SOUTHPORT, England — Sitting in the players’ dining area at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, first alternate Heath Slocum figured he wouldn’t make the British Open field, so it came as quite a rush when he wound up teeing off at 9:42, gracing the leaderboard briefly and shooting a commendable 3-over-par 73.
The Louisiana-born, Florida-raised Slocum, 34, hoping against hope for his first chance at a British Open, had traveled over the Atlantic on a sponsor’s charter Sunday. He’d progressed from fourth alternate to first after Kenny Perry’s decision to play in Milwaukee plus withdrawals by Luke Donald and David Toms.
By policy, the Royal & Ancient, which operates the Open, gives alternates a locker and practice rights.
“It was awesome,” he said. “They really treat you just like you’re in the tournament.”
Still, he waited, and Thursday morning on the practice range, he took careful note of Padraig Harrington, the defending champion whose wrist injury has dominated the golf news here.
“I mean, even if it’s probably broken, he deserves the right to tee off,” Slocum said.
Only much later did news come that Toru Taniguchi of Japan had withdrawn with a back injury, whereupon Slocum “went out and hit, did an express warm-up again and hit a few putts, then went to the first.”
There, a group of Japanese reporters waited for Taniguchi’s introduction, which never came.
“I knew when they probably introduced me, they were like, right, we’ll just go somewhere else,” Slocum said.
Beem’s bad day.
Rich Beem took a few practice strokes on the second green and moved over his ball when he backed off, noticing that the wind made it wiggle. It moved the ball slightly, and Beem called for an official.
He was assessed a one-shot penalty because it was deemed he had grounded his club, and thus had addressed the ball when it moved.
“I thought you had to be set to address the ball,” Beem said. “We sat there and argued for a good seven or eight minutes. I called another official, and apparently, once you put the putter down, you’ve taken your stance.”
A triple bogey turned into an 8, and Beem was done after nine holes, joining Sandy Lyle as the two players who quit early.
Footnotes.
Richard S. Johnson aced the 14th hole on his way to shooting a 63 that gave him a one-stroke lead over the Pappas brothers after the first round of the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Deane and Brenden Pappas could have become the first brothers to share the lead at a PGA Tour event, but Johnson birdied from about 10 feet on the 18th hole to edge ahead.
• Christina Kim shot a 9-under 63 to take a one-stroke lead over Sun Young Yoo after the first round of the State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill. Denver Post wire services
