Global Golf Post: In Us Vs. Them, Nobody Wins

By Art Spander
For GlobalGolfPost.com

SANDWICH, ENGLAND -- To the British, the Open Championship, that exercise in broken umbrellas and broken dreams – for verification, see Donald, Luke and Westwood, Lee – is less a golf tournament than a national treasure to be protected at all costs from Americans.

We are, as George Bernard Shaw pointed out, two nations separated by a common language. More than that, we are kept apart by different sporting philosophies.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 Global Golf Post

Newsday (N.Y.): Mickelson charges, then fizzles out

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANDWICH, England -- He called it exciting. Said it was "some of the most  fun'' he had competitively. But in the end, after a charge, after a 5-under-par  30 on the front nine Sunday put Phil Mickelson very much into the British Open, his familiar missed short putts took him out of it.

It was a day of sunshine alternating with rain and a constant blustery win, and of cheers that shook the grandstands at Royal St. George's Golf Club. Mickelson provided plenty of those cheers, coming from nowhere, five shots behind Darren Clarke at the start of the final round. His front nine run pulled him into a tie with Clarke at 5 under.

But then Clarke equaled Mickelson's eagle 3 on the 564-yard par-5 seventh hole, going to 7 under and two shots clear of Mickelson. Mickelson missed a short par putt on the 11th, eventually making four bogeys over the last eight holes, allowing Clarke to build a lead of as much as five shots.

Clarke finished at 5-under 275, three shots ahead of Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, who was Clarke's playing partner. Though it was Mickelson's best finish in 18 British  Opens -- he had only one previous top-10, a third at Royal Troon in 2004 -- there still was a feeling of what might have been.

"The putt at 11 was just a stupid mistake,'' Mickelson said of the 3-foot miss. "There was nothing to it. It was just a dumb mental error. I just lost  focus, and it hurts to throw away shots like that when I'm behind.''

Two holes later, he got a 9-iron approach up into the wind and flew the green. That bogey dropped him to 4 under. He was three behind, for all intents out of chances. He came in with a 2-under 30-38-68.

"I made some great putts today,'' Mickelson said, referring specifically to the 50-footer for the eagle, "and then later, I ended up missing them . . . When I saw Darren wasn't going to make a mistake, I had to try to make birdies, and that's when I ended up making a couple of bogeys.''

Mickelson said he was happy for Clarke, whose wife, Heather, died of breast cancer in 2006 and  who called Phil when  Mickelson's wife, Amy, was stricken with the disease in 2009.

"He's a tremendous person and a good friend,'' Mickelson said. "It was fun to try and make a run at him.''

- - - - - -

http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/mickelson-charges-then-fizzles-out-1.3031715
Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Clarke holds off Phil, Dustin for victory

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANDWICH, England -- He stepped out of the rain and the pressure to a place  no one except Darren Clarke ever believed he would be, the final green at the British Open -- his nation's championship, as it were -- with a lead impossible to squander.

That he made bogey on the final two holes Sunday was irrelevant. Clarke's journey, the longest ever to an Open victory, was a success, and as he said later, "I certainly had a few thoughts going through my head.''

Clarke, 42, won on his 20th attempt to hoist the Claret Jug; no player had won the Open after more than 15 empty tries. He had given the remarkable little nation of Northern Ireland (population about 1.8 million) its third major champion in 13 months.

Graeme McDowell won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Rory McIlroy the recent U.S. Open at Congressional and now with a final-round even-par 70 and a 72-hole total of 5-under-par 275 at Royal St. George's, Clarke, in the words of R&A chief Peter Dawson, had  become, "Champion golfer of the year.''

He finished three shots ahead of Americans Phil Mickelson, who  provided front-nine drama and had his best-ever British Open, and Dustin Johnson. Another shot behind at 279 was Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, who had shared the first-round lead. They were the only  golfers under par.

Chad Campbell, Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler, three more  Americans, were at 280 in this 140th Open, giving the maligned United States five of the top seven.

