British Open Wrap-Up

Well, that was disappointing. After three-and-a-half days of entertaining golf, the tournament appeared to be poised for an exciting finish as the leaders made the turn on Sunday, with Darren Clarke in the lead and Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson in hot pursuit. Instead, Johnson and Mickelson both collapsed on the back nine, and Clarke never had to make a single shot under pressure down the stretch.

The Americans did somewhat better here than they had in the other two majors -- my guess is that since this is the only European tournament played on a British links, the young Americans have more experience than the young Europeans when it comes to playing in the wind. That would explain why the young Americans and the old Europeans did relatively well. The PGA will be played in Atlanta -- in conditions much closer to those at Congressional -- and I would not expect the Americans to do as well down there. It should also be pointed out that Tiger Woods was the Low American at the Masters and that Phil Mickelson tied for Low American at the British Open; these are signs that the young Americans still have a long way to go.

Finally, congrats to Darren Clarke, whose victory reminds me a lot of Mark O'Meara's two major victories in 1998. After Tiger's victory at the 1997 Masters, we expected him to dominate -- and eventually he did. But in 1998, veteran O'Meara -- who had been practicing with Tiger for some time -- seemed to draw upon Tiger's success to convince himself that he could win majors. Similarly, I think the success of two young golfers from Northern Ireland (Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell) helped Clarke (the old star from Ulster) believe that he could be the Open Champion. And now he is.

Final Leaderboard:

1. D. Clarke (NIR): -5 (68+68+69+70=275)
T2. P. Mickelson: -2 (70+69+71+68=278)
T2. D. Johnson: -2 (70+68+68+72=278)
4. T. Bjorn (DEN): -1 (65+72+71+71=279)
T5. C. Campbell: Even (69+68+74+69=280)
T5. A. Kim: Even (72+68+70+70=280)
T5. R. Fowler: Even (70+70+68+72=280)
8. R. Jacquelin (FRA): +1 (74+67+71+69=281)
T9. S. Garcia (ESP): +2 (70+70+74+68=282)
T9. S. Dyson (ENG): +2 (68+72+72+70=282)
T9. D. Love III: +2 (70+68+72+72=282)

Mr. Tom Lewis (ENG), who had a 65 on the first day, won the silver medal as Low Amateur with a score of 65+74+76+74=289.

Tom Watson, who is 61 years old, finished in a tie for 22d place with scores of 72+70+72+72=286. He tied Tom Lehman.

Watson and Lehman beat Rory McIlroy by one shot. McIlroy had rounds of 71+69+74+73=287. I don't think he likes playing in wind.