The historic Open Championship returns to St Andrews this year with the Old Course set to provide a stern but unique test for the very best players in the world, each of them battling to become the Champion Golfer of the Year. St Andrews has hosted The Open 28 times and remains among the most revered venues for the Major. We catch up with BBC’s Alex South about the historic event and its players.
The historic Open Championship returns to St Andrews -what according to you is the significance of that?
St Andrews is a magical place during the Open. If you only get to attend one Open Championship, then it is THE place to go. Hopefully, you will come away with the same feeling that the great Bobby Jones had in 1958 when he said, “I could take out of my life everything except my experiences at St Andrews and I would still have a rich, full life.”
The 700 year old Swilcan Burn Bridge, the 100 bunkers with ominous names like “Hell” and “Strath” and the notorious Road bunker on the 17th all help to make the course unique.
Playing golf at St Andrews is something special, and shows why golfers the world over consider it their sacred duty to experience it at least once.
Tom Watson talks about the course with incredible reverence. He told me it was seeing the great Jack Nicklaus win there which inspired him when he was growing up in Kansas City.
In the course of your interviewing champions, who would you say has been the most interesting Open champion you have spoken to and why?
Tom Watson and Greg Norman stand out to me. They were fascinating to listen to. What struck me most is the fact that, although they are completely different characters, they had one thing in common and that is a will to win that has to be admired.
They both came out with phrases that could have sat well in a self-help book. For instance Watson said “If you don’t want to be taught humility, don’t play the game.” Whereas Norman came out with “There’s a certain amount of control you can put on the game but you can’t control the game.” It comes as no surprise that both of these great sportsmen have also had a lot of success in business.
Share the experience of chatting with Tom Watson and how he interprets his career?
I was lucky enough to get an hour with Tom Watson at his country club in Kansas City. It only took a couple of emails and phone calls to set up and even when the original interview had to be postponed, due to the fact I couldn’t get there because of a snow storm, he very graciously rearranged a few things so he could speak to the BBC.
It’s his 40th year at the Open which is a unique achievement. We discussed the five times he picked up the Claret Jug. He remembered them all like it was yesterday, describing the famous “Duel in the Sun” with Nicklaus in HD quality.
He told lots of stories but the one that sticks out is a great tale about that final hole that day at Turnberry, which sums up both Watson and Nicklaus. Nicklaus has just holed a 40ft putt and the crowd goes wild and keeps getting louder. Watson is waiting to putt but he can’t wait forever, so he decides to address his ball even if the crowd is still cheering for Jack. He puts his ball down and picks up his marker. As Watson comes up, he sees out of the corner of his eye Jack gesturing to the crowd to be quiet and in 3 seconds that roar went to absolute silence. 3 seconds. 15,000 people round the green went deathly quiet. That’s the respect that those people had for the game and for Jack.
The respect these great rivals had for each other is admirable. All those battles they had and they never lost sight of their friendship.
What is your perspective on the wobbly performance of Tiger Woods of late?
Tiger Woods has embarked on countless comebacks and his latest isn’t exactly going well. Unfortunately this isn’t the usual story of recovery from injury, it is a return from a much deeper malaise. Suffering his worst professional round with a 13-over-par 85 at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio was a new low.
Wherever he plays, Woods finds himself the centre of attention but this is magnified to a potentially uncomfortable intensity at a tournament like the Open. It’s one of those golf tournaments that genuinely transcends.
It will be fascinating to see whether he sticks to his usual mantra of saying he’s only there to try to win or whether he concedes that his expectation levels have to be somewhat lowered.
Rory’s rights to Tiger’s spot are threatened by the rise of Jordan Spieth – any perspective on that?
Jordan Spieth has been like a breath of fresh air and the potential rivalry with Mcllroy is mouth-watering.
Spieth’s victories this year are his first in the majors and match the achievement of McIlroy in winning back-to-back titles after the Northern Irishman’s victories in the Open at Hoylake in July 2014 and in the US PGA at Valhalla the following month.
Spieth is ranked second in the world, behind McIlroy, but the American downplayed suggestions of a rivalry between the two.
Unfortunately for him he is the only one doing so. Golf experts and fans want this rivalry to grow into a great rivalry like a Watson v Nicklaus, Norman v Faldo or Woods v Mickleson. The game needs, no, demands it.
For the first time in the sports history, the two highest ranked stars hold all-four majors between them.
Spieth is now on a mission to rip the Claret Jug from the grasp of current holder, McIlroy, and become the first player since fellow-Texan Ben Hogan to win the first three majors of a calendar year.
Spieth, at just 21, has the world at his feet. He makes McIlroy feel like a seasoned professional and the onus is now on the Northern Irishman, just 26 remember, to respond.
Courtesy: Alex South – Reporter, BBC Sports. Alex South will interview Tom Watson on his show Sport Today Extra: Tom Watson. The show is scheduled on BBC World News on 11th July at 6 pm and 12th July at 6 am , 1 pm
