Carnoustie can ‘beast’ the best of players

CARNOUSTIE has two nicknames – one is “Car-nasty”, the other is “The Beast”.

Whichever one you use, it all adds up to the same – particularly when the wind howls in from the North Sea – it can drive the best to distraction.

I remember in 1999 watching one of my heroes, Greg Norman, hacking at the hay in fury as he attempted to blast his way out of trouble.

The man they called the “Great White Shark” rendered toothless – it was brutal. The Royal and Ancient took a huge amount of flak for that. They left the grass long. It blew and blew.

The eventual winner that year – Paul Laurie won after a play-off with my pal Jean van der Velde and Justin Leonard – was six over for the tournament. Which just shows how difficult it had been.

Eight years later, the authorities erred on the side of caution and the greens were set up in the players’ favour.

But this time it had been hot and the weather had burnt off a lot of the long stuff. Judging by the heatwave we’ve been going through, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same happen again this year. But that won’t mask the fact that this is one of the most challenging courses anywhere in the world. For anyone to succeed, they have to be a strong driver with an equally strong mentality. The fairways are very tight too. You can easily bounce into trouble – and it might not have been your fault. That’s the rub sometimes with links golf. Hit a bump on the fairway and you’ll be playing your second out of the long stuff. It’s how you cope with that, which can define your score.

But at Carnoustie, it’s slightly different. The last hour on its own defines your whole round.

You can be playing lovely golf and walking up to the 15th tee under par.

But there is absolutely no reason to think that you will be under par by the time your ball drops on the 18th.

The momentum here doesn’t switch between the players each hole. It’s every shot.

Look at the high drama served up last time here between Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia. It was impossible to predict which way that one would go.

And, of course, everyone remembers Jean [van der Velde] who remains a close friend of mine.

Forget the shoes and socks (left), or what happened next.

Just a few inches higher with his third shot on that final hole 19 years ago and he wouldn’t have landed in the Barry Burn at all, and dropped three shots. He would have won The Open. But, and I say this as a clear warning message this week, THAT is exactly what Carnoustie can do to you.

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