I WON’T BURY MY HEAD IN THE SAND THIS TIME
Jamieson went for a sleep on beach to get over his first Open kick in the teeth but he’s determined to change his luck at Carnoustie EUAN McLEAN
I couldn’t say that I have particulary enjoyed any Open event up until now SCOTT JAMIESON
SCOTT JAMIESON admits The Open Championship has not worked out the way he imagined in his boyhood dreams.
A drookit debut at Royal St George’s – played in driving rain in the last group – was not a great introduction.
Even before then the Claret Jug had poured him a dose of bitter disappointment.
Narrowly failing to get through local qualifying at St Andrews in 2005 left him so frustrated he turned his back on these worldclass players to go for a sleep on the West Sands of the town.
With three missed cuts from appearances in 2011, 2013 and 2014 you’d forgive the sport@dailyrecord.co.uk
34-year-old for looking ahead to a fourth next month with a healthy chunk of apprehension. Even more so when you consider this year’s Carnoustie venue is widely regarded the toughest of all 10 courses on The Open rota.
But is there a greater
glutton for punishment than the humble, hopeful golfer?
Jamieson is unashamedly a hopeless romantic, bewitched by the hazy summer memories of the oldest and most prestigious Major, stretching back to his first Open memory of fellow Scot Paul Lawrie winning in 1999. Right there at Carnoustie. So don’t try to tell him he can’t turn his painful Open record on its head and raise hopes of another homegrown winner to follow in Lawrie’s footsteps 19 years later.
Jamieson said: “I couldn’t say I have
particularly enjoyed an Open yet. I remember one year trying to qualify at St Andrews as an amateur. I was still studying in college in America but I’d come back to have a go at getting into the field and just missed out.
“I decided to stick around for the week anyway to watch the golf but after a few hours among the crowds it was frustrating.
“So I just went down to the beach and fell asleep on the sand. I was maybe hungover but the biggest reason was simply it was really irritating me not being part of it.
“I’ve managed to play in three since. My first was an anti-climax coming off such a high at Castle Stuart the week before. Holing a birdie putt on the last to finish third in the Scottish Open got me the last spot in the field.
“And it was a case of last in, last out as they gave me a really late tee-time in the first round. By the back nine there was no one around except for TOM WATSON has been appointed the first Global Ambassador for The Open.
The 68-year-old returned to Carnoustie yesterday to begin the role that will see him promoting the championship around the world. Watson said: “I am honoured.” the guys emptying the bins. It wasn’t what I’d expected The Open to be.
“The next time at Muirfield in 2013 I was out really late again on the day they admitted the greens were close to being unplayable. They were baked out.
“The following year at Hoylake was the best experience so far where the atmosphere lived up to expectations. Hopefully the experience will keep getting better and the first target this time will be sticking around long enough to enjoy the weekend too.
“I’m looking forward to it. Carnoustie is actually my first Open memory with Paul winning it so that’s a pretty inspirational start.”
The 147th Open takes place at Carnoustie from July 15-22. Tickets are available from just £10 for practice days and £75 for Championship days. For full details visit theopen.com/tickets.