SOUTHPORT, England — Kenny Perry was the butt of jokes for playing in Milwaukee instead of a major championship, even though he had already wrapped up a spot on the Ryder Cup team.
It’s not like he was the first American to skip the British Open.
Curtis Strange played in the tournament only 13 times in his career, missing five starts in the 1980s when he was at the peak of his game. Scott Hoch played the British Open five times, and never bothered to learn the names of the courses.
They are exceptions.
Brad Faxon once tried to qualify, then flew home and defended his PGA Tour event title when he didn’t make it. Bob Estes flew from Texas to St. Andrews as an alternate and never got in.
Davis Love III, who considers this one of his favorite tournaments, doesn’t hold grudges against those who are eligible and don’t come.
“Kenny is a great guy. There’s nothing bad in his heart,” Love said. “He wasn’t complaining. He just doesn’t want to play.”
What bothers Love more are the players who do fly across the Atlantic and start complaining.
“He didn’t mention names, but Pat Perez would have been a candidate for saying the rain and wind in the first round didn’t feel like golf.
“Just don’t come,” Love said. “If you’re going to have a bad attitude on Thursday before you tee off because it’s raining, then don’t come, because you’re just wasting your time. It’s going to be bad, eventually, one way or another.”
Love believes the Americans get a bad reputation when one or two players don’t come to the British Open — remember Woody Austin last year, who had played eight of nine weeks? — but he got a different perspective while qualifying in Detroit earlier this month.
“There were a lot of tour players there, and there were a lot of guys grinding it out, trying to make it,” he said. “There are guys who are desperate to play.”
His advice is to expect the worse, which is what Health Slocum did when he came over as first alternate and didn’t have a spot in the field until Thursday morning. Slocum said wind, cold and rain were part of his British Open memories when he watched on TV as a kid.
“You’re not going to have an easy round of golf every day,” Love said. “If it’s warm, it’s just as hard in another way. It’s firm and fast and you get bad bounces, and there’s a lot of luck involved.
“Then it gets like this, and it’s incredibly tough to control your ball and you just have to have the patience, no matter which way it goes. It’s very rarely nice and comfortable.”
But worth it? It is for more Americans than people realize.
Even after he withdrew after nine holes, Rich Beem said he would continue to attempt qualifying if he wasn’t exempt.
“It’s the greatest golf known to man,” he said.
Tiger who?
Tiger Woods missing his first major as a pro didn’t keep the fans away from Royal Birkdale. More than 200,000 attended the British Open, which Royal & Ancient officials said was among the top six in history.
Three of the largest crowds were at St. Andrews, and two others that were larger than last week were at Royal Liverpool in 2006 and Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
The Birkdale attendance was particularly impressive because there was a steady rain and 30-mph wind for most of the first round, which officials said probably kept as many as 5,000 people at home that day.
“When you think of the weather, people talking about a possible economic recession, Tiger Woods not here … I think it was a wonderful crowd,” R&A chief Peter Dawson said.
Perhaps a better measure than attendance was the sale of 280,000 cups of coffee and 30,000 servings of fish and chips.
Steady Karlsson.
Robert Karlsson is fourth in the European standings for the Ryder Cup, and it’s not hard to see why. The Swede is the only player to finish in the top 10 at all three majors this year.
Karlsson tied for eighth in the Masters, closed with an even-par 71 and tied for fourth at the U.S. Open, then had a 69 — one of only six rounds under par on the last day at Royal Birkdale — to tie for seventh at the British Open.
That’s nearly one-third of his points from three tournaments.
Loaded question.
The LPGA Tour had a fan poll on its website during the second round of the State Farm Classic, asking for predictions on who would win the tournament.
Michelle Wie, who is not an LPGA member, was among the names atop the leaderboard, but she was not part of the poll. The choices were LPGA champion Yani Tseng, Angela Park, Angela Stanford, Sherri Steinhauer, Jee Young Lee and “Other.” Tseng received 12 percent of the votes.
“Other” was the leader at 63 percent.
At a glance
PGA TOUR
Canadian Open
Site: Oakville, Ontario.
Schedule: Through Sunday.
Course: Glen Abbey Golf Club (7,112 yards, par 72).
Purse: $5 million. Winner’s share: $900,000.
FedEx Cup points: 25,000. Winner’s share: 4,500.
Television: CBS (Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m.).
Last year: Jim Furyk successfully defended his title at Angus Glen, taking the lead with a hole-in-one and finishing with a 7-under-par 64 for a one-stroke victory over Vijay Singh. In 2006, Furyk won at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.
Last week: Ireland’s Padraig Harrington became the first European since James Braid in 1905-06 to win the British Open two years in a row, pulling away from Greg Norman and holding off Ian Poulter at Royal Birkdale. Harrington closed with a 1-under 69 in windy conditions for a four-stroke victory at 3-over 283. … Sweden’s Richard S. Johnson won the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee for his first PGA Tour title, finishing with a 6-under 64 to beat Ken Duke by a stroke.
