........................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
Second day of The Open |
| added on: 15/07/2011 |
| |
You don't stop grinding when it looks as if you're going to miss the cut. We were trying desperately to get back to three over par, which is the most likely cut figure but, in the end, we did well to stay at four over. Padraig was in greenside rough at the last but came out well and made a great putt for his four and a 71 to set alongside yesterday's 73.
We've still got half a chance of making the weekend but we'll have to see what happens this afternoon. So much depends on the weather.
Padraig doesn't know what it is not to try. He always has his heart set on going one shot better and, even in those instances where he might be missing the cut by some distance, he still wants to do as well as he can. You never want to get in the way of not giving it your all because that's never a good thing.
Looking back at the two days, it's the short-game - so often Padraig's forte - which has been most to blame. He had three three putt greens today and, as happened yesterday, he didn't get off on the right foot. In fact, one of those three-putts was at the first.
He also hit a couple of poor tee shots. There was one at the long seventh, which gave him no chance of making the green n two, and another at the 14th, where he hit into the rough and hacked out into a trap. He hit a seven iron when, in retrospect I think we should have gone with a six to clear the bunkers.
Looking at the leaderboard, Simon Dyson is having a good run. We've not played with him a lot but he's got something of Padraig's intensity. When he's in the zone, he doesn't know too much about what else is going on around him.
However, I can't help picking out Martin Kaymer. He's come into this week under the radar and he's plodding along very nicely - three under par as I look at the board. He's a great golfer and he's wonderfully cool when he's in a winning position.
Another thing to catch my attention is how well Tom Lewis, the amateur, continues to cope. He had a great 65 yesterday and he's stuck to the leaderboard today. Okay, he's not building on the birdies but he's only dropped a couple of shots.
There were a couple of roars from his group which rang round Royal St George's. The first when Tom Watson, at 61, had his ace at the sixth. And the second at the 10th when Lewis was bunkered on the left in two but came out to 25 and made the putt.
He's Kaymer cool...
It's not too difficult to guess how Padraig and I are spending the afternoon. We are watching the leaderboard - and hoping that we'll be back for tomorrow. |
| |
........................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
First day of play |
| added on: 15/07/2011 |
| |
Okay... We are three over par with our 73 but we are only eight shots off the lead. The first thing we have to think about is making the cut - and to do that we're going to have to be a bit more aggressive with the shots to the green. Cautiously aggressive, if that's not a contradiction in terms. Padraig didn't play badly over the first round but his short game wasn't as sharp as it can be. It didn't help that we got off to a poor start, taking three to get down at the first, the second and the fifth.
There were a couple of birdies in the mix for us to turn in a two-over-par 37 and we were actually hanging in there quite well until it came to the par-four 15th. That was where Padraig drove into the last of the bunkers on the right. He splashed out well enough but then hit a wedge which ran off the greenside slope. His putt wasn't a good one and he ended up with a double.
Moving on from there, he birdied the 17th - a drive and nine-iron to three feet - and that was the perfect antidote. He finished on a good note.
The first two days of the Open are long days. We didn't set off till 1.21, which wasn't that late, but there were people in the crowd who would have been there since eight or nine o'clock and, by four o'clock, a lot of them were ready to go home. As they left, the atmosphere got a bit flat... It's rather like the air going out of a balloon. Mind you, our three needed to do more to ignite each other. Bryden Macpherson, the Amateur champion, holed some good putts for his 71 but Matt (Kuchar) and Padraig weren't feeding off each other at all.
A lot of people said that it should have been easier for us because the wind wasn't what it was for the earlier starters, but the truth is that a lack of wind doesn't always mean that scores take a turn for the better. At Royal St George's, there are several holes where the wind can make things easier rather than the reverse. Take the short 16th. The morning starters could have aimed their shots well to the right and watched them drawing towards the flag but that wasn't happening later on. The pin position looked a whole lot tighter. Looking at the day overall, what a wonderful occasion for Tom Lewis, the 20-year-old English amateur who will be epresenting GB&I in the Walker Cup. As we finished, he was just embarking on an incredible run of birdies - four in a row from the 14th to pave the way for a 65 and a share of the lead. And fancy doing all that in front of Tom Watson.
Congratulations, too, to Lewis's co-leader, Thomas Bjorn. When I turned on the TV this morning, I thought I was looking at 2003, the year he would have won the Open but for that double-bogey on 16.
As he said, his late father would have been so proud of the way he played.
|
| |
........................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
Traditional links - practice day at the Open 2011 |
| added on: 13/07/2011 |
| |
We are on a very traditional links this week and it's one that throws up a good winner every time. I know that Ben Curtis came as a bit of a surprise in 2003, but he's since had a couple of good wins in the States. He can certainly play.
People often ask who I would follow If I were here as a spectator rather than Padraig's caddie and, for starters, I would go and have a look at Ben. He's going to be comfortable playing here and I have a sneaking suspicion that he could do well again.
