He Comes Back From Drink of Disaster

It was quite a week for Barclay Howard, the 44-year-old Scot who closed out his first British Open with a nine-over 293 and was the low amateur.

Since Howard was the only amateur to make the cut, his honor was sort of anticlimactic, but he appreciated it anyway.

“My head’s buzzing,” Howard said. “The coverage I’ve had is brilliant, everybody’s been saying ‘Congratulations, Barclay’ and ‘Well done’ and it does mean a lot to me. I hope it will inspire a lot of amateurs out there.”

Howard was a qualifier for the Open and began with a first-round 70 that was only three shots off the lead. A recovering alcoholic, Howard said he knew he had a drinking problem in 1991.

“My friends knew in 1987,” he said.

Howard was once thrown out of a dinner in his honor for being drunk. He was banned from his home club, Cochrane Castle, for one year after a bout of drinking when he insulted the daughter of the club secretary.

Howard shot a second-round 74 and was relieved it wasn’t any worse.

“I thought it was going to be a war service score,” he said. “Out in 39 and back in 45.”

Howard is Scotland’s stroke-play champion and will play the Walker Cup as he did in 1995. But right now, Howard is basking in the limelight for the first time.

“I’m only too delighted to sign autographs,” he said. “It’s a great honor. I’ve been down here about 12 hours a day, interviews, hitting balls . . . it’s star quality stuff, you know, brilliant.”

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Jack Nicklaus finished with a 75 for a nine-over 293 and tied for 60th place with Howard. He wasn’t satisfied.

“I do not come to play in the Open to walk the 18th fairway at two in the afternoon,” he said. “I do not walk up the 18th to get an ovation for my golf over the last 30 years.

“Making the cut is decent, but it is not competitive. I’m not here just to play four days of golf.”

Nicklaus, 57, hasn’t finished higher than a tie for 25th at the British Open since 1983.

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When last seen at Royal Troon, Nick Faldo was posing for a picture with a fan. Then he climbed into a blue van with his girlfriend, Brenna Cepelak, and was driven away.

While he was on the course, Faldo was not in the picture. He finished with a 72 and a seven-over total of 291 and tied for 50th. It was his worst finish since 1985, when he tied for 53rd at Royal St. George’s.

“This week, I was not in the right place,” Faldo said. “You have to keep the ball in play and I was not in play the whole time. On a tough course like this, you are going to pay for it.”

With only the PGA Championship left, Faldo has not had a great year in the majors. He missed the cut at the Masters, which he has won three times, and finished tied for 48th at the U.S. Open.

“My game is about 10% off and that makes a big difference in this game,” he said.

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Tom Lehman finally had the round he was waiting for, but his five-under 66 was too late to make any difference.

The defending champion’s rounds of 74-72-72-66 were even par at 284. He tied for 24th. Even so, Lehman said he made the most out of his week.

“It has been a great experience and I wish I could have played a little better early on,” he said. “Everyone has been so gracious and sincere all week. I walked into a restaurant last night and everyone started clapping. You don’t get that in the U.S.”

Lehman birdied No. 15 when he hit a four-iron to 25 feet and made the putt, then birdied No. 16 when he hit a five-iron to eight feet and made it. In four days, those were the only two birdies Lehman made on the back nine.

“That just killed me,” he said.

So did the two-shot penalty he called on himself in the second round when failed to replace his mark on the second hole.

“It deflated me,” he said.