Notes: Furyk and Singh, a playoff winner over Canadian star Mike Weir in 2004 at Glen Abbey, are in the field along with Weir, fellow Canadian star Stephen Ames, Anthony Kim, Fred Couples, Retief Goosen, Scott Verplank and Camilo Villegas. … Furyk, winless since his victory at Angus Glen, tied for fifth in the British Open. … Pat Fletcher was the last Canadian winner, taking the 1954 event at Point Grey in Vancouver, British Columbia. … Jack Nicklaus-designed Glen Abbey is hosting the event for the 24th time. It also was the site from 1977-79 and 1981-00 and 2004. … The World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational is next week at Firestone, opposite the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. Michelle Wie will play in the Nevada event. … The PGA Championship is Aug. 7-10 at Oakland Hills.
On the net: http://www.pgatour.com; Royal Canadian Golf Association site:
LPGA TOUR/LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
Evian Masters
Site: Evian, France.
Schedule: Through Sunday.
Course: Evian Masters Golf Club (6,347 yards, par 72).
Purse: $3.25 million. Winner’s share: $487,500.
Television: Golf Channel (Saturday, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., 7-9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., 7-9 p.m.).
Last year: Natalie Gulbis won her first LPGA Tour title, beating Jeong Jang with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.
Last week: South Korea’s Ji Young Oh won the State Farm Classic for her first LPGA Tour title, beating McDonald’s LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng with a par on the first hole of a playoff. Michelle Wie was disqualified Saturday for failing to sign her card Friday.
Notes: The Women’s British Open is next week at Sunningdale. … Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa is in the strong field along with Gulbis, Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer and Suzann Pettersen. … In 2005, Creamer beat Wie and Ochoa by eight strokes. … Sorenstam won in 2000 and 2002. … Pettersen won the Ladies Irish Open two weeks ago at Portmarnock Links for her second European tour victory in two starts this year. … Juli Inkster won the 2003 event for her 30th LPGA Tour title, finishing with a tournament-record 21-under 267 total. … The tournament became an official LPGA Tour event in 2000.
On the net: http://www.lpga.com; Ladies European Tour site:
CHAMPIONS TOUR/ PGA EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR
Senior British Open
Site: Troon, Scotland.
Schedule: Through Sunday.
Course: Royal Troon Golf Club (7,064 yards, par 71).
Purse: TBA ($2 million in 2007). Winner’s share: TBA ($324,500 in 2007).
Television: ABC (Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.).
Last year: Tom Watson won the tournament for the third time in five years, surviving a 72nd-hole double bogey at Muirfield to beat Mark O’Meara and Stewart Ginn by a stroke. Watson won the British Open five times.
Last week: R.W. Eaks won the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn., shooting 65-63-65 for a tournament-record 23-under 193 total. Bernhard Langer and Gary Hallberg tied for second, six strokes back.
Notes: Greg Norman, the 54-hole leader in the British Open en route to a third-place tie at age 53, is in the field. … Watson won in 2003 at Turnberry and 2005 at Royal Aberdeen. He missed the cut by a stroke last week at Royal Birkdale. … Loren Roberts won in 2006 at Turnberry, squandering a five-stroke lead before beating Eduardo Romero with a par on the first hole of a playoff. … The tournament is the first of three straight senior majors. The U.S. Senior Open is next week at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs and The Tradition is Aug. 14-17 in Sunriver, Ore. … The 2009 tournament will be played at Sunningdale and the 2010 event is set for Carnoustie.
On the net: Champions Tour site: ; PGA European Seniors Tour site:
NATIONWIDE TOUR
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Site: Columbus, Ohio.
Schedule: Through Sunday.
Course: Ohio State University Golf Club, Scarlet Course (7,455 yards, par 71).
Purse: $750,000. Winner’s share: $135,000.
Television: Golf Channel, Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2 a.m., 4:30-7 p.m.; Monday, 12:30-2 a.m.).
Last year: BYU star Daniel Summerhays became the first amateur winner in Nationwide Tour history, finishing with a 2-under 69 for a two-stroke victory in the inaugural event. Summerhays turned pro after the event.
Last week: Colt Knost won the Price Cutter Charity Championship in Springfield, Mo., for his second title of the year, moving the 2007 U.S. Amateur champion within a victory of an in-season promotion to the PGA Tour. Knost, guaranteed a spot on the PGA Tour next year as a top-25 finisher on the Nationwide Tour’s final money list, closed with a 10-under 62 for a four-shot victory.
Notes: Summerhays is in the field along with current college All-Americans Kevin Chappell (UCLA), Jonas Blixt (Florida State), Rickie Fowler (Oklahoma State), Rory Hie (Southern California), Sihwan Kim (Stanford), Jamie Lovemark (Southern California) and Michael Thompson (Alabama). … The Cox Classic is next week in Omaha, followed by the Wichita Open and the Xerox Classic in Rochester, N.Y.
On the net: http://www.pgatour.com
