’s nice to have that support out on the golf course. It’s fantastic. Hopefully, I can give them something to shout about.”
It took awhile in the opening round.
The biggest cheer came for 22-year-old Rickie Fowler, who holed a 75-foot putt from just off the back of the first green. McIlroy also went long, just a few inches in from of Fowler, and he rammed his long putt some eight feet past the hole and wound up three-putting for bogey.
Then came the par-3 third, where McIlroy got one of the wild, hard hops so often seen at Royal St. George’s and wound up in rough behind the green. The chip came out heavy, leading to another bogey. And his next tee shot went into deep grass in front of a large knoll.
Suddenly, this didn’t look like the U.S. Open champion. It looked like the kid who shot 80 the last day at Augusta National.
McIlroy powered a short iron out and onto the green, hit a superb chip from well left of the green at No. 5 to five feet to save par, and before long was back in his comfort zone.
It helped being paired with Fowler, an American of the same age, same style of play — they both waste no time hitting their shots — and with a history of playing together despite being so young. McIlroy and Fowler competed against each other in foursomes at the Walker Cup four years ago when both were teenagers at Royal County Down.
That was a home game for McIlroy, and this was not much different.
“The fans were great over here,” Fowler said. “Obviously, they’re cheering on Rory. It has a feeling like he’s a hero over here now. He’s had a pretty big impact, with impressive play recently and obviously at the U.S. Open. So it’s fun to play alongside him. I’ve always enjoyed it, and definitely felt like the crowd was in his favor today.”
Fowler looked to be the better of the two on this day, but not so much at the end. Fowler stalled in his round of 70. McIlroy rallied for a 71, starting with a smart approach on the eighth hole that rode up a ridge and trickled back toward the hole to four feet away for birdie.
Equally important was the short, tricky par putt on the ninth.
For all the hype outside the ropes, McIlroy clearly felt at ease doing what he does best. He was in his element, flashing that smile to the gallery as he bobs along the fairway between shots.
“I felt the par on 4 was big, but the up-and-down on 5 from left of the green was big for me, got me into it a bit,” he said. “I was a little disappointed I didn’t take advantage of the two par 5s — put myself in good positions off the tee there and only made two pars. But it was definitely a round after the start that could have got away from me, and it was nice to hang onto it.”
More media awaited after he finished up his round, to another rousing ovation. Everyone wants a piece of McIlroy these days. Everyone expects him to contend, especially in the majors.
“It’s a nice pressure to have,” McIlroy said. “I’m not complaining. I’ve put myself in this position, and it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I wanted to be under pressure to win tournaments. I mean, if that’s the worst complaint that I have, I’ll be doing all right.”
He was great Thursday. He didn’t shoot himself out of the tournament, either.
He was doing all right.
-- DOUG FERGUSON
Stanley makes quite a turnaround
SANDWICH, England (AP) — He’s a PGA Tour rookie who had not finished in the top 10 all year until his most recent tournament, which came at the right time because it made him eligible for the British Open at Royal St. George’s.
That was Kyle Stanley on Thursday.
It also was Ben Curtis in 2003, when the unheralded American won the claret jug.
Is there a repeat performance in the works? Stanley has a long way to go, and he played in the favorable conditions Thursday afternoon, but he still managed a 2-under 68 despite a bogey on the final hole.
“I didn’t expect to be here,” Stanley said. “But now I am, and I just hope I can take advantage of the opportunity.”
Stanley was still optimistic enough that he took his passport with him to the John Deere Classic last week in Illinois, which offered a British Open spot to the leading player among the top five who was not already eligible. Stanley thought he had to win, so he was disappointed when Steve Stricker birdied the last two holes for a one-shot victory.
Before long, he was on a charter flight to England for his first British Open. He has been able to do some laundry, although he had to buy some warm clothing in the pro shop.
“It took me a day to adjust, but I’m sleeping well, and I’m pretty tired in the evenings,” Stanley said. “So that’s good.”
