View from the Top - Seve Ballesteros

"To give yourself the best possible chance of playing to your potential, you must prepare for every eventuality. That means practice."

Seve Ballesteros

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Ernie Els Tastes Major Success Again

Ernie Els produced a stunning back nine 32 to pip Australian Adam Scott to The Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.Ten years on from his last Major victory the South African could hardly believe he had become Open Champion again.

The 42 year old, the same age as last year's winner Darren Clarke, triumphed after Scott bogeyed the last four holes over the difficult closing stretch.

Scott, chasing his first Major, looked all set to become the first Australian to hold The Claret Jug aloft since Greg Norman in 1993 when he led by four shots with only four holes to play.

But he bogeyed them all and Els, having made a crucial 15 foot birdie putt on the final green 20 minutes earlier, suddenly found himself with a fourth Major title.

Els commented: "I'm just all numb at the moment. He's a great friend of mine. Obviously we both wanted to win very badly for different reasons and I really feel for him.

"It's the nature of the beast. That's why we are out here. You win, you lose and it was my time.

"I was hoping at best play-off. When I was on the 17th green he was on the 16th tee and, as we all know, it's not the hardest hole."

Scott failed to get up and down from a bunker on the 15th, then three-putted the next and while playing the 17th would certainly have heard the roar - the loudest of the week - for Els's last green putt for a 68 and seven under par aggregate of 273.

The "Big Easy", second at Lytham in 1996 and third in 2001, almost resigned himself to another near-miss. But things were about to change far more than he anticipated.

Scott pulled his approach into the rough, and when he drove into more sand down the last and had to hack out, Els had one hand on the trophy.

His Presidents Cup team-mate played a superb third to eight feet, but the par putt to force extra holes was pulled wide and that was that.

Having stood 11 under earlier in the day, he signed for a 75 and six under.

Tiger Woods, who also finished poorly in addition to taking a triple bogey, tied for third with fellow American Brandt Snedeker three shots further back, while Scott's playing partner Graeme McDowell ended up fifth with World Number One Luke Donald.

In his winner's speech Els told the crowd: "I had a lot of support this week. But you guys have got to ask yourselves the question were you just being nice to me or did you actually believe I could win?"

Scott retained his composure admirably, but must have been devastated inside.

"I'm pretty disappointed," he said. "I had it in my hands and managed to hit a poor shot at each of the closing four holes.

"I'm very, very disappointed, but I played so beautifully for most of the week I certainly should not let this get me down.

"Surprisingly I was incredibly calm and I still am. I thought I could roll that last putt in, but I didn't and that's golf."

Scott was on the verge of becoming the sport's tenth successive first-time winner in the Majors, but while that has now ended another run goes on - Els is the 16th different winner in a row.

Now with two Opens to go with his two US Opens, his front nine contained bogeys at the second and ninth and not a single birdie.

That left him six back, but he hauled himself back into things with birdies at the tenth, 12th and 14th to set up the remarkable climax.

McDowell was always playing catch-up and could not recover from bogeys at the second and sixth, the second of those seeing him take two in the same bunker that gave Woods so many problems.

The 14-Major champion - still to add to that tally since the 2008 US Open - almost hit himself as his first attempt to escape came back off at him.

Officials checked the video to make sure there was no contact, but he then had to play his next crouched on the grass way above the ball.

He did wonderfully well not to leave it in again, but the ball shot across the green off the face and from there he triple-bogeyed to fall seven behind.

It was the first time he had dropped three shots on one hole in a Major since he lost his opening drive at Sandwich in 2003.

The real killer blow for McDowell came with a six on the reachable long 11th - he lost his second in the bushes - that put him six adrift.

Woods and Els were up into joint second at that point, but the former found bunkers on the 14th, 15th and 16th and that ended his hopes.

Carlos Tevez Joins New Club

Andres Romero attracted plenty of attention on the final day of the Open Championship, but certainly not for his golf.

