Texas Twister Storms Troon

Justin Leonard, as dry as a Texas summer and as square as a square dance, won the British Open and with it the silver Claret Jug trophy, which he probably will take back to Dallas and fill to the top with iced tea.

On a warm Sunday afternoon at Royal Troon, the 25-year-old Texan threw his cap with the Hogan logo on it to mark his place in the line of the Lone Star State’s great golfers: from Byron Nelson to Ben Hogan to Lloyd Mangrum to Jimmy Demaret to Lee Trevino to Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite.

“It was surprising how calm I stayed,” Leonard said.

Actually, it’s not all that surprising to everyone else, basically because Leonard isn’t really the excitable type. He’s just a preppy Dallas kid who probably wouldn’t notice if you set fire to the tassels of his loafers or get too upset at the restaurant if they had just ran out of chicken fried steak.

All Leonard did to claim his first major title by a margin of three shots was to close fast with a six-under par 65, vault from five shots back to tie the 72-year-old record for the biggest comeback in tournament history and become the youngest Open winner since 22-year-old Seve Ballesteros in 1979.

Leonard sneaked his golf ball into the hole from 15 feet to birdie the 16th hole and catch Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik, then calmly rolled in a 30-footer for a birdie on No. 17 to go ahead.

Parnevik, who spent most of the day trying not to let his lead wriggle away, bogeyed three of the last six holes, shot a 73 and fell into a tie for second place with Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland at nine-under 275.

Leonard’s rounds of 69-66-72-65 for 12-under 272 were notable not only for the check he can cash--$418,875--but also for their historical value.

His 65 ties the second-lowest fourth round by a winner in British Open history, matching Ballesteros’ 65 at Royal Lytham in 1988. Greg Norman had 64 in the fourth round when he won at Royal St. George’s in 1993.

Leonard’s victory, combined with Tiger Woods’ win at the Masters and Ernie Els’ victory at the U.S. Open, means that for the first time, the first three majors have been won by players under 30. Woods is 21 and Els 27.

By 7 p.m., Leonard was admiring his name on the Claret Jug and even he was impressed by the speed of the engraver.

“Boy, he does good work in a short time,” Leonard said. “Does he have a dry cleaner in Dallas?”

Leonard cleaned up, all right. He birdied three of the first four holes, bogeyed the par three No. 5 when he missed the green and was four shots back of Parnevik.

Then Leonard started his move. He birdied the par-five No. 6 when he knocked a sand wedge to four feet and came back with another birdie on No. 7 when he one-hopped a wedge to 2 1/2 feet.

By the time Leonard birdied No. 9, he was breathing down the collar of Parnevik’s white shirt.

Leonard’s playing partner, Fred Couples, was not exactly surprised how events happened to be unfolding on the 18th Century seaside links course.

“I mean, when you putt like him, it’s not luck,” Couples said.

Couples finished with a 74 and wound up in a tie for seventh. Jim Furyk, who had tied for the first-round lead, rode a one-birdie, no-bogey day to finish alone in fourth at five-under 270. Padraig Harrington of Ireland shot a 67 to tie Stephen Ames of Trinidad and Tobago at 280.

But it was a two-way race on the back nine. Clarke removed himself from the equation when he shanked a three-iron out of bounds onto the beach on the second hole and took a double-bogey.

Leonard slipped on the 10th when he drove into the rough and two-putted from 20 feet for a bogey, but he saved par on No. 11 with a clutch 10-foot putt after he driving into the rough.

He had another par-saving putt on the the 15th, a 15-footer after once again missing the fairway with his drive.

By then, Leonard knew he was onto something.

“To make the putt at 11 and then again at 15, obviously that was the tournament right there because I didn’t want to allow Jesper breathing room,” Leonard said.

Parnevik headed the other direction. He lost a shot at No. 13, where he missed the green, but really cost himself at No. 16, where he couldn’t get a four-foot birdie putt to fall. Then when he pulled his two-iron and bogeyed the 17th about the same time Leonard made his birdie at the 16th, he knew it wasn’t going to be his day.

Parnevik said he thought he felt it a lot earlier. “I have been riding a wave on just positive momentum and today I think the pressure was a little bit too much,” he said. “I had to scramble to save my life on every hole. It was just not enough in the end.”

Leonard had plenty. He had telephoned his parents in Dallas Saturday night and reminded them of his five-shot comeback to win Kemper Open the week before the U.S. Open. He said he had done it before and there was no reason why he couldn’t do it again.

And that’s just what he did. So while such high-profile players as Colin Montgomerie, Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson continue to search for their first major title, Leonard already has one of his own.

* NOTES: C10

* SCORECARDS: C10

* COMPLETE RESULTS: C10