I’m going to need a pack of SANDY Andies
SANDY LYLE expects his epic Open adventure to end in the same way it started four decades before – choking back the tears.
The former Claret Jug champion was reunited with the priceless old trophy that he held aloft in 1985, when he joined Scotland rugby legend Gavin Hastings yesterday to celebrate a new partnership that will promote next summer’s Open.
But this one – taking place at Carnoustie from July 19-22 – will be particularly special for Lyle as it’s set to be his last.
With the Scot turning 60 in February he is reaching the threshold every former Open champion must face when their honorary exemption into the 156-man field comes to an end.
The romantic in him still harbours plans to give it one last shot to battle through qualifying for a fairytale swansong appearance in two years time at Royal St George’s, the scene of his dramatic victory back in 1985.
But he is realistic enough to accept that in all likelihood Carnoustie will be the place where he says goodbye to the beloved event he first experienced playing as a 16-year-old amateur in 1974.
Back then young Sandy’s starry eyes left Royal Lytham & St Annes welling up on the verge of tears after suffering a dreaded Hamlet cigar ad moment in a fairway bunker which left his dreams in tatters.
Of course the dark cloud he left under that day would be blown away 11 years later when he carved his name in the long, illustrious history of this prestigious tournament.
Now he can’t quite believe the kid who first teed it up 43 years ago is a man bracing himself to say goodbye with his emotions churning inside him, just as they did the first time he walked away from The Open.
Lyle said: “It will be sad because it doesn’t seem to me like it’s more than a few years since it was a schoolboy dream just to play in the Open.
“Now 40-odd years later
I’m playing my last one. It’s still one of the best tournaments in the world and it all comes to an end.
“I have no regrets. I’ve had my times when it has been great and others when it wasn’t so great but that’s all part of the experience of playing in The Open.
“It’s never a smooth path, there are always detours along the way but I’ve always loved The Open and always will.
“I remember my first one clearly. It was something I’d dreamed of doing and played well to get through qualifying and suddenly here I was.
“There were two cuts in those days – one on Friday and another on Saturday – and I’d made the first one but had a disaster in the third round when I got stuck in a fairway bunker on the sixth.
“That was a memorable moment because it took me about five minutes and at least four or five shots to get out of this bunker. The ball kept hitting the top of the lip of the bunker, shooting up in the air and landing into either feet marks or ending up plugged.
“So then I had to try to come out sideways and it would hit the bank again. I just couldn’t get out.
“A real Hamlet cigar moment but even then I was probably too young to smoke! I clambered out of that bunker with the weight of the whole world on my shoulders.
“To anyone watching it wouldn’t have mattered but to me, being 16, playing The Open with a chance of playing all four rounds and winning the Silver Medal right there.
“Then I made a mess of it on one hole. I was practically in tears leaving Lytham that day, wondering if I even want to do this again. That’s what The Open can do to you. In hindsight it was a great experience, especially as that third round
“I was drawn to play with Fuzzy Zoeller (inset). At the time I didn’t really know this guy with the strange name but there he was waggling the club on the first tee and whistling away.
“Then he puts his club down and slides it so the ball is virtually on the inside of the hosel. I thought he was going to have a practice swing and suddenly, ‘Boom’, the ball goes away. I remember thinking, ‘Was that for real?’.
“Then he whistled and joked his way around and I thought this is nice to be playing with him.
“We’ve always been good friends really since that day. But I fairly made up for that first disappointment 11 years later so I can’t complain.”
Lyle added: “Carnoustie is the course that generally always kicked my butt. But I’ll go there with an open mind and try to play my best and smartest.
“I do have mixed feelings about the year ahead. Playing in The Open is now drawing to an end, although if I’m still healthy enough in two years time when it’s back at Royal St George’s I’ll maybe give it a shot at trying to qualify.”