The real adjustment comes on the links course of Royal St. George’s. Stanley, who went to college at Clemson, grew up in Washington state. He’s used to a little rain, but not on bumpy turf like a seaside links.
But he feels his game is in good shape for any kind of golf.
AN ACE OF A RECOVERY: Dustin Johnson felt his British Open chances slipping away, mostly because he couldn’t make a putt.
He got right back in the game with a shot that didn’t require a putt.
Coming off back-to-back birdies, Johnson hit a wedge from 161 yards that bounced hard toward the cup and vanished into the hole for an ace, the third of his professional career. He added another birdie on the 17th, then watched a par putt catch the lip on the 18th for an unlikely 70.
“Standing on 14, I wanted to make a few birdies and give myself a chance to get back in this thing,” Johnson said. “If you would have bet me money that I would be 1-under par standing on the 18th tee, I wouldn’t have taken it.”
The hole-in-one looked as though it might run some 20 feet by the hole. Ian Poulter said Johnson turned to him and said, “I don’t care, as long as it’s 4 inches under.”
Johnson tossed the ball into the gallery. He doesn’t get too excited about moments like this, and when someone asked if it was hard to calm down on the next tee shot, the laid-back Johnson stared back blankly.
“I’m not very excited,” he said. “I’m going to go home and sleep.”
Moments later, he showed a large lump on his neck, the produce of swollen glands. Johnson said he has an infection and began taking antibiotics on Wednesday. The finish was a good tonic in its own way.
CALC’S BRITISH : Mark Calcavecchia doesn’t get in any other majors anymore unless they’re of the senior variety. That makes him appreciate his annual trip to the British Open even more.
Not to say Calcavecchia still can’t play a bit. His 69 in Thursday’s opening round would have been a good score even if he wasn’t a member of the Champions Tour.
“I just get fired up coming over here, and even if I hadn’t won the thing once, I would have told you it was my favorite,” said Calcavecchia, who won the British in 1989 at Royal Troon.
Calcavecchia arrived on Tuesday and played only five holes of practice at Royal St. George’s before going out early and posting his 1-under-par round. The 51-year-old Calcavecchia said he plans to take advantage of his former champion’s exemption as long as he can.
“Just coming over here, the atmosphere, the one week here of links golf and wind and weather and bounces, the stands, everything about it I love really,” he said.
Calcavecchia said his dream would be to win the Open again, but that he would take what he gets.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t get mad and just do the best I could every hole,” he said. “So one day down and three to go.”
LEADING OFF: History suggested Jerry Kelly might not have been the best guy to lead off Thursday morning at Royal St. George’s. The last time he played the first hole here in the British Open he shot an 11.
Kelly was better in the first round this year, making a bogey 5 after bouncing a sand wedge over the green. Still, thoughts from eight years ago were on his mind.
“I recognize the irony in it after what happened last time,” Kelly said.
Kelly shot an 86 that day and withdrew from the Open. He got around in 74 on Thursday, finding Royal St. George’s to be a much different course than it was then.
“The rough at No. 1 (in 2003) was up to the waist,” Kelly said. “Now it’s just up to the knees, but it’s the coverage underneath that was so heavy before. It’s much more playable this time.”
THE ONE-TWO PUNCH: Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, the top two players in the world, each had 71 on different sides of the draw. Donald wasted a strong start in the tough morning weather, while Westwood had to birdie two of his last five holes in the afternoon.
Donald said his putting, not the pressure of playing before a home English crowd as the world No. 1, was to blame.
“I felt like I played a pretty solid round other than some missed opportunities on the greens,” Donald said. “I had three or four lip-outs and a few other opportunities that went amiss. It really could have been a very good round. A 71 is still solid, but it certainly could have been a little bit better if I’d have had the putter going.”
Westwood made three straight bogeys early in his round and made the turn in 38. He was helped by birdies on the 14th and 15th, and not dropping any more shots coming in.
