The British Open

Paddy's Day

Date Written: July 23, 2007

What if you hit it in the water TWICE on your last hole? What if you then make a miracle, up-and-down for double bogey? Do you still win 2 bucks from Uncle Willy? I don't think so...but it happened at The British Open. Paddy, of Harrington fame, dodges a bullet with his already-famous, TWO, 18th hole flubs; one a mis-directed drive and the other a solid chunk. For a time, it looked like a replay of Jean Van de Velde's '99 "Fiasco at Carnasty." To quote Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com, "Carnoustie's 18th is harder than taking the LSAT with a hangover. The hole should come with a warning label."

I was sad for Sergio who could have won it outright with a par on 18. Another guy from the hotbed of golf...Argentina??? named Andres Romero snuck into the mix on the last day with a scorecard that looked more like scribbling....10 birdies and two doubles. He goes into #17 at nine under with a two-shot lead, then finishes double bogey, bogey to miss the playoff by a shot. A wild finishing hole, to be sure. And then, for all us golf-junkies, an almost anti-climactic four-hole playoff. The eventual champion, Mr. Harrington, seemed so perfectly charming and overwhelmed by his victory, claiming to be just a journeyman player. Sergio was semi-gracious in defeat, biting his lip while he accepted the second place silver. But somehow he blamed the long delay on 18 for his failure to finish the deal. "It seemed to take a long time to rake two bunkers, a very long time," Garcia said. "It's not fun, not fun standing there."

In our little funky pool, Scott Winegar's smart pick of Sergio made just enough to inch him into second place, pennies ahead of Jim Brady who was one of nine who picked Big Ernie and made a nice piece of change.

In the companion Milwaukee tourney, Doug B. had the best result with Kenny Perry's tie for fifth. Another "teenage phenom" surfaced in Milwaukee. Remember this name....Tony Kinau. He's a strapping pup of 17 who rather than go to college, turned pro and made the cut. On Friday, he drove the ball 369 yards over water and onto the green at the par-4 16th hole. Steve Flesch said, "I saw him hit some balls on the range, he's phenomenal. It's a cannon. It's cool. Good for him."

Walter Littenberg