The 19th Hole

July 23, 2007

The Best Kind of Drama

I am an unabashed lover of the Open Championship.  Everything about it is open, regardless of the track in the rotation.  The field is diverse.  The scoring conditions are largely left to chance from the weather.  The leaderboard is usually filled with a mix of guys you have never heard of and old favorites.  Anything can happen in links golf and it usually does.

This 136^th Open Championship proved to be no different than the others, especially the 128^th Open at Carnoustie.  Yet, somehow, the Sunday drama that unfolded made it one of the most memorable.  Scoring was fast and furious in both directions on Sunday and it made for drama that kept the viewer wanting to double check the leaderboard again and again for an update.

Garcia entered the day with a significant advantage thanks to precise iron play and a belly putter that seemed to help him drain the money putts that the traditional style denied him.  He was largely conservative through Saturday, and he stuck with that game plan on Sunday.

Richard Green set the pace early with a blistering 64 that could have just as easily been 62 or better.  He missed a few putts down the stretch, but posted a number that turned out to be a lot more true than originally anticipated. 

Andres Romero then took some of the thunder from Green.  By some, I mean all.  Romero blistered the course for 10 birdies and actually held the lead until some bad luck cost him a shot out of bounds and the Jug.

Steve Stricker, playing with Garcia in the final game, could not seem to take advantage of opportunities presented to him by Garcia faltering.  Garcia’s failures, rather, seemed to spur on problems for Stricker.

Perhaps, then, it was the saving grace for Padraig Harrington that he was a few groups ahead of the lead.  Going out on Sunday, six out of the lead, he probably had a fading view of the Jug to start the day.  By the time he had reached the middle of the inward nine, though, it was clear as crystal.

Garcia was fading.  Then, as if Harrington had channeled Jean van de Velde (surely watching with a smile), Paddy took a double plunge into the burn at the home hole.  It was almost certain that the Open Championship would be given away like 1999.  Then Garcia decided to make things interesting by sending the finish to a four-hole playoff.

From there, it appeared that Harrington cleansed himself of the mistakes at 18 with a birdie on the first.  That was all he ever needed.  He took the nail biting (“safe”) approach to 18 on the second attempt, but it was enough to give him a major title and the first for Ireland in 60 years. 

Garcia could never get anything going on Sunday.  The difference was that the belly putter he wielded began to betray him.  He could not sink a significant putt to save his life.  Had he been able to do so just once more, he would have been elated to be Open Champion.  Instead, he found himself in the media room with a host of pathetic excuses as to why he could not get the job done.

Meanwhile, Harrington was delightful and candid following his win.  He said he never felt that he had given up the Open – even after slouching off of the 18^th.  The 67 he posted was a marvelous round under the circumstances and that was what sustained him while waiting for Garcia to falter and into the playoff.

Harrington described the nerves of the situation and said that “you would have to be dead” to not feel nervous in the predicament.  That was a contrast from the Frenchman van de Velde following his implosion in 1999.  It was a good contrast.  Harrington wanted this so badly, and when he won, he said he could not even believe that it all had lined up for him. 

During the round, he was convinced that it wasn’t his day because all of the usual breaks were not happening for him.  As it turned out, that was also true for Garcia, Romero, and Stricker.  Instead, it was Harrington’s ability to remain calm through everything that Carnoustie and Fate threw his way that secured a major for the Irish.  He earned his major breakthrough, just as he had everything in his career to date.  For a hard working and pleasant man, the way that the Jug came into his hands seems so much sweeter.

Ryan Ballengee is host of The 19th Hole Golf Show, found at The Golf Newsnet.com.  Having graduated from the University of Maryland in 2004 and 2006, Ballengee brings the perspective of the younger golf fan to the microphone and his columns.  Over the nearly five years he has been broadcasting and writing, Ballengee has developed a reputation for a unique interviewing style that asks both the difficult and fun questions. You can also get The 19th Hole on the go through podcasting by clicking here The Golf Newsnet Contact Ryan via e-mail at the19thholeshow@hotmail.com.