Experience is crucial in British Open
Ron Kroichick:
Enough of these dynamic young players commandeering the game. We need an occasional middle-aged major champion, and the British Open often obliges. Imagine that. Golf ’s oldest championship begins late Wednesday night (Pacific time) at Carnoustie, a rugged links layout on the eastern edge of Scotland, alongside the North Sea. And if you’re looking for clues on who will contend for the Claret Jug, here’s one suggestion: check for graying around the temples.
This is counterintuitive in 2018, no question. The past five major champions were in their 20s. All but two players in the top 10 of this week’s world ranking are 30 or younger. (Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose are the exceptions.) All but Rose are younger than 35.
And yet the Open Championship historically tilts the other way.
This nugget emerged in routine pre-major research, upon tripping across Joel Beall’s intriguing story on golfdigest.com at this time last year. He discovered that, over the previous 25 years, a player age 38 or older was three times as likely to win the Open as any other major. Players 40 or older were four times as likely.
Consider five of the past seven “champion golfers of the year” — Henrik Stenson (40 at the time of his victory), Zach Johnson (39), Phil Mickelson (43), Ernie Els (42) and Darren Clarke (42). Jordan Spieth (23 when he won last year) and Rory McIlroy (25 in 2014) are the interlopers.
Plus, as Beall pointed out, this trend doesn’t even include 59-year-old Tom Watson nearly winning in 2009. Or, a year earlier, Greg Norman leading through three rounds at age 53.
It makes sense, in many ways, because experience matters more in the British. Players must have the patience, maturity and creativity to cope with the weather and manage how the ball will respond once it hits the ground, a strange concept for many 20-something players.
Also, Open courses are effectively shorter than in other majors, thanks to typically firm conditions; several practice-round tee shots traveled more than 400 yards this week at Carnoustie, and Tiger Woods reported hitting a 3iron 333 yards. This minimizes the power advantage young players usually enjoy, allowing shorter hitters to stay in the hunt.
Spieth or Justin Thomas still could cradle the Claret Jug on Sunday, but recent history suggests the field of viable contenders is wider than in the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Given this, here are five 35-and-older players to watch at Carnoustie:
Rose (age 37): He hasn’t made much noise in the Open, with only one top-10 finish since he burst onto the scene with a tie for fourth as a teenager in 1998. But Rose has won twice on the PGA Tour this season. Maybe an Open triumph would ease England’s World Cup disappointment.
Stenson (42): His victory over Mickelson two years ago was an all-time classic, two heavyweights trading ferocious final-round blows. Stenson has the game to win more than one major, if his putter cooperates.
Matt Kuchar (40): He memorably pushed Spieth in last year’s riveting duel at Royal Birkdale. If Kuchar is ever going to win a major, the Open counts as the most logical candidate.
Francesco Molinari (35): He has long seemed like a nice player who couldn’t win. But he does have five European Tour victories, and Molinari won and tied for second in his past two PGA Tour starts. Maybe he’s finally ready to contend on the big stage.
Woods (42): Yeah, it’s a long shot. Woods won the Open in 2006 while using his driver once all week — in firm, fast conditions similar to this week at Carnoustie — but he also made more putts back then.
Now he’s middle-aged, so that gives him a chance. Kim’s breakthrough: Five years after Cal fielded one of the best teams in college golf history, those 2012-13 Golden Bears landed their first PGA Tour victory.
Michael Kim’s triumph Sunday at the John Deere Classic offered another reminder: Putting sometimes trumps distance. Kim seldom hit the ball as far as other golfers in college, but he made up for it on the greens. That’s how he earned national player-of-theyear honors at Cal.
Kim has struggled to overcome his lack of power as a pro, playing mostly on long, unforgiving courses. He ranks 38th on tour in strokes gained/ putting and 196th in strokes gained off the tee.
That helps explain his struggles this season — until he set a tournament scoring record by shooting 27-under-par and coasting to an eight-shot win Sunday. Kim earned spots in this week’s British Open and next year’s Masters.
He also beat his college teammates — Max Homa, Brandon Hagy, Michael Weaver and Joël Stalter —to the PGA Tour winner’s circle. Homa has won twice on the Web.com Tour.