Who’s Who Bows to Troon Surprise

When exactly did the British Open decide to turn into a coming-out party? Last year, it was Ben Curtis, ranked 396th, who was king for a day at Royal St. George’s, and on Sunday in the cool gray early evening, it was Todd Hamilton’s turn at Royal Troon.

Truly. That Todd Hamilton, the 38-year-old survivor of eight trips to the PGA Tour qualifying school, a dozen years of enduring the hard knocks of playing the Japan Tour, the pride of McKinney, Texas, by way of such stops along the golf trail as Osaka and Kuala Lumpur and Calcutta, former winner of the Aiful Cup and Shizuoka Open, and now the newest champion of the British Open.

Or, as he was introduced in a ceremony just before dusk in front of the packed grandstands: “The champion golfer of the year.”

All Hamilton had to do to earn that title was to shoot a final-round of 69, hold off Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, shrug off a bogey at the 72nd hole, then pull himself together and edge Els by one shot in a four-hole playoff.

When it was over, Hamilton raised his arms in triumph and said, “Wow,” to caddie Ron Levin. Then he found his wife, Jaque, and hugged her, then hugged his kids, Tyler, 6; Kaylee, 4; and 1-year-old Drake.

“I’m so excited, I probably won’t sleep for two days,” Hamilton said.

“It seems like probably a fairy tale. And to me, it really is.”

If it was a magical and unexpected victory by Hamilton, it was obviously a bittersweet and disappointing day for Els. The three-time major champion overcame a double bogey at the 10th, made par after hitting into the gorse at the 11th and closed with a 68, but he could have added another major title to his list if he had managed to roll in a 12-foot, uphill birdie putt at the 18th hole during regulation.

Instead, Els left it just short, which is just how the majors have gone for Els this year.

At the Masters, he closed with a 67 and lost to Mickelson by a shot. At the U.S. Open, he was two shots from the lead after 54 holes and then sunk himself with an 80.

And now this ... a ball that didn’t roll far enough, a putt that didn’t drop when it should have, a major opportunity falling just out of reach.

“That putt, I’m going to think about that putt for a while,” Els said.

“I’ll try and get over it. Coming so close is a disappointment, but ... you’ve got to take the positives.”

Actually, Mickelson could sort of share the same feeling. He was the hard-luck runner-up to Retief Goosen at the U.S. Open when he made a bogey on the 71st hole and missed all the fun of the Hamilton-Els playoff by only one shot, despite a three-under 68 and only one bogey the last three rounds.

“I didn’t feel like it was a lost chance,” said Mickelson, whose first round of 73 put him in a hole from the start.

“To miss out by a shot is certainly disappointing, but I felt after the first day it would have been a lot to get into contention. And I played three very good rounds. Just not enough birdies to make up the ground.”

In the four-hole playoff format, Hamilton all but won it when Els made a bogey at the 17th, the third hole in the rotation, then made a par at the fourth hole, the 18th; and Els failed to steer a curving 15-footer for birdie into the hole.

Hamilton’s 71-67-67-69 total of 274 was 10 under par. Mickelson was third, and Lee Westwood’s 67 moved him into fourth at 278. Davis Love III and Thomas Levet tied for fifth, five shots back at 279. Love finished with a sizzle, holing a six-iron from 192 yards to eagle the 18th.

“I’ve had them clapping a lot when I’ve been coming up there, but I’ve never had them jump to their feet, so that was exciting,” Love said.

Not as thrilled with their closing rounds were Retief Goosen, Mike Weir and Woods. Goosen shot a 73 to tie for seventh with Scott Verplank, and Weir ended with a 71 and Woods a 72 to share ninth at 281.

What started out as a free-for-all wound up as a three-player race on the back nine between Mickelson, Hamilton and Els. For Mickelson, his closing 68 might have been one shot out of the playoff, but his reputation stands alone these days.

Ever since he won the Masters, Mickelson has gone from the player who could never win a major into the player who looks as if he can win every major. Second at the U.S. Open and third at the British Open, Mickelson’s resume is impressive.

So was his streak of holes without a bogey. It got all the way to 49 in a row before Mickelson missed a four-footer at the 13th hole, the one that dropped him out of a tie with Hamilton.

Anyone waiting for Hamilton, who had finally got his PGA Tour card in December, to fray around the edges was in for a surprise. He missed the green at the 14th, but chipped in to go to 10 under, worth a two-shot lead over Mickelson and Els. Hamilton’s lead was still two shots with three holes to play.

All three of them birdied the 16th, but while Mickelson couldn’t squeeze another birdie out of his round and fell out of contention, Els and Hamilton were simply getting warmed up.

With Mickelson already done and watching the proceedings on a television in the scorer’s trailer, things got a little nutty. Right on cue, it was time for the Troon twists.

First, it was hard deciding on the correct scenario. It was Hamilton’s tournament to win. When Els birdied the 17th to get to within one shot, it was Hamilton’s tournament to lose. When Hamilton hit it everywhere but the fairway at the 18th and Els put his second shot 12 feet from the hole, it was Els’ tournament to win.

As it turned out, neither player managed to win the tournament on the 18th green in regulation, although Els had the best chance.

Hamilton knocked his two-iron drive into the right rough and chopped his second shot back across the fairway and into a crowd standing behind a metal fence in front of the grandstand on the left.

Els put his second shot just below the hole and needed only a gentle uphill putt for a birdie to win. But he had to wait ... and wait ... and wait ... for Hamilton to knock the ball onto the green, about 15 feet past the hole. Then Els stood and waited some more as Hamilton missed his par putt by about a foot.

Finally, it was Els’ turn. His putt was relatively simple, but the circumstances were far from that, and Els never gave the ball a chance to get to the hole. This time, both players watched as it curled away and stopped short of a birdie and a major title.

Hamilton tapped in for bogey, Els tapped in for par and the playoff was on.

Hamilton has won before -- he birdied the last two holes to beat Love and win the Honda this year, and he is an 11-time winner on the Japan Tour, but the British Open is uncharted territory for this native of Oquawka, Ill., population 1,500. Until Sunday, it was famous for the circus elephant that died after being struck by lightning and was buried at the town square because it was too heavy to move.

That may have changed.

“I hope I’m now more famous than the elephant,” he said.

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British Open Playof

Todd Hamilton defeated Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff to win the British Open. The playoff holes:

*--* HOLE 1 2 17 18 YARDS 370 391 222 457 PAR 4 4 3 4 HAMILTON 4 4 3 4 ELS 4 4 4 4

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*--* TOP FINISHERS at Troon, Scotland; Par 71 TODD HAMILTON...71-67-67-69 274 -10 ERNIE ELS ...69-69-68-68 274 -10 PHIL MICKELSON...73-66-68-68 275 -9 LEE WESTWOOD ...72-71-68-67 278 -6 DAVIS LOVE III...72-69-71-67 279 -5 THOMAS LEVET...66-70-71-72 279 -5 SCOTT VERPLANK...69-70-70-71 280 -4 RETIEF GOOSEN...69-70-68-73 280 -4 MIKE WEIR...71-68-71-71 281 -3 TIGER WOODS...70-71-68-72 281 -3

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