The Argentine employed Manchester City striker and compatriot Carlos Tevez as his caddie for 18 holes, although the move backfired on Romero as he struggled to an 82.

Huge golf fan Tevez arrived at Royal Lytham on Saturday to watch Romero slump from one under to six over after a 77, and he enjoyed his experience on the bag despite his countryman slipping to last place.

"Yes, I enjoyed the round. The course is beautiful," said Tevez. "The chance to walk along the course and to be around these great players is a pleasure and something unforgettable.

"It was good to enjoy the last day with him. This was the dream of everybody who plays golf. It was my first major!"

"It was difficult to carry the bag because it weighed so much but it was fine. I couldn't give any advice about the slopes but I just carried the bag and supported him each hole. We worked together very well."

Romero added: "He came to my house and he asked me first and we all agreed he would take the bag," said the Argentinian, who gave regular caddie Anibal Nunez the day off.

"We really enjoyed the day but I've not paid Carlos yet - we will see. I was playing really badly so we weren't talking about golf at all."

Rory McIlroy Facing Frustration

World number two Rory McIlroy is full of frustration that he has lost his mojo in recent weeks and believes the situation is starting to affect his confidence levels.

The 23-year-old Northern Irishman reeled off a string of top-five finishes on the European and U.S. tours early in the year before a slump caused him to miss four out of five cuts.

McIlroy's form has continued to desert him at this week's British Open and a third-round 73 on Saturday left him struggling among the also-rans on 215, five over par.

"I'm frustrated, I'm frustrated but that's the way it is. That's golf," he told reporters after failing to make the most of good scoring conditions on a warm day at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

"You just have to get on with it and keep trying and keep practising and stay patient until it turns around."

Nothing went right for McIlroy again and he has managed only three birdies in 36 holes since launching his campaign at the third major of the season with an encouraging three-under 67.

"It's just about a lack of consistency with my swing and from there it's tough," he explained.

"Whenever you're not confident in the shots that you're trying to hit, it is tough to sort of trust it."

McIlroy won the Honda Classic in March to briefly leapfrog Englishman Luke Donald at the top of the world rankings but since then it has been largely a tale of woe for the player who won the U.S. Open last year.

"To be honest I'm almost getting used to it," he said. "The last few weeks haven't been so great.

"I just have to keep working hard and working away and hopefully it will turn around sometime.

"Every tournament or every major that you don't play well in or you don't win is a chance missed."

Source: Reuters

Jumping GMAC Set for Open Action

Getty Images

Graeme McDowell hopes he can ensure his premonition of The Claret Jug remaining in Northern Irish hands comes true in The 141st Open Championship at Royal Lytham.

For the second Major in succession, McDowell will start the final round in the last group after a third round 67 saw him finish seven under par, four shots behind leader Adam Scott.

The 32 year old finished second, just one shot behind champion Webb Simpson, as he sought a second US Open crown in San Francisco last month, but now aims to go one better and follow in the footsteps of last year's Open Champion and fellow Ulsterman Darren Clarke.

"Darren was getting a few snaps and a few family portraits done with The Claret Jug last week," McDowell explained. "Some of the photos were pretty cool and I said to him, 'I've got a funny feeling that we'll maybe be bringing that Claret Jug back to Northern Ireland next week'.

"I was talking really from the opportunities that myself and him and Rory (McIlroy) and Michael Hoey have as a whole, and I guess it would be fairly prophetic if I happened to get the job done tomorrow evening.

"There's no doubt I think Darren will be an inspiration and someone that I'll think about a little bit tomorrow. Since I was a young boy I dreamed of coming down that last fairway on a Sunday afternoon, the last group in The Open Championship.

"This is special for me, back-to-back Major Championships to be in the last group on a Sunday afternoon.

"I talked about it early in the week. I can't expect to win this week, but what I can expect to do is compete if I do the right things, and to give myself a chance to be within three or four of the lead going into a Sunday afternoon and playing with the leader. That's really all I can ask and I'm right where I want to be."

