Age can not wither his passion

The Seniors tour may beckon, but Des Smyth showed yet again yesterday that he's ageing like a fine wine, writes Philip Reid

Some people lie about their age, but not golfers. To men with eyes cast towards the lucrative Seniors circuit, a late-life gravy train of sorts, there is no stigma attached to growing older. And, like fine wines, many seem to get better as the ageing process that seemingly afflicts the rest of the human species spares them and leaves them with an ability to hit the ball nearly 300 yards and with the eyesight to analyse a green's nuances.

Des Smyth is not the oldest man in the field at the 131st Open Championship, but, at 49, he is part of a generation which must have believed their best days were behind them. Yesterday, though, he did more than turn back the clock. In shooting an opening, three-under-par 68, Smyth - competing in his 22nd British Open - defied aches and pains, not of old age but of a lower back and leg injury sustained in rather bizarre circumstances when he fell asleep in his car earlier in the week.

At one stage on Wednesday, in fact, Smyth was unsure if he would be able to compete. "If I'd had to pull out, it would have broken my heart," he admitted.

Three visits to the physiotherapy unit and a helping of anti-inflammatory tablets ensured that, by the time he eased himself out of bed at the ungodly hour of five o'clock yesterday morning, he was "still a bit stiff and sore" but nonetheless felt "comfortable."

If the adage of "beware the injured golfer" suggests that a minor ailment is no bad thing, in that it allows the golfer to take his mind off his game in the run-up to a championship, then Smyth, a traditionalist who loves this major, took full advantage. In the first group of the day, and after Peter Baker had the honour of hitting the first tee-shot of the championship, Smyth stood up and opened his own account. A little short of four hours later he took his 68th shot, a tap-in par on the last, and he had again proved his resilience.

"I just love playing the Open. I always did. Maybe I am not as afraid as I might have been in years gone by. It is an enjoyment for me now," he said. "There's a lot of tension for a lot of players who come here looking to win. You're meeting and running into them all week. They want to win, and I went through that period. It has to affect your game. You simply don't perform the way you should.

"I am performing better than I expected because I have a different attitude. I'm looking around me and just thinking how marvellous it is to be here, playing in the Open. I love this, and maybe it is having the right effect. I suppose you have got to get to over 40 to even feel like that."

Yesterday's round started with a wake-up call on the first, where his six-iron approach failed to reach the green. It was to be his only dropped shot. On the fifth, he got his first birdie, hitting a wedge to two feet. On the next, he rolled in a 25-footer for birdie.

His third birdie came on the 11th, where he holed from 12 feet. And, on the 17th, he used driver-driver and reached the front edge of the green that is 546 yards away from the tee-box. He two-putted for another birdie.

But Smyth has been around long enough not to get carried away. Before the championship started, he had asserted that his aim was simply to make the cut. That agenda hasn't changed, even though his opening round has propelled him to the top end of the leaderboard.

"I am still not going to take any chances. With these courses, you can't take anything for granted. If you go into the rough anything can happen, and the key to playing here is to keep it on the short grass. The key is to hit it straight," he insisted.

So, 20 years on from his best British Open performance, when he was fourth at Royal Troon, and a year on from his tied-13th finish at Royal Lytham & St Annes, Smyth has demonstrated that his competitive juices are as strong as ever. "We play golf every single day, and that is what keeps me sharp and competitive," he says.

If he is to take things a step further and actually go on to win the championship, he is seeking to defy history: the oldest winner of the Claret Jug was Old Tom Morris, who was 46 when he won in 1868. But then, as Smyth continues to demonstrate, always expect the unexpected in golf.