St. George’s has history of first-time winners
Funky. Quirky. Random.
Those are some of the players’ descriptions of Royal St. George’s, the site of this week’s British Open, arguably the least popular of the nine courses in the championship’s rotation.
With its blind shots, mogul-filled fairways and haphazard routing, it’s often better to be lucky than good at the seaside links.
“It’s a bit of a fiddly golf course,” Adam Scott said two weeks ago during the AT&T National. “The fairways are very undulated, and you’re going to get some good bounces and you’re going to get some bad bounces.”
Nine of the 13 times Royal St. George’s has hosted, it has produced a first-time winner, a higher rate (69 percent), than any course in the Open rotation. The list of first-timers includes Bill Rogers (1981) and Reg Whitcombe (1938).
| The Open Championship |
| When » Thursday-Sunday |
| Where » Royal St. George’s, Sandwich |
| TV » ESPN |
In 2003, when Ben Curtis was the only man who broke par at Royal St. George’s, he was ranked No. 396 in the world. It was the first major he had played and his first PGA Tour victory. The next three years, Curtis missed the cut.
Consider anyone a threat when players tee off on Thursday morning. How about No. 935 Mark Laskey, No. 813 John Daly or No. 412 Prom Meesawat?
“I think anyone can win,” Steve Stricker, winner of last week’s John Deere Classic, told reporters on Monday.
Curtis eliminates some from the 156-player field.
“There’s probably 130 guys who could win,” Curtis said.
The capricious nature of Royal St. George’s will be ramped up this week. The course has been hardened by droughts the last two summers, meaning lots of roll. Humps in the fairway can send good shots bounding sideways into the rough and vice versa.
The rough isn’t nearly as penal as in 2003 when Tiger Woods lost his ball in knee-high fescue on the first hole and saw his hopes fade.
“With the rough not up, I think it’ll be all about the second shot,” U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy told reporters.
Much will depend on the weather. Wind can make Royal St. George’s brutal. The first winner there, John Henry Taylor, did it in 1894 with the highest winning score (326) in British Open history. In 1993, when it was sunny and calm, Greg Norman shot the lowest four-round score (267) in tournament history.
Howling winds in Tuesday’s practice rounds made some holes hard and others easy. At No. 11, a 243-yard par 3, long-hitting Phil Mickelson failed to reach the green with a driver. At No. 17, a 426-yard par 4, he blasted a drive 380 yards. At No. 7, a 546-yard par 5, Luke Donald hit a solid drive but failed to reach the fairway.
“We’re all pretty spoiled,” Scott said. “When we hit it down the middle of the fairway we expect it to be in the middle of the fairway. But that’s not how golf works over there.”
