by Philip Reid
Hamilton’s big surprise
THE man most surprised to see Todd Hamilton back as a contender in a major was . . . Todd Hamilton. He never saw this coming, after a year – so far – in which the 2004 British Open champion had managed to make two cuts in nine tournaments.
“On paper, my year has not been great,” confessed Hamilton. “But it wasn’t to the point where I had lost all hope. I’d been having 74 and 75s with drives five yards left (of the fairway) and five yards right, so those 74s and 75s could have been pars. So, yes, on paper it didn’t look great, but it wasn’t to the point of where I was going to quit playing the game.”
Hamilton – in the last year of his exemption here – has one of the more quirky statistics on the US Tour: he has had only four top-10s, although two of them were victories.
Still, he has produced a 68 and 70 for 138, six under, to find himself contending again in a major.
Hamilton is accustomed to the ups and downs of life on tour. As he remarked, “I played in Japan for 12 years and went through a similar stretch. I didn’t do great for four or five years, then won a tournament. Then I had another four or five years where I didn’t do well and, then, the last year I was there I won four tournaments.”
So, where did this form come from? “I found some key swings, and I found an old driver that I’d used that last year in Japan. I really, really liked it . . . but I don’t think I had any expectations coming in here. I was just happy to have a chance, knowing this could be my last one.”
Maybe it won’t.
Agent of change caught out
SECURITY is, naturally, tight around the US Masters, as Horizon Sports’ Conor Ridge discovered the other evening.
After completing his first round, Graeme McDowell was working on the range – with his coach Pete Cowan – when Ridge ventured on to inform his man about transport arrangements for the evening, only to be intercepted by a sharp-eyed Pilkington security guard.
“Sorry, sir,” said the security man to McDowell’s agent, “a player’s only allowed one coach.”
To which McDowell’s sharp tongue quipped, “He’s definitely not my coach.”
Maybe not, but Ridge’s Horizon Sports is making an impact around the world. Michael Hoey, of course, won the Portuguese Open on the European Tour last week and two of his men, McDowell and Ross Fisher, have made it to the weekend here.
By the numbers
Multiple champions:6 – Jack Nicklaus 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986; 4 – Arnold Palmer 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964; Tiger Woods 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005; 3 – Jimmy Demaret 1940, 1947, 1950; Sam Snead 1949, 1952, 1954; Gary Player 1961, 1974, 1978; Nick Faldo 1989, 1990, 1996; 2 – Horton Smith 1934, 1936; Byron Nelson 1937, 1942; Ben Hogan 1951, 1953; Tom Watson 1977, 1981; Seve Ballesteros 1980, 1983; Bernhard Langer 1985, 1993; Ben Crenshaw 1984, 1995; Jose Maria Olazabal 1994, 1999; Phil Mickelson 2004, 2006.