Despite coming so close to winning the US Open again last month, McDowell was able to take the positives from being in serious contention for a Major for the first time since his victory at Pebble Beach in 2010.

"I think if you compare the final rounds of myself and (playing partner) Jim Furyk at Olympic, I was probably able to walk away a lot more positive than perhaps Jim was," McDowell added. "Jim had it right there and just didn't get the job done the last three holes.

"I kind of blew mine early doors. Through nine holes I'm four over par and my US Open chances are kind of gone. I battled really hard on the back nine to give myself a glimmer of hope, and it was only a glimmer.

"It's the first time I've really put myself in the absolute heat of the battle in a little while. I was reminded that I'm able to control my emotions correctly. I'm able to stay in the moment and just accept that tomorrow can go great and tomorrow can go badly.

"I can just try and hit the shots that I want and perhaps it will go my way tomorrow."

McDowell believes Lytham has been a "sleeping giant" so far this week with soft fairways and virtually no wind, but would prefer some testing conditions on Sunday to ensure Australia's Scott has to work for his first Major title.

"With conditions like today, perhaps four shots is insurmountable, because it will be in Adam's hands," McDowell added. "Throw a bit of wind across this course like perhaps they are forecasting, he will have to go and work a lot harder and he will have to go win it.

"It will be a case of keeping your head down for 13 or 14 holes, that's what I did at Pebble. I'm in a very similar position to what I was at Pebble, where I was three back. He (Scott) is going to be the guy who's going to sleep on the lead tonight. He's going to be the guy with all the pressure.

"And what I did at Pebble was just keep my head down for 11 or 12 holes and just come up for air and see where I'm at and refocus and get the head back down again.

"I'm probably not the only man in this field that's thought about picking this Claret Jug up. I've already thought about a few various liquids that I'd like to put in there and taste what they might taste like out of The Claret Jug.

"But I'm not the only man that wants this thing tomorrow. All I can do is dream big, and I certainly will be dreaming big tonight."

Tiger Woods Still in Scott Chase

Tiger Woods vowed to stick rigidly to his game plan as he goes into the final round of the Open Championship five shots off the lead at Royal Lytham.

The 14-time major champion recovered from two bogeys in the opening three holes of his third round to salvage a level-par 70 and remain at six under for the tournament.

Woods picked up three birdies in four holes to cap a front-nine 33, but he struggled to get close to the pins on the inward half as he stuck to his policy of hitting long irons off the tees.

"I've just got to execute my game plan," said Woods, who played down the predictions of 30mph winds throughout the final day.

"I know the forecast is one thing but let's see what actually happens. But whether the wind blows or not, I've still got to go out there and post the round that I know I need to post and execute my plan."

Adam Scott seized control of the tournament as he opened up a four-shot lead after 54-holes, but Woods was quick to point out one particular statistic.

"He's going for his first major title," Woods added. "He's been out here a long time and he's won a Players' Championship but he's not really done probably as well as he'd like to in majors.

"But he's maturing in his game and over the last year or so he's really improved his game. He is in a great spot right now, he's got a four-shot lead and he's playing really well."

The Open Debutants at Lytham

England’s James Morrison leads a group of 13 Open debutants who are contesting the final two rounds of this weekend’s Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

The 27 year-old old from Chertsey headed the recent European International Final Qualifying event at Sunningdale and he is now in a share of 11th place alongside Luke Donald, Steve Stricker and Steve Alker after opening his debut Open account with rounds of 68 and 70.

Morrison goes into the third round of this year’s Open with a two shot lead over South Africa’s Garth Mulroy, Denmark’s Morten Orum Madsen, America’s Ted Potter Jnr, England’s Dale Whitnell, and India’s Anirban Lahiri in the unofficial race for rookie honours.

A total of 32 debutants from all over the world started on Thursday and just over 20 per cent of them are still challenging for the top places with Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Japan’s Yoshinori Fujimoto a further one shot behind Morrison on 141 and England’s Matt Baldwin plus America’s Harris English, Justin Hicks and Troy Matteson on 142.

