Bernhard Langer has become the first player from Continental Europe to win the Senior British Open. The 2010 tournament was played at Carnoustie in rather ordinary conditions, conditions that can be portrayed by looking at the +7 half way cut. Langer (-5) shot a one over 72 in the final round to beat American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin (-4) by one stroke.
Pavin was within one stroke of Langer when he birdied the 11th, however a huge turning point came at the par 4 15th hole; Pavin appeared to be in the pound seat when he found the fairway with his drive and Langer hit his tee shot into the thick rough, however Langer scrambled for a par and Pavin, who hit his second into a deep greenside bunker, made a bogey. From there the deficit was just out of reach for Pavin, who finished second in his first Senior Major.
It was Langer's first major win since winning the Masters at Augusta way back in 1993. Langer has enjoyed great success on the Senior's Tour since turning 50, he has won consecutive Money Lists and finished in the top ten in seven of his 12 Senior Majors.
Australia's Peter Senior, who has been in great form of late, carded a final round 68 to finish 3rd, a great result for the Queenslander, who will be confident ahead of this week's Senior U.S Open in Seattle, with the Senior's Tour having 2 majors back-to-back.
Louis Oosthuizen has won this years’ British Open Championship by a remarkable 7 shots. The quietly spoken South African took the lead during Friday’s second round and never let it go. In a dominant display that would have surprised many in the golfing world, Louis made the top ranked players in the world look second-rate.
For the tournament Oosthuizen was third in putting average (1.676), 12th in greens in regulation (83 percent) and first in driving accuracy (87 percent) and based on these key stats it is clear how he won and how he could have posted four sub-par rounds (65-67-69-71) for a 16-under par, 7 shot victory.
He may not be well known to many in the golfing world; however his performance was first class and completely dominant, making him a worthy addition to the names of past champions on the Claret Jug like Nicklaus, Woods, Faldo, Els and Norman.
Even though he had a 4-shot lead going into Sundays’ final round, most pundits were expecting him to collapse under the pressure and be caught by the field, but his nerves held strong and this icy cool South African absorbed the pressure and forged ahead of his competitors, turning his 4 shot overnight lead into a 7 stroke victory.
After 7 straight pars, Oosthuizen bogeyed the par-3 8th and his lead was cut to just 3, it got many thinking that there was a collapse coming and that his lead would not last too much longer. However these thoughts were quickly quashed by the resilient South African when he drove the green on the par-4 9th and the sunk the 40 foot putt for eagle. This saw his lead return to 4 shots, with only Paul Casey a realistic chance of catching him on the back 9, however when Ooosthuizen birdied the 12th hole and his playing partner Casey carded a triple-bogey, the tournament became a forgone conclusion. No longer will his name appear on leaderboard’s with the public asking Louis Who-sthuizen, the man whose friends call him Shrek will now be a permanent fixture in golf history, winning the 150th Open Championship, golf’s oldest Major.
Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen, winner of the 2010 Open Championship.
This week the world’s top golfers tee off in the 3rd of this years Majors, The Open Championship. There is something about the Open Championship that makes it a special Tournament for players and spectators alike, maybe it’s the long and rich history of the event, maybe it’s the links style courses its played on, or maybe its just the fact that Australians can watch the event live during somewhat normal hours, something I’m sure we are all craving after the Soccer World Cup. This year marks the 150th Open Championship and it is fitting that the event returns to where golf began, the Old Course at St Andrews.
As you can see below, a lot has changed since 1860.
Year
1860
2010
Official title
General Open Competition
The Open Championship
Prize
Prize name
Challenge Belt
Claret Jug
Prize money
$0
$7.3 million ($1.3 million to the winner)
Number of contestants
8 (all professionals)
156 (147 professionals, 9 amateurs)
Tournament setup
3 rounds, 36 holes, 1 day
4 rounds, 72 holes, 4 days
Holes
12 holes
18 holes
Yardage
3,799 yards
7,305 yards
(PGATOUR.COM, 2010)
Lind Golf’s Prediction for 2010 Championship: Tiger Woods
The last time St Andrews played Host to the Open Championship was in 2005, and that year Tiger Woods held up the Claret Jug in triumph. It’s been a tumultuous 9 months for Tiger and the question on everyone’s mind is whether he can return to form for the championship and give it a real shake, his fellow competitors will be hoping he won’t, but I have a sneaking suspicion this may be the week that Tiger returns to the headlines for the right reasons. His form has been patchy to say the least in recent times but there was just enough shown at the U.S Open a few weeks ago to suggest to me that he is getting closer to regaining his form and it can’t be too long until he returns to the winners circle. I think the pressure will be lessened by him being able to compete outside of the U.S and I personally believe that he will win this week, or if he doesn’t, the player that beats him will.
The other main competitors:
Phil Mickelson
Lefty unquestionably has the game and form to win this week, but the big question is if he can remove his British Open hoodoo. In 16 career starts at the Open Championship, Phil has only been in contention once, in 2004 when he finished Third.
Ernie Els
The ‘Big Easy’ is having his best year for sometime and he is definitely in with a good chance of winning. He came close in the U.S Open this year and he is a 3-time major winner, including a British Open in 2004. If he can get his putter going I think he will be thereabouts and will be in contention during Sunday’s final round.
Lee Westwood
Lee has finished in the top 3 in four of the last 8 majors, he has done everything but win one. He has a great all-round game technically and he is consistently in the mix, he has just folded mentally on the back 9’s in majors when in contention. He should have won last years British Open and this year’s Masters but he just seemed to collapse under pressure when it mattered most. He will look a winner at some stage during the Tournament, if he can remain composed and believe in himself, he is in with a huge chance of victory.
