British Open : Usual Group of Familiar Names Expected to Battle It Out at Troon

Claude Rains’ memorable line of “Round up the usual suspects” in the film “Casablanca” could apply to the 118th British Open that starts today.

The favored players have imposing credentials and it isn’t considered likely that an upstart will win at the Royal Troon course.

Moreover, the scores are expected to be low if the weather holds--temperatures in the high 70s--turning the hard fairways into virtual freeways, with tee shots rolling greater-than-normal distances.

The favored are familiar names--Nick Faldo, Curtis Strange, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam.

Woosnam, the 5-foot-4 player from Wales, may not be as familiar in the United States as some European stars, but he’s regarded as a high-caliber international player.

After all, he finished in a three-way tie for second behind Strange in the U.S. Open last June even though he doesn’t play regularly on the PGA tour.

Most of the support here is for Faldo, who won the Masters championship last April and has three victories on the European tour.

Familiarity with links courses also favors British players, such as Faldo and Lyle.

Faldo, who won the British Open in 1987 at Muirfield, Scotland, and lost in a playoff for the U.S. Open championship to Strange in 1988, seems to peak for major tournaments.

“My practice has been good,” Faldo said. “I have done all my homework and I’m playing OK. I am more relaxed than in other championships because of the way things have gone for me this year. And, I feel if things don’t go well for me this week it doesn’t matter, as I’ve already done something.

“My hunch this week is that all the good players will be up there on the leader board toward the end of the week.”

Strange also reasons that the proven players will emerge from the pack, especially if the wind starts blowing from the Firth of Clyde, creating a problem for less inexperienced players on this seaside course.

With Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson no longer dominating golf internationally, there has been general parity in the U.S. ranks.

However, Strange, with his U.S Open victories in 1988 and 1989, is certainly a cut above the others.

“I’m more fired up this year,” Strange said of the British Open. “I’ve never been as excited as I am this year. After I won the U.S. Open last year I got caught up in everything that followed and had a letdown.”

Strange, who became the first player to win consecutive U.S. Opens since Ben Hogan in 1950 and 1951, is eager to win other majors and enhance his reputation.

He is, of course, aware that he hasn’t had a distinguished record in the British Open in five previous appearances. His best finish was a tie for 13th last year at Royal Lytham.

Strange had a 79 in the opening round but recovered with three sub-par rounds.

By winning this year, Strange would become only the sixth U.S. player to win the U.S. and British Opens in the same year. The others are golfing legends--Bobby Jones (1930), Gene Sarazen (1932), Hogan (1953), Lee Trevino (1971) and Tom Watson (1982).

Ballesteros, the defending champion, also won the Open, as the British refer to it, in 1984 and 1979.

Only Arnold Palmer (1961-62), Trevino (1971-72) and Watson (1982-83) have repeated as British Open champions in the last 28 years.

Ballesteros, the flamboyant Spaniard, would prefer inclement weather, theorizing like Strange to a certain extent, that only the truly gifted players would then prevail.

The Scottish-born Lyle is unquestionably the crowd favorite in the village of Troon, with a population of 7,500. However, that figure will be greatly increased with a projected spectator count of 170,000 for the four days of the tournament.

Lyle, who won the Masters in 1988 and the British Open in 1985, slumped on the PGA tour in recent months. He missed the cut in seven of the last eight tournaments including the Masters and U.S. Open.

“I have settled down a lot more now and my scoring has improved since I changed my shoulder movement,” he said. “That has been the big cause of my slump.”

Lyle said that the British golfers have an advantage, however slight, because of familiarity with the links courses.

Strange predicts that Lyle will soon regain his previous winning form, perhaps here.

“We’ve all gone through them (slumps),” he said. “You can’t stay on the top of your game all the time. Sandy will come out of it because he’s a strong, gifted, natural player.”

Lyle has nothing to prove, however, and neither does Strange, Ballesteros or Faldo. The same can’t be said of Greg Norman of Australia.

A powerful player, Norman was expected to become a dominating one after he won the British Open in 1986. But he hasn’t won a major since, the others identified as the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship.

He points out that he’s only 34 and that the legendary Hogan was a late bloomer, winning his first major, the 1946 PGA, at 34.

“I know there are more major titles in me,” Norman said. “I have plenty of time left in my career.”

Norman is bothered by a chronic left wrist injury, but he’s not making any excuses.

“With the ground being hard, it jars my wrist,” he said. “That’s just a fact of life. It hurts when I play and it’s not going to get better until I have surgery. It won’t limit my chances, though, because I know what to expect.”

The bookies here have listed Faldo and Woosnam as co-favorites at 7 to 1. Tom Weiskopf, who won the British Open at Troon in 1973, isn’t surprised by Woosnam’s high rating.

“I played a practice round with him and he was extremely impressive,” Weiskopf said. “I think he’s longer than I am, but perhaps not when I was in my prime. I’ve never seen anyone of his size who can hit the ball so far. He has all the shots and he can win this week.

“I think the long hitter will always have the advantage if he has control. I think the course favors the long hitters with three reachable par fives.”

There are, of course, others in the prestigious field who must be reckoned with.

Jack Nicklaus played a practice round with Watson and he says that his former adversary looks terrific.

“It’s the best I’ve seen him play in a long, long time,” Nicklaus said.

Watson, 39, who recently surpassed Nicklaus as the all-time leading money winner, hasn’t won a tour event since 1987.

Yet, his competitive fire hasn’t been extinguished. If he wins the British Open for the sixth time, he would equal the record set by Harry Vardon at the turn of the century.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to win the championship,” Watson said. “It’s foremost in my mind.”

Nicklaus, 49, who doesn’t play regularly, did not downgrade his own chances.

“Realistically, I have not been a factor in the last few years, but I feel my 27 years of experience would bring me closer to the field,” he said.

The lure of a major title inspires all the pros, even Nicklaus, who has legendary status.

Tom Kite has more reason to be inspired. He is recognized as the best current player never to win a major. He squandered an excellent opportunity in the recent U.S. Open, blowing a six-stroke lead after three holes on the final day and finishing with a 78.

“It was just one round and it certainly was unfortunate in timing,” Kite said. “But if you put yourself in a position to win, you also put yourself in a position to be hurt.”

Tournament Notes

The winner’s share for the British Open is 80,000 pounds, or about $136,000, a relatively modest amount in contrast to escalating purses on the PGA tour. . . . British reporters have been promoting a nationalist theme for the Open, the Europeans (mainly British) versus the U.S. players.. . . “That’s so much rubbish,” Jack Nicklaus said. “A golfer is a golfer. I couldn’t care less where he’s from. I root for Seve (Ballesteros) some times just as I do for Curtis (Strange). Golf is an international game and I don’t care what nationality a player is.” . . . The long, longshot of the tournament? How about Michael Allen, 30, of San Francisco, who last week won the Scottish Open with an astounding final round of 63. He has failed three times to get his PGA tour card and has not been a factor on the European tour until his recent, surprising victory. . . . Royal Troon is best known for its eighth hole, a par three measuring only 126 yards. It’s called the Postage Stamp because a stamp suggests the size of the hole’s green. It’s the sort of a hole, natives say, that calls for a wedge, or a wood depending on the wind. . . . Jay Haas withdrew from the British Open, saying he was “not mentally prepared” for a long trip to play in a tough tournament.