A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Flat out: Curtis in the house
HOW LIFE has changed for Ben Curtis, the last player to win a British Open at Royal St George’s. “We went from the outhouse to the mansion,” revealed the American yesterday of the difference between his accommodation this time compared to 2003 when he arrived “last minute” after securing a late place in the field and settled for a small flat for the week.
“We’ve kind of upgraded this time. We’re in a house and last time we were in an apartment . . . . we’re just trying to keep it low key this week,” said Curtis.
LEADING IRISH PLAYERS: Last 10 years
Player Position Venue Winner
2001: Darren Clarke T-3rd Lytham David Duval
2002: Pádraig Harrington T-5th Muirfield Ernie Els
2003: Pádraig Harrington T-22nd Royal St. George’s Ben Curtis
2004: Darren Clarke T-11th Troon Todd Hamilton
2005: Graeme McDowell T-11th St. Andrews Tiger Woods
2006: Graeme McDowell T-61st Hoylake Tiger Woods
2007: Pádraig Harrington 1st Carnoustie Pádraig Harrington
2008: Pádraig Harrington 1st Royal Birkdale Pádraig Harrington
2009: Graeme McDowell T-34th Turnberry Stewart Cink
2010: Rory McIlroy T-3rd St. Andrews Louis Oosthuizen
In the mix: Irish have form
THE FOUR Irish players in the field for this 140th British Open have the distinction of all contending at one point or another in this oldest of majors at some point over the past decade.
In Pádraig Harrington’s case, of course, he famously won the claret jug at Carnoustie in 2007 and successfully retained it the following year at Royal Birkdale.
Darren Clarke was in the thick of the chase of David Duval at Royal Lytham St Annes in 2001 before eventually finishing in third, and Rory McIlroy led after the first round at St Andrews last year. He also ended up in third place.
Graeme McDowell was the leading Irish player on three occasions inside the past 10 years, his best finish coming at St Andrews in 2005 when he was tied-11th.
As expected, McIlroy did not practice at Sandwich yesterday, but spectators at the course could have been forgiven for thinking otherwise. His name appeared on the official list of practice times for the day for the 3:30pm slot, along with stablemate George Coetzee. Fans were soon to be disappointed as his name was swiftly removed from the times and replaced with Welshman Mark Laskey.
Rank good luck: Jamieson in field
SCOTLAND’S SCOT Jamieson will make his major championship debut here after claiming his place in the field through his tied-third finish in Sunday’s Scottish Open.
Jamieson finished in a seven-man tie for third place at Castle Stuart but qualified by virtue of his world ranking, which was 203rd at the time of the tournament’s conclusion. He rose to 158th in the rankings released yesterday. American Kyle Stanley’s runner-up finish in the John Deere Classic on the US Tour also earned him a place in the 156-man field.
