GOLF : BRITISH OPEN NOTES : Kite Will Be Trying to Join Exclusive Open-Open Club

Only five players have won the U.S. and British Opens in the same year: Bobby Jones (1926, 1930), Gene Sarazen (1932), Ben Hogan (1953), Lee Trevino (1971) and Tom Watson (1982).

“I would like to be the next one,” Tom Kite said. “I certainly hope I don’t have to wait another 21 years before I win a major, and I suspect it has to be a little bit easier for me now.”

If Raymond Floyd, 49, wins the British Open, he will be the oldest man to do so--Old Tom Morris was 46 when he won in 1867--and only the fifth player to win all four majors. The others: Sarazen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Hogan.

Colin Montgomerie, a Scot, on the prospect of winning the British Open: “It would mean a lot for me to win an Open in England but more so in Scotland. But I don’t want to get picky. I’ll take anything.”

Hale Irwin, a three-time U.S. Open champion, said he has been hitting the ball well this year, but his putting has been “awful.”

“Everything has been going to the right of the hole,” he said.

So he went to a doctor to have his eyes and contact lenses tested and they were fine. “The problem was that I’d put the lens for my right eye in my left eye and vice versa,” Irwin said. “I can’t say for certain this is the answer, but it has to be a large factor.”

Scotland’s Sam Torrance will be paired with John Daly and Ian Baker-Finch today.

“I’ve never played with Daly and have not even seen him in the flesh,” Torrance said. “I’m fascinated to see how he does it (hit long drives). But I’ll not be drawn into a slugging match. I have too much sense for that.”

From the Sun, a London tabloid:

Australian Craig Parry says that Fred Couples is the No. 1 player in the world, not Nick Faldo.

“Too much emphasis is put on Nick, certainly in Britain,” Parry said. “He’s under the microscope all the time and, if you keep putting pressure on him, something has to give.”