The Home of Golf, St Andrews, eventually saw a runaway win for Louis Oosthuizen and a topsy-turvy four days for many other golf stars in the Open, including Camilo Villegas.
Despite neutrals’ hopes that South Africa’s Oosthuizen, who held a five-shot lead on -12 going into round four, would slip back and let others in the chasing pack catch up, it wasn’t to be, and he finished on -16, some seven shots ahead of second-placed Lee Westwood of England. It was the second time this year that Westwood has been pipped to a Major title – he finished second at the US Masters in Augusta, too.
‘Up and down’ in golf terminology usually refers to a straightforward approach shot and a putt back to the hole, but it took on a new meaning over the four rounds in Scotland as even the top golfers strolled one day and struggled the next. Perfect, calm conditions had seen Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy break the course record with 63 on the first day, only to suffer a nightmare 80 in testing weather on the second, the worst score carded in the entire 156-man field.
Day three, and a contrite McIlroy partnered Camilo Villegas. The Colombian, too, had started promisingly with a 68 on Thursday, only to suffer a 75 in the trickiest of weather on Friday. The up–down run continued with a 70 to McIlroy’s 69 on Saturday, but yesterday the twice PGA Tour eventwinner carded another 75 as the strong winds blew across the Old Course links – Villegas finished on a respectable T44 and level par.
Indeed, anything under par could be considered a real achievement in a tournament in which play had to be suspended more than once because the wind was blowing stationary golf balls along the ground, never mind off-course in the air.
Some other very big names finished their last round at St Andrews less than satisfied. Tiger Woods finished T23 on -3, blaming his putting, and world number one and US Open champion Phil Mickelson T48 on +1 – the same position and score as Stewart Cink, who won here last year. Perhaps the one other man apart from Oosthuizen who can really be satisfied is McIlroy, who eventually managed to claw his way back to third place, albeit -8, eight shots behind the winner.
Oh, and spare a thought for Mark Calcavecchia – the American had been second after day two and in real contention, but a 77 and 80 on days three and four saw him finish a lowly 73rd out of 77… that’s Open golf, where a bunker or a burn can be the difference between success and failure.
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