A fitting Faldo finale
Nick says farewell in ’87 sweater
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Nick Faldo said goodbye to St. Andrews in style on Friday. The three-time British Open champion had a rough go of it Thursday to where he was lampooned by the British press, his frequent sparring partner. But Faldo got to write the ending.
For his final walk over the Swilken Bridge and up the 18th, Faldo pulled on the yellow Pringle cashmere sweater he wore when he won the first of his claret jugs at Muirfield in 1987. And that walk, with son Matthew on his bag, came after he shocked himself by making birdie on the Road Hole (17). A final par putt on 18 got him in with a 1-under 71, not bad for someone who “fell out of the TV tower.”
As Faldo stood on the historic Swilken Bridge, first with his hands outstretched and then with his son, the sun shone and the crowd roared.
“I don’t know what I really said to myself. I was just trying to say, ‘Thank you, St. Andrews,’” he said. “That’s why I looked at the gods, the St. Andrews golfing gods at 17. I thought, thank you very much for that. I felt beat up yesterday, but that was one of my great moments of any career, making a three there and walking the walk. That won’t get any better.”
Faldo, who shot an openinground 83, had contemplated not playing because of a cut finger, but his children talked him into it. “When your kids say you’re going, you’re going, aren’t you?” he said. “That was the goal of the week. The goal was to stand on the bridge and get the picture. I knew I was bringing this thing, bust out my ol’ Pringle, so I knew I was doing that. That was the image or the goal of the week, so I thought, you’ve got to do it. Matthew was great. He said, ‘Come on, I don’t care what you shoot, just walk. So we walked. And I got better and played better, and I hit some really good shots.”
MAJOR TOM MOMENT
The sun literally set on Tom Watson’s Open career. Bathed in the lights of the iconic R&A Clubhouse on 18, the five-time British champion tapped in for his bogey and hugged his son Michael, who was on his bag for the last walk.
The R&A could have called play earlier but allowed him to finish.
“Hold the flag son. I can’t even see it,” Watson said as he putted from off the green.
When he finished, he hugged his wife Hillary and said, “It’s over.”
“I don’t like to finish that way . . . it’s pretty ugly with a shank,” he said of his final bogey in a round of 80. “But there were no tears. I was thinking the whole time this is a joyous occasion. I’ve had so many beautiful memories, and those memories filled me up.
“I felt wonderful on the golf course but very inadequate with my golf game. It’s been a great 40 years.”
ROUGH ROAD
Matt Kuchar was sailing along at 3-under for the week until he ran afoul of the Road Hole. He was up near the face of the Road Hole Bunker and flew it out of there, up near the wall. With his backswing restricted, he pitched it onto the green but 3-putted from below the hole. He finished with a 73 and is even-par for the tournament.
UNFORGETTABLE
A memory lapse on the 17th hole took Steven Bowditch through a range of emotions. Bowditch, who turned in a fine 69, called a penalty stroke on himself when his ball moved in the wind after he addressed it on the green, but that rule had been changed.
“I forgot they changed the rule a year ago or two years ago that if the ball rolls while you’re putter is down and it’s not caused by you, basically caused by the wind, it’s not a penalty,” he explained. “I had a mind blank. I went from making a pretty soft (bogey) five to a really mad six to a felt-like-a-birdie five again.”
Bowditch told the rules official the ball moved, and when he was told it wasn’t a penalty, “I felt like I just won the lotto.”
As it turned out, the bogey provided him with momentum and he finished his round with a birdie on 18. He’s 5-under overall.
HAIL BRITANNIA
Zach Johnson is a Masters champ, but this is his favorite event.
“I love the game over here. I love this tournament,” he said after going to 8-under with a second round 71. “If I play well, well, that’s just icing on the cake, because I just embrace the week. It’s just tremendous golf. I know Augusta is Augusta and some of the other tournaments are tremendous, but this is just pure. This is pure.”