“It could have been a lot worse — 3 over through five holes is a poor start, and you don’t want to be chasing in major championships,” he said. “My game was pretty good today. I hit a lot of good shots. Like I say, on the greens I didn’t capitalize on it.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Tom Lewis is named after Tom Watson. To show a sense of the golfing tradition in his family, his younger brother was named Jack.
“You can imagine who that’s after,” Lewis said, referring to Jack Nicklaus if it’s still not clear.
That led to a natural question of whether his brother plays golf, and how well. Lewis showed some humor when he leaned forward into the microphone and made sure he understood the question.
“Is he any good? No,” he said, as the room broke into laughter.
Then came some perspective.
“I think he (plays) off about 7, so he can play,” Lewis said. “I’m sure he’ll beat half the people in here.”
-- DOUG FERGUSON
Tom Lewis shines in front of namesake to lead Open
SANDWICH, England (AP) — His parents named him after Tom Watson, so Tom Lewis was thrilled when the pairings for the British Open came out.
Tom & Tom were in the same group.
It can’t get much better than that, right?
Think again.
With the five-time Open champion watching every swing, Lewis became the first amateur in 35 years to lead a round at a major. The 20-year-old settled his nerves with one up-and-down after another on the front side Thursday, then ripped off four straight birdies down the stretch to match Thomas Bjorn with a 5-under 65.
When Lewis stepped to the first tee at Royal St. George’s, his main concern was not to embarrass himself in front of Watson. By the end, Watson was marveling at how much poise the youngster showed in his first major championship.
He’s the first amateur to lead the Open since 1968, the first to lead any major since Mike Reid at the U.S. Open in 1976.
“We certainly have a new young breed out here, don’t we?” marveled Watson, who needed seven more shots than Lewis to get around the course. “I just had to smile inside watching him play. I didn’t play particularly well myself, but I certainly was impressed by the way he played.”
Watson has been through this before. Two years ago, he was paired at the Open with Italy’s Matteo Manassero, who tied for 13th at Turnberry as a 16-year-old amateur (a feat that was overshadowed, of course, by Watson nearly becoming the oldest major champion in history).
Now, along comes Lewis, who dropped out of school when he was 16 to concentrate on a full-time golf career. Clearly, he has big plans for the future, even though he won’t officially turn pro until September after the Walker Cup.
He’s ready to take on Rory McIlroy, only two years older but already a major champion. He’d like to surpass Nick Faldo, who hails from the same town north of London and captured six of golf’s biggest events.
“I would love to win seven because I’m from the same golf club as him and it would be great to go down as the best player from the club,” Lewis said, before hastening to add, “but I’ve got a long way to go.”
He’s already knocked Tiger Woods from the record book. The 14-time major champion was one of three players who held the British Open scoring record for amateurs with a 66.
Lewis was clearly destined for this path. His father, Brian Lewis, played a few years on the European Tour and always considered Watson his favorite player. When Lewis had a son, there was little doubt he would be named for the five-time Open champion.
(And when the Lewis’ had another son, he was named Jack, as in Nicklaus.)
Young Tom is dyslexic, so school was a struggle. He jumped at the chance to take a different path, to devote his life to golf at a time when most kids are focused on dating and homework. That decision paid off when he won the British Boys Championship two years ago — at Royal St. George’s, no less.
Maybe that’s why he looked so comfortable making his way around the place. More than anyone with an afternoon tee time, he took advantage when the wind died down and left the course ripe for the taking.
Amazingly, the youngster needed only eight putts to get through the first eight holes. Some of that was by design — birdies at the 3rd, 7th and 8th — but the rest were saves after he missed the green. He kept bailing himself out with a delicate touch, chipping up next to the flag and sinking the putts.
Bogeys at the 11th and 13th could have stymied his momentum, but Lewis pulled himself together.
He reached the front edge of the par-5 14th in two, setting up a two-putt birdie. At the 15th, he stuck a 6-iron to 8 feet and rolled in another. The par-3 16th produced a third straight birdie when a 7-iron off the tee curled up a half-dozen feet from the hole. Finally, he knocked a 20-footer straight in the middle of the cup at 17 to make it four in a row.
