Calamity of errors leaves Vegas struggling to make cut

Jhonattan Vegas’ preparation for this week’s Open championship could not have gone any worse.

The 33-year-old Venezuelan, who has won three times on the PGA Tour, arrived at Carnoustie less than two hours before his tee-off time thanks to a last-minute helicopter ride after being held up by visa problems.

Vegas intended to leave his home in the United States last Thursday before discovering he had applied for the wrong dates on his visa.

It took him the best part of a week to secure the necessary documentation and he arrived in Carnoustie just in time to take part in the major.

To make matters worse, Vegas’s clubs were lost in transit, forcing him to tee up yesterday with borrowed clubs and without the benefit of a practice round.

He said: “The past week has been a horror movie.

“I got really confused with the dates for my visa but I didn’t think it was that big a deal as it only takes 24 hours to get a visa.

“I applied on Thursday morning and it was supposed to arrive on Friday but for some reason the people at the consulate in New York didn’t respond to the application. Then it was the weekend so they responded on Monday morning saying I had applied for the wrong visa. We fixed it on Monday and it was supposed to be in Houston on Tuesday morning to get our flight but there was a problem with the delivery service in New York so I wasn’t able to fly out until Wednesday morning.

“I got a flight from Houston to Toronto and then my agents got me a helicopter ride from Glasgow to here.

“That was supposed to give me at least two hours before my tee time but my clubs decided not to show up.

“I managed to grab some other clubs and hit about 20 balls on the range before going out to play.”

After all that drama, it was no surprise Vegas shot a five over par round of 76.

He added: “At the end of the day, I gave it a try.

“I wouldn’t do that every single day but it’s fun playing The Open.

“This is only my second one so I wouldn’t really miss it for anything.”

“The past week has been a horror movie”