Snead steals the show

There were so many wobbly knees and creaking joints on the first tee-box last evening that you almost expected the ghost of Old Tom Morris to appear in an attempt to steal the limelight from all the other old codgers.

It didn't happen, but just about everything else did in the Past Champions Challenge as the growl of the bagpipes resonated around the Old Course.

This was a re-enactment of times past, a throwback to the old days. Justin Leonard, that fine young man from Texas, wore a shirt and tie to win the fashion stakes if nothing else. And Sandy Lyle - with his new slow, slow, slow swing - drove through the 18th green a la Jack Nicklaus in 1970.

But this was showtime, and none of the modern-day young guns could match the antics of the pensioners. These guys know what the game is all about, and no one captured the spirit of the occasion (dreamed up by Lee Trevino and Open championship chairman Hugh Campbell) better than the oldest of them all, 88-year-old Sam Snead.

He stole the show.

With his son Jack acting as chauffeur and caddie, Slammin' Sam - the original of the species - showed that timing is everything by knocking his drive over the roadway on the 18th and then tap-danced on the bridge over the Swilken Burn as if to remind everyone that golfers are supposed to be entertainers as much as do-or-die sportsmen.

This was a couple of hours of cabaret before the serious business of the championship and there was plenty of unexpected happenings to mix with the expected on a beautiful summer's evening by St Andrews Bay.

Take Ian Baker-Finch. A player with so little confidence on the golf course these days that he now acts as a golf commentator with ABC Sports in the United States (and hasn't bothered to take up his invitation to play in the British Open itself), he did what we all expected when he drove the ball out-of-bounds on the first.

After that, almost everything he tasted was of the unexpected: on the famous Road Hole, the 17th, he had the audacity to sink a 40-footer for birdie and then finished off with another birdie on the 18th in the fourhole challenge that took in the first, second, 17th and 18th.

This was a time for hero worship, even for someone like Nick Faldo. Playing alongside Snead, the Englishman was like the toddler who becomes the shadow of an older kid. He even took to playing sandcastles in the Road Hole bunker. Part of a massive PR campaign? It's working. Faldo was clapped and cheered as loudly as anyone.

But most of the memories were generated by many players who don't compete any more. Not only Snead, but also Roberto di Vicenzo. Okay, so he put his approach on the first into the Swilken Burn, but what hands, what feel for a 78-year-old.

There were other ironies. How about Tony Jacklin? In his heyday, he never ever managed to hit the 18th green with his drive. What happened last evening? He did. "It took me 40 years to drive the green on the last and that will stay with me forever," remarked Jacklin.

As far as the golf itself was concerned - the team of Tom Weiskopf, Tom Lehman (who had two birdies) and Paul Lawrie (who almost drove out-of-bounds on the first with a spectator's plastic bag acting as goalkeeper to keep the ball from crossing the offending line) actually won the bestball competition with a score of two-under-par and earned £40,000 sterling for their nominated charity - it was very much secondary to the sense of fun generated by these great past champions.

This was a time too for old acquaintances to be renewed. Like that of Lee Trevino and his old caddie Willie Aichison - nowadays working as caddie master on the European Tour - who were reunited for the occasion. And, perhaps, Trevino spoke the words that best summed up the transient nature of the sport when he said: "When you don't see me any more, you'll wonder where the little Mexican has gone." Touche!