With Davis Love tied for ninth and Steve Stricker and Lucas Glover tied for 12th, there were eight Americans in the top 14.

Still, it was the sixth straight major without an American winner.

Clarke had not contended in the Open since 2001. He had been put in the shade, as the Brits say, by McDowell, who missed the cut, and the 22-year-old McIlroy, who shot 7-over  287. "But I always believed I would get back,'' Clarke said.

What amounted to a home crowd cheered Clarke all the way, finishing with a mammoth standing ovation as he paraded the 18th fairway.

"It's been a dream since I've been a kid to win the Open,'' Clarke said, "like any kid's dream is, and I'm able to do it, which just feels incredible . . . The crowd were sensational for me all week. It's been a while since I felt that amount of support.''

Clarke, who likes to hoist a few -- "I may not be sober for the Irish Open,  but I will be in Killarney'' -- has been a popular and sympathetic figure. His wife, Heather, died just before the 2006 Ryder Cup. He chose to play, won three matches and was called an inspiration to the overwhelming European win.

Johnson, who started the day a shot behind Clarke, was 1 over on the front and fell to four behind after nine. Mickelson moved into  second with a brilliant 5-under 30 on those holes. But going into 14, Clarke was  7 under, Johnson 5 under and Mickelson 4 under.

Reminiscent of his failures last year in the U.S. Open and PGA, Johnson hit his second shot on  the par-5 14th out of bounds.

Clarke received text messages before the final round from Tiger Woods, whom he counts  as a close friend, and McIlroy, who gained inspiration from Clarke growing up in  Northern Ireland.

McIlroy and McDowell had achieved their dreams. Now Darren Clarke, their mentor, realized his.

At the victory ceremony on the 18th green, Clarke pointed skyward and in remembrance of his wife, said someone was watching over him.

"In terms of what's going through my heart, there's obviously somebody who is watching down from up above there, and I know she'd be very proud of me," Clarke said later. "She's probably be saying, 'I told you so.' "

- - - - - -

http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/clarke-holds-off-phil-dustin-for-victory-1.3030802
Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Rain can't dampen Watson's spirit at Open

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANDWICH, England -- In the worst of the storm, Tom Watson was at his best.

Which is what you would expect of him. Watson has won five British Opens, from rain to shine. He knows how to handle a links golf course when the weather is beating down on him.

His five victories are second to the six of Harry Vardon, and two years ago, a few weeks before his 60th birthday, he almost had another, bogeying the 72nd hole at Turnberry and losing a playoff to Stewart Cink.

For a while in the third round of this 140th Open, on the links of Royal St. George's, Watson was the only golfer on the course under par for the day, 1 under on the front nine.

Eventually, he slipped to a 2-over 72. But he passed many players ahead of him -- moving up from 46th to a tie for 25th place, and at 4-over 214 is tied with Rory McIlroy, the U.S.  Open champion who was this event's betting favorite.

"Conditions were bothersome,'' said Watson, at 61 the oldest golfer among the 71 who made the cut. "You just try to keep your grips dry and your wits about you and go about your business to try and make pars out there.''

Watson has played in worse, although this was bad enough, umbrellas being torn from people's hands and being bent into pretzels by winds gusting to 30 mph.

"Muirfield was worse than this,'' Watson said about the third round of the '02 Open, the day Tiger Woods shot 81. "But the worst I've ever played was at Muirfield in '80, the  first round. [Lee] Trevino and I shot 68 and led the field by eight, or  something like that.''

Conditions improved in the afternoon Saturday, as often is the case at the Open. But there was no whining from Watson. He is old school. Find the ball and hit it. Then find it and hit it again.

"One of the things you learn,'' Watson said, "is there's a saying, 'Swing with ease into the breeze.' A lot of times, you see these young kids out there trying to hit it really hard into the wind. In my case, I'm 61 and can't hit hard.''