Just like that, he had pulled even with Bjorn.
The kid was leading the Open.
“How about that?” Watson said. “He could be my grandson.”
Lewis stepped up to the final hole and ripped his tee shot right down the middle of the fairway. He pushed his approach right of the flag, the ball sliding off the side of the green. His head dropped, then he made perhaps his biggest blunder of the day.
Instead of letting Watson take the lead on their walk toward the grandstands, giving the fans a chance to acknowledge the popular champion, Lewis hustled up to the green ahead of him.
“I was in the zone,” Lewis said. “I didn’t really know what I was doing. I walked up to the green, and I didn’t realize I probably should have waited for Tom, and I felt very bad. But I was just mostly concentrating on making that up-and-down and making sure I was at the top of the leaderboard.”
One more exquisite chip left him about 2 feet from the cup, and he rapped that one in for a par that ensured, for one night at least, he was the one everyone but Bjorn was chasing.
British Open leader.
It has a nice ring to it.
“Obviously, it’s one day,” Lewis said. “I’m sure I’m not going to shoot four 65s. But if I did, I will be winning.”
That one got a hearty chuckle. Realistically, Lewis knows his chances of claiming the claret jug are still slim, at best. He’s mainly concerned with making the cut Friday and finishing with the lowest score among the five amateurs.
That’s not to say he doesn’t have big goals for the not-so-distant future. Lewis looks forward to dueling with McIlroy on a regular basis for years to come.
For now, he’ll settle for a six-shot edge on the U.S. Open champion going to the second round.
“It’ll be tough to hold him off,” Lewis said. “But that’s what we play golf for, the challenge. Hopefully I can play with him sometime in my career or this year. That would be excellent.”
Rory & Tom.
That has a nice ring to it, too.
-- PAUL NEWBERRY
Begay says Woods planning to play charity event
Tiger Woods is apparently planning to play some golf before the end of summer.
Fellow golfer Notah Begay III scooped Woods himself Thursday by announcing his former Stanford teammate would be playing Aug. 31 in a mixed-team charity event, the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge.
Woods, who this week is missing his second straight major championship, the British Open, while he recovers from an injured leg, has not confirmed his participation. The event was originally scheduled for July 5 but postponed to allow Woods more time to recover.
Begay said others playing in the event at Turning Stone Resort near Verona, N.Y., include Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan. They will play with LPGA golfers Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen, Natalie Gulbis and Annika Sorenstam.
The event raises money for charities aiding Native American youth.
Player takes pride in homeland, Masters honor
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Gary Player isn’t sure what he’s prouder of these days — his selection as an honorary starter at the Masters or his homeland’s continuing success in major championships.
Player was picked this month to join his longtime rivals and friends Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as starters for next year’s event at Augusta National. Player was equally proud of Charl Schwartzel, the young South African who won the Masters this spring on the 50th anniversary of Player’s first triumph there.
Player said golfers from South Arica have won 21 majors since World War II, second only to the United States. “Isn’t that incredible?” Player said by phone this week.
He’s a large part of that history with nine major wins, including three British Opens. Player is attending this year’s event at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, wondering if he’ll get to see another of his countrymen raise the champion’s claret jug as Louis Oosthuizen did a year ago.
Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman are all major champions. “We’re a small country,” Player said.
What makes golf so good in the land of about 50 million?
Player said it’s a combination of several factors.
“It’s the best climate in the world. Fantastic golf courses compared to anywhere in the world. Good junior programs and young guys that have got a passion,” Player said.
Player was reluctant to revel in his role at the head of that pack. He said he hoped he had some influence on the golfers such as Els, Goosen and Schwartzel who came after. “They see a small man like myself winning 18 major championships on regular and Senior tour, I think they get very encouraged and say, ‘We can do it,”’ Player said.
Schwartzel was the last one, winning the Masters with a breath-taking charge of four finishing birdies. He followed that with a ninth-place finish at the U.S. Open.
