On Sunday morning with a full back pack of rain gear and newly purchased Hunter boots from Selfridge's we went to St. Pancras Int'l station for our last train ride to and from Sandwich. The plan, similar to Friday, was to find a seat at the 18th hole bleacher and park for the day. Mission accomplished.
Sunday's weather, mostly windy with downpours, are conditions most golfers tend to avoid, but for those playing the Open. Weather is a big part what makes the Open, the Open! The Open pits weather conditions and course terrain against the players.
We were seated amongst locals rooting for Darren Clarke. Steph and I were quietly hoping that Lefty could hold the challenge he offered up in the front nine. Sadly, Phil faltered and lost his chance to win the Open.
Only four players scored under par and and three were at level par. This group of seven included 5 Americans (Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Chad Campbell, Anthony Kim and Ricky Fowler). The other 2 were Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke.
A review of the leaderboard shows the Americans had a good final rounds but were ultimatley victims of the weather. Clarke, on the other hand, managed to hold on to the lead he captured Friday when weather conditons were best.
The Open results challenge US golf media commentary that young American golfers lag behind the Europeans.
Here is the link to the Open website for the complete Leaderboard - http://scoring.opengolf.com/scorecentreplus/ .
In 2009 we were at the PGA Championship (the tournament Tiger lost to Y.E. Yang). It is hard to say which of the two tournaments was the better. The Open, however, is a very special experience given the challenges of links golf and weather conditions.
Time to start saving for St. Andrews!
We departed London Monday morning and arrived safely in Winnipeg that evening with our baggage greeted to a heat wave (32 C). Air Canada did not disappoint and came through with the anticipated delays, conflicting information and poor customer service.
Tuesday was back to work.
I am always amazed by how quickly a vacation becomes a distant memory.
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