Watson said he was helped by his putting, the part of his game which often has frustrated him in recent years. He missed a couple of shorties Saturday, including on the 18th, but wasn't unhappy.

"Without the putter in my hands,'' Watson said, "it could have been four or five shots higher. My putter was spot-on today.''

- - - - - -

http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/rain-can-t-dampen-watson-s-spirit-at-open-1.3029852
Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Clarke leads Johnson in British Open

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANDWICH, England -- One has a lifetime of near misses, the other only a single heart-breaking year. Darren Clarke and Dustin Johnson are  linked more by what they haven't done than what they have.

Clarke, at 5-under-par 205, has a one-shot lead over Johnson after Saturday's third round of the 140th British Open, a tournament battered by weather and elevated by expectations.

"I've failed 19 times to try and lift the Claret Jug,'' Clarke, 42, said of the trophy presented to the champion, "and Sunday, I have the opportunity.''

So does Johnson, 27, from South Carolina whose  near misses in 2010, unable to hold final-round leads at the U.S. Open and PGA  Championship, made him a sympathetic figure.

American pros are winless in the last five majors, including the U.S. Open last month at Congressional, won by Clarke's Northern Irish countryman, Rory McIlroy.

A year ago, another Northern Irishman, Graeme McDowell, won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. And there have been German and South African winners. Now, suddenly the leader board is full of U.S. challengers besides Johnson.

Ten of the top 16 golfers after 54 holes are Americans, including Rickie Fowler, whose  2-under 68 moved him into a tie for third; Lucas Glover, tumbling  from a tie for first after a 73, is tied for fifth; and Anthony Kim, Davis Love III and -- surprise -- Phil  Mickelson are tied for seventh.

The nasty weather forecast arrived Saturday with a bang, 30-mph winds and in the morning steady rain. But conditions started to abate by the time Clarke and Glover teed off at 3  p.m. "We started off in terrible conditions,'' Clarke said, "but then got lucky.''

Clarke shot 1-under 69 with superb ball-striking and only so-so putting.

Johnson shot 2-under 68. Johnson, who in the first round was 4 over through 13 holes, was at 5 under with two to play Saturday but bogeyed 17.

"The European Tour guys have been playing well," Johnson said, alluding to the fact that Mickelson, at the 2010  Masters, was the last U.S. player to take a major. "But I don't think there's anything wrong with the American guys or American golf. We struggled, but we've got a good shot at getting one Sunday.''

Johnson had great shots last year. He was in front at Pebble Beach in the Open, then triple-bogeyed the second hole and double-bogeyed the third. Two months later, after apparently tying for first in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Johnson was penalized for grounding his club in a bunker and missed the playoff won by German Martin Kaymer.

"The U.S. Open,'' Johnson said about his agony, "was the first time I've gone into a major in the last group.''

Sunday will be the third time in the last six tournaments. Knowing the crowd will be cheering for Clarke, Johnson said: "I'm OK with that. He's on his home turf, so I would expect him to have huge crowd support. But the fans out there have been great for me.''

They were out there for McIlroy, as well, but he  played inconsistently, hit a ball out-of-bounds and shot 4-over 74, tying him  with the venerable Tom Watson, the 61-year-old who shot 72 in the worst of the weather and is tied with McIlroy.

Mickelson has only one top 10 finish, a third in 2004, in 17 previous British Opens, but he seems to have figured out links golf. "We got lucky with the weather,'' Mickelson said, echoing Clarke. "We went from fighting for pars on every hole to thinking birdies on some holes.''

Clarke's wife died of cancer just before the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club near Dublin. He chose to play, won all three of his matches and inspired the Europeans to a rout.

Clarke has reordered his life and is engaged to a former Miss Northern Ireland. Asked what it would mean to win the Open, Clarke replied: "Everything. It's the biggest and best tournament in the world.''

- - - - - -

http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/clarke-leads-johnson-in-british-open-1.3029929
Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.