Rory McIlroy
The 21 year old Northern Irishman is coming off a huge start to 2010 where he won his first PGA title ‘The Quail Hollow Championship’ with an amazing final round 62. He is a huge talent and certainly has the game to challenge in the majors; the question is not if he will win a major, it’s when. In Tiger’s opinion, Rory is the man to beat this week at St Andrews.
Justin Rose
The Englishmen has claimed two titles in 2010, well two titles in the last few weeks, winning the Memorial and AT&T National. He is in top form and in all fairness should have made it 3 in a month at the Travellers Championship if not for a forgettable final round. He has a new & improved swing and its results are speaking for themselves, if he can continue his recent amazing form, he is a huge chance.
Lind Golf’s Prediction for Top Australian: Adam Scott
Adam went through some horror times on the golf course in 2009 where he saw his form fall to pieces. He managed to get through it and regain his confidence at the end of year Australian Open at NSW Golf Club with a great victory. Although his form this year has been a bit up and down, he managed a great win to break his USPGA drought by winning the Valero Texas Open. If Scotty can get his putting to work for him, I think he will be top Australian and perhaps even contend for the Open Championship.
Best other Australian chances:
Geoff Ogilvy
Geoff’s game has been nothing special of late to say the least. Since his win in Hawaii in January, he has struggled to maintain his form and he has not had a top-10 finish since in 11 attempts. Ogilvy tied for fifth at St Andrews five years ago, but has missed the cut the past three Opens. If he can find some form and enjoy the tournament on a course he really seems to like, anything can happen.
Robert Allenby
Robert has had a consistent year in the U.S, as he always seems to do, the only problem is he just never seems to get the job done and actually win a big tournament, well not in the past decade anyway. If Robert can turn his consistent performances into winning ones, he is every chance to win a major, but I think he needs to taste that winning feeling again in a big USPGA tournament before he can win a major.
Michael Sim
The Young Scottish born Australian has been engulfed by injury so far in 2010 which saw him forced out of The Masters field. He has amazing talent, evident by his record breaking year last year on the Nationwide Tour. I think he is going to content in a lot of big worldwide tournaments in the coming years, I’m just not sure he has fully recovered and played well enough recently to suggest the 2010 Open Championship will be his year.
The Other Aussies in the field: Kurt Barnes, Mathew Goggin, Marc Leishman, Jason Day, Cameron Percy, Ewan Porter, John Senden, and Peter Senior . (Jason Day replaced Greg Norman in the field who withdrew last week).
Broadcast information
The Open Championship will be shown Live on Fox Sports.
Thursday & Friday: 6pm – 5am Fox Sports 1
Saturday: 10pm – 4.30am Fox Sports 1
Sunday: 7pm – 4.30am Fox Sports 2
Lind Golf Tip
How to play out of a divot
So you’ve hit your drive down the centre, thought you couldn’t have placed the ball in a better position and then you get to your ball and it’s lying in a divot, It’s not total despair, we’ll help you get a good result out of it.
The best way to get a decent shot out of a divot is to swing down onto the ball with a descending or steep strike.
Play the ball slightly back in your stance and lean a little left, placing a bit more weight on your left side (Right-handed player). This will create a steeper swing plane and a downward hit.
By doing this you should still get quite a good contact on the ball, but remember, the ball will come out at a lower trajectory, so allow for some additional run on the ball.
It is also vital that you maintain a moderately aggressive swing on the shot, the worst thing you can do in a divot is decelerate.
After the shot the divot you were in should now be a lot deeper.
Golf Jokes
First golf lesson
The schoolteacher was taking her first golfing lesson. "Is the word spelt p-u-t or p-u-t-t?'' she asked the instructor. "P-u-t-t is correct,'' he replied. "Put means to place a thing where you want it. Put means merely a vain attempt to do the same thing."
Golf Partner
A fellow comes home after his regular Saturday golf game and his wife asks why he doesn't include Tom O'Brien in the games anymore. The husband asks, "Would you want to play with a guy who regularly cheats, swears up a storm over everything, lies about his score, and has nothing good to say about anyone else on the course?" "Of course I wouldn't," replies the wife. "Well," says the husband, "neither would Tom O'Brien."
Remarkable Golf Facts
Records in the British Open
Most wins: 6 – Harry Vardon (1896-98-99-1903-11-14)
Most times runnerup: 7 – Jack Nicklaus (1964-67-68-72-76-77-79)
Oldest winner: Old Tom Morris; 46 years 3 months (1867)
Youngest winner: Young Tom Morris; 17years 5 months(1868)
Oldest competitor: Gene Sarazen; 74 years 4 months (1976)
Youngest competitor: Young Tom Morris; 14 years 4 months (1865)
Lowest round: 63 – Mark Hayes (Turnberry 1977), Isao Aoki (Muirfield 1980), Greg Norman (Turnberry 1986), Paul Broadhurst (St Andrews 1990), Jodie Mudd (Birkdale 1991), Nick Faldo (Sandwich 1993), Payne Stewart (Sandwich 1993)
Debut winners: Willie Park 1860, Tom Kidd 1873, Mungo Park 1874, Harold Hilton 1892, Jock Hutchison 1921, Densmore Shute 1933, Ben Hogan 1953, Tony Lema 1964, Tom Watson 1975, Ben Curtis 2003
Best closing round to win: 64 – Greg Norman (1993)