“There’s lots of youngsters out there that all of a sudden have a really big interest,” Schwartzel said at the British Open. “I’m sure it’s made a big difference to South African golf.”
Player said Els, Goosen and the others have been strong ambassadors for South Africa and golf.
Schwartzel and Player both will have prominent roles in next year’s Masters. As defending champion, Schwartzel will have the honor of slipping the green jacket on his successor. Player will join Palmer and Nicklaus, reuniting the “Big Three,” as they hit ceremonial tee shots to open the event.
It’s the first time the Masters has three starters since 1999 with Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead.
Nicklaus, Palmer and Player have combined for 13 Masters titles and 34 major championships.
“Arnold, Jack and I have been like brothers for most our lives,” Player said.
Augusta National is a special place for Player, filled with wonderful memories. In 1961, Player won the first of three green jackets and proved his golf game the equal of anyone on tour. He won again in 1974. Player recalled his final Masters victory in 1978 when he was paired with the late Seve Ballesteros, then a 21-year-old rising star. Player shot a final round 64 to rally from seven strokes behind when the round began. Ballesteros later confided in Player that he taught him how to win the Masters with that performance.
Ballesteros won twice at Augusta National, in 1980 and 1983.
“I’ve spent one year of my life at Augusta,” Player said, laughing. Being an honorary starter “is very exciting and something I’m looking forward to.”
-- PETE IACOBELLI
Six players tied atop Viking Classic
MADISON, Miss. (AP) — Tim Petrovic has finally found a way to beat Mississippi’s suffocating July heat without the help of air conditioning, sweet tea or a swimming pool.
He’s doing it by playing good golf.
“When you’re hitting it like I hit it today, making some putts, you don’t tend to sweat so much,” Petrovic said. “Makes your life a little easier.”
Petrovic fired a 7-under 65 on Thursday morning in the first round of the Viking Classic at Annandale Country Club, joining John Mallinger, Brendon de Jonge, Peter Lonard, Sunghoon Kang and Bobby Gates in a six-way tie atop the leaderboard.
Frequent thunderstorms over the past several days left Annandale’s Bermuda grass soft - especially in the morning. The PGA allowed players to lift, clean and place balls in the fairway, which helped keep scores low throughout the day.
“When you get the ball in the hand all the time, you can be a little more aggressive at the flag,” said Mallinger, who birdied six straight holes at one point during his morning round.
With the vast majority of the world’s best players competing thousands of miles away at the British Open, the Viking Classic leaderboard was loaded with names rarely seen so high at a PGA event. Gates, Mallinger, Gomez, de Jonge and Kang have never won on tour while Lonard and Petrovic have one victory each — both in 2005.
Because it’s the same week as the British Open, the Viking Classic’s reward of 250 FedExCup points and $3.6 million total purse are about half that of a normal tour event.
Lonard, a 43-year-old Australian, made the most of his first round on the PGA Tour since 2009, sinking birdie putts on his final two holes to climb into a share of the lead. He’s played 11 Nationwide events this year, and his 11th place finish in the Mexico Open two weeks ago was his best of the season.
He was a late addition to the Viking Classic field on Monday and couldn’t get a flight to Mississippi until late Tuesday night, but the lack of a practice round at Annandale didn’t keep him from a good start.
Most players left Annandale in a good mood on Thursday, thanks to a slew of birdies that led to 106 players finishing at par or better, including 18 with bogey-free rounds. Scoring stayed low throughout the day, though the heat appeared to take its toll on the afternoon groups. Five of the six leaders played morning rounds.
Temperatures reached the mid-90s by mid-afternoon, and the heat index was above 105.
Petrovic said a rumor among players earlier in the week was that the tour would allow players to wear shorts, but “that one got washed down the drain really quick.” The 44-year-old instead settled for cutting an inch off his long blond hair that still nearly comes down to his shoulders.
Maybe that helped his putting touch. He needed just 26 putts to navigate the course, making seven birdies in a 12-hole stretch during the middle of his round.