Some of the Open rookies are household names in their own countries. Keegan Bradley won the 2011 PGA Championship on his Major debut 11 months ago and he is currently tied in 68th place in The Open on three over par 143. That puts him on the same total as another rookie Juvic Pagunsan from the Philippines as well as alongside the likes of Tom Watson and Lee Westwood who were paired together at 8.20 am and drew most of the early morning Saturday crowds.

Morrison used to play cricket in the same England Youth cricket team as the likes of Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara and Tim Bresnan before switching to golf and winning the 2010 Madeira Island Open. He has never quite rising to the heights of that illustrious trio but today plays alongside America’s Steve Stricker with the prospect of challenging for the oldest and most prestigious title in golf.

It represents a remarkable achievement for the Englishman who got down to scratch within a year of taking about golf because he starts the third round with only Ernie Els, Thomas Aitken, Jason Duffner, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Paul Lawrie, Thorbjorn Olesen, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and leader Brandt Snedeker in front of him.

Fans Asked to Delay R2 Open Arrival

Spectators were advised to delay their arrival for the second day of the Open Championship after heavy rain overnight left standing water on parts of Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Play began at 6:30am as scheduled but after seven hours of rain dropped 11mm of water on the course there are pockets of casual water.

A message on Opengolf.com stated that the course, and car parks, are drying out but spectators will have a better experience if they can turn up later if possible.

The overnight rain has given way to morning sunshine, with the weather forecast predicting the risk of showers gradually becoming less frequent during the day with sunny spells developing and it may be completely dry for the rest of the day with light variable winds up to 5mph.

"We've had far more rain overnight than we were expecting, unfortunately," R&A chief executive Peter Dawson told BBC Radio Five Live.

"There's been 11mm or so but the course can take it as the drainage here is good. There is some standing water but we can play golf and the Rules of Golf will deal with the casual water.

"The spectator conditions are not so good but we are working hard. We are told it will be dry for the rest of the day but, if anyone was thinking about delaying their arrival, that would be good."

Australia's Brendan Jones initially made light of the conditions with a birdie two on the first - Lytham is the only course of the Open rota to begin with a par three - to improve to two under par, but then dropped four shots in the next four holes.

Challenge Tour member Scott Pinckney, a boyhood friend of Rory McIlroy, began his first Open with a fine two under par 68, but was finding the game a lot tougher on day two as he ran up a triple bogey on the third in the second group out.

South African Richard Sterne, a five-time European Tour champion, was another player to birdie the first to take his score to two under par.

Overnight leader Adam Scott, who carded a record-equalling 64 on Thursday, was among the later starters, with Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts likely to be the first player to challenge the Australian's position at the top of the leaderboard.

Colsaerts was one shot off the lead after an opening 65 and was due out shortly before 9am.

England's Paul Casey was pleased with an opening 72 as he tries to rediscover top form following a lengthy shoulder injury, and the 34 year old had more reasons to be cheerful this morning.

After saving par from a greenside bunker on the first, Casey holed from ten feet for birdie on the second and then chipped in for par on the third after hacking his third shot from heavy rough over the green.

That kept him one under for the day and one over for the tournament, but represented welcome signs of improvement after coming into the championship a collective 47 over par on The European Tour this season.

Colsaerts saved par on the first with an excellent chip after coming up well short of the green, but was not able to repeat the trick at the next two holes and dropped back to three under.

Rory McIlroy, who recorded an opening 67 despite a double bogey on the 15th when his drive bounced off a spectator's head and went out of bounds, was also three under after two opening pars.

The former US Open Champion was lucky that a wayward drive on the second stopped just short of the really thick rough, allowing him to pitch out short of the green and get up and down.

A Very G'Day for Scott on Day One

Adam Scott carded a sensational six under under par 64 to claim the clubhouse lead mid-way through the first round of the 141st Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

The 32 year-old former Players Championship winner from Adelaide fired eight birdies on the 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 12th 13th, 15th and 16th and looked to be heading for a share of the Championship 18-hole record before he dropped a shot at the last where he pulled his tee shot into the rough and failed to get up and down from well short of the green.