It's for much the same reasons that I would go out and watch Padraig. He's got a couple of Opens under his belt and he's totally at home on a links. He had the kind of good solid finish he likes before a major in Scotland - he was tied for 14th - and he's been showing a lovely feel on and around these greens over the last couple of days.
The thing is about the Open is that it asks for a totally different short-game to the 51 other weeks of the year. Instead of just picking up a wedge, you have to be able to come up with an assortment of shots, with particular reference to the chip-and-run. What club you use and how you play it is mostly down to whatever feels right at the time.
Luke Donald is like Padraig in having played a lot of links golf in his amateur days and, as he showed with his win at Castle Stuart, the links game is still in his system. As an Englishman who's won his latest tournament and is the No. 1 in the world, he's bound to have a massive following.
Everyone drools over his iron-play. He hits one shot after another bang on target and is beautifully balanced every time. In fact, there are no weaknesses. He has a great all-round game.
For a mix of interest and entertainment, I would probably want to go nine holes with Phil Mickelson. He has yet to be at his best at the Open but you will see him taking on shots - such as the one he played at the 13th at the 2010 Masters - which others wouldn't contemplate.
I'd look at Dustin Johnson because of his length and I'd go out of my way to catch a bit of John Daly. Daly isn't what he was in his major-winning years but you never know quite what you're going to get with him. He's good fun.
Like everyone else, I would want to spend time following Rory McIlroy, the game's next superstar. Of course, he's a superstar already with what he's achieved at his age.
Ryo Ishikawa, Japan's answer to Rory, is going to be one to watch and so, too, is YE Yang. I see him as a very under-rated player.
It's been interesting to see how Sergio Garcia has come into form in the last couple of months. He was struggling for a bit but the old desire would seem to be back in place.
The great thing about Sergio is that he's capable of hitting his irons high, low, and shaping them whichever way he pleases. In the States, you can get along with just the one trajectory but it's not something you can do here.
One way and another, his CV looks good. He's a previous winner of the Amateur championship and, as everyone knows, he was involved in a play-off with Padraig at Carnoustie.
Anyhow, enough of all that... I'm not here to watch any of the above - I'm here to carry the winner's bag. |
| |
........................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
Ronan's first diary entry of the Open 2011 |
| added on: 11/07/2011 |
| |
Padraig will probably have played a total of 36 holes by the time we tee up on Thursday. We had a good look at the course back in June and then, as in our practice rounds so far this week, the main focus has been to identify what part of the fairway offers the best path to the green.
Everyone wants to avoid the bunkers at an Open but, to be honest, Padraig's short game is so strong that it's hardly the worst thing in the world if he does catch a few. In fact, there have been plenty of occasions when his ball has been sitting in some greenside trap and he'll turn to me and say, "That's not a bad spot."
But it goes without saying that there are some bunkers on the Open rota that you have to avoid. The Road Hole at St Andrews - they've made a replica in HSBC's Golf Zone for this week - is probably the No. 1 on that list. What's helped to make it so notorious is the fact that it's been the ruination of so many scores. Tommy Nakajima's, for one. Nakajima was in contention coming down the stretch in the 1978 Open at St Andrews but putted into the trap and took four to escape.
Another bunker you want to sidestep is the one on the right of the short 16th here at Royal St George's. As Thomas Bjorn knows only too well, it's a tricky one. Thomas, of course, was leading the 2003 Open by three with four to play when he dropped a shot at 15 and followed it up with a double at 16. He needed three to attempts to make an exit.
The problem he had was with the pin position... It was only a couple of yards over the crest above the bunker. No doubt Thomas looks back and thinks if he had only given the shot a bit more he would have been OK. But if he had given in more, he might have done as lots of others in ending up off the far side of the green.
Padraig will always try his hand in these more difficult bunkers in the practice rounds so that he is confident he knows the best way out if the need arises. He will also spend around 15-20 minutes working on bunker-shots every day, sometimes hitting before a round and sometimes after.
The amount he does following a day's play will have no bearing on whether he has been in any bunkers or not. People often joke about the amount of time he spends on a shot he might not have to play but all the pros do the same. Take Tiger Woods...He spent forever in a practice bunker at the 2000 Open at St Andrews but never hit a single bunker shot for real.
One hole at Royal St George's which we've studied more than most is the 496 yards 15th. The green has a run-off area to the right and I think you'll see a lot of traffic in that swale when they put the pin on the front tier of the putting surface.
Meanwhile, everyone wants to know about the first tee shot in that the first hole is where Woods lost his ball in 2003 and ran up a seven. The rough this time around is nowhere near as bad as it was then but, to be honest, it has never been a particularly intimidating opening hole.
So what will we be thinking when we start out on Thursday?
That's simple. Our goal is to do precisely the same thing every day in every tournament. The idea, here, is that when a big day comes, we are not doing or saying anything different to anytime else.
Having said that, the opening shot of the Open is still the opening shot of the Open.
You wouldn't be human if you didn't feel a few nerves.
|
| |