“The greens are rolling so pure right now,” Petrovic said. “If you just hit it straight, you’ve got a really good chance.”
Scott Piercy briefly charged to the top of the leaderboard at 8 under through 13 holes after a run that included five birdies in seven holes. But he double bogeyed No. 5 and No. 7 and ended the day at 5 under.
Nine players, including 50-year-old Kenny Perry, were tied for second place at 6 under.
-- DAVID BRANDT
Romo, Smoltz among stars at Tahoe celebrity golf
STATELINE, Nev. (AP) — A rivalry between quarterbacks and pitchers resumes at Lake Tahoe on Friday when Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, John Smoltz and Rick Rhoden are among those set to tee off in the 22nd American Century Celebrity Golf Championship.
“It’s our Masters, our U.S. Open, our British Open,” said Billy Joe Tolliver, a former NFL signal-caller who won his third celebrity title in record-breaking fashion last year.
“It’s our major, and we love being here competing for it,” Tolliver said. He’s among 16 past and present quarterbacks in the field of 85 sports stars and entertainers.
“We’re the best athletes, end of story,” he teased earlier in the week.
Rhoden, who pitched 14 seasons mostly for the Pirates, Dodgers and Yankees, has won the celebrity title a record eight times between 1991 and 2008.
“Pitching and golf are very similar,” he said. “You better have a short memory, or you’re going to be in trouble real quick.”
Rhoden, a former all-star who also has played on the Senior and Champions’ pro golf tours, is the 5-2 co-favorite with Romo in the 54-hole tourney that runs through Sunday at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback has finished no worse than a tie for third in his three previous tries on the shores of the azure mountain lake. He tied for second last year with Smoltz, actor Jack Wagner and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.
NBA great Michael Jordan and ex-shortstop Ozzie Smith are among the other hall of famers in the field along with the NFL’s Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith.
Current NFL quarterbacks Carson Palmer, Matt Ryan, Matt Cassel, Matt Schaub, Kyle Boller and Tim Tebow all plan to play at Tahoe this week. In addition to Elway, past QBs in the field include Steve Beuerlein, Chris Chandler, Trent Dilfer, Trent Green, Jim McMahon, Mark Rypien, Vinny Testaverde and Joe Theismann.
Other pitchers playing are Hall of Famer Goose Gossage, Bret Saberhagen, Greg Maddux, Jamie Moyer, Mark Mulder, Andy Pettitte and David Wells.
Smoltz, 44, is a Cy Young winner with 3,000 career strikeouts, 200 wins and 150 saves. He said he is on a six-year plan to make it to the Champions Tour.
But he also said he still has a lot to learn, especially about patience and the mental part of the game. He said he got a big dose of humility in his debut on the Nationwide Tour at the South Georgia Classic in April when he missed the cut by 27 strokes in a nightmare that began with a five-hour rain delay.
“What ended up happening was an embarrassment,” Smoltz said. “I hit three or four greens in two days, I never made a putt, I never got up and down.”
“It’s the equivalent of if I stood on the mound and waited eight minutes in between pitches to face Albert Pujols with the bases loaded with nothing but time to think about how I’m going to get him out. More than likely you’re going to think of a lot of bad things that can happen. And that’s what I found myself doing.”
Rhoden said he only gets nervous now if he’s playing poorly, but he remembers being scared to death the first time he played. He also recalls being on the first tee with a horrified Robin Yount the only time he played in the celebrity tourney in 1994.
“He teed up and hit grounder into the creek about 50 yards in front of the tee box,” Rhoden said.
“I asked him after the round how he thought it went. (Yount) said, ‘I’ve played in the World Series and All-Star games. I’ve never been so scared in my life with that first tee shot,”’ Rhoden said.
“That’s what it does to you. Most of the guys are just out of their element. Until you get enough of these events in to where you’re not scared to death on that first tee. It’s good to have that adrenaline going and be a little nervous, but once you get past that, it’s just playing golf.”
-- SCOTT SONNER