However, the 64 still tied Tom Lehman’s record for the lowest score ever recorded in eleven Open Championships at Royal Lytham & St Annes and also shaved one shot off the Championship’s previous low first round record set by Scotland’s Bill Longmuir in 1979 and later equalled by England’s Paul Broadhurst in 1996 and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie in 2001.

“It was like a walk in the park today, and not like what we’ve been experiencing in the practice rounds,” he said. “I’m sure there’s going to be some weather elements thrown at us the next three days so I’m just going to have to knuckle down and handle that.”

“But I’m confident. My ball striking is good and I think I can get round no matter what the conditions are.”

Scott had never shot lower than 68 in any of his 12 previous Open appearances and he needed to go low to top one of the most impressive first round leaderboards ever seen at The Open.

Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, the 1999 champion at Carnoustie, continued his rich vein of recent form with a fine 65 in which he went out in two under par 32 with three successive birdies from the third and then added further birdies at the 14th, 15th and 18th.

“It was a very strange start,” he said. “Probably the strangest start of my career the first six holes. I didn’t hit many good shots but was still three under par.

I chipped in twice and also holed it from off the green,” he added. “Amazing but, obviously, after that I hit some really nice shots and hit the ball in the right places quite a lot.”

2007 Masters champion, Zach Johnson, also carded a 65 while veteran South African, Ernie Els, the champion in 2002, 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell, 2012 Master champion Bubba Watson and 14-time Major champion, Tiger Woods, all opened with three under par rounds of 67.

Ominously for his rivals, Woods’ 67 is the same score as he achieved in the first round on two out of his three previous Open wins, at St Andrews in 2000 and Hoylake in 2006. In 2005, when he claimed his second victory at the Home of Golf, he carded a 66 on the opening day.

141st Open Championship Tees off

On Thursday morning at precisely 6.30 am, Englishman Barry Lane hit the first shot in the 141st Open Championship, and so will begin one of the most eagerly-awaited events in all of sport.

Much has changed since 1860, when Willie Park won the inaugural Open title at Prestwick. Back then, Park, from Musselburgh, prevailed over just seven rivals whereas tomorrow 156 of the world best players will tee up, all endeavouring to succeed 2011 champion, Darren Clarke, and claim an elusive slice of immortality.

This year, the battle for the Claret Jug, and an accompanying cheque for £900,000, looks like being particularly competitive. In the last 15 Majors there have been 15 different winners and it would take a brave man to discount the possibility of that sequence being extended. Not with the likes of Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Justin Rose all waiting for their first Major, and not with the European Tour currently in the midst of a run of 25 events without a repeat success.

The one thing that is more certain is that Royal Lytham & St Annes is likely to produce a winner of some quality. This year is the eleventh time the venerable course has hosted The Open Championship and its cast of previous champions attests to the quality of the test it provides.

Legendary US amateur, Bobby Jones, won Lytham’s first Open back in 1926 and since then his successors Bobby Locke (1952), Peter Thomson (1958), Bob Charles (1963), Tony Jacklin (1969), Gary Player (1974), Seve Ballesteros (1979 and ’88), Tom Lehman (1996) and David Duval (2001) have all come from the top drawer.

On Tiuesday,  the host club recognised Ballesteros’ seminal role in its history by unveiling a new portrait of the late Spanish champion but from tomorrow morning onwards all thoughts will turn to who will become the tenth player on that impressive list. 

The bookies have cast the resurgent Tiger Woods as favourite. Home hopes rest with Westwood, Donald, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington but whoever wins the crowds are in for a treat.

A glance at the draw for the opening two rounds shows there will be much to enjoy throughout the day. The likes of Clarke, Westwood, McDowell, Woods, Rose, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Charl Schwarztel are all out in the morning while late risers will be able to watch McIlroy, Harrington, Donald, Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen and Jim Furyk in the afternoon.

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