Jul 23 2009
Recap of the 2009 British Open Championship
The Fairway Bunker was on vacation this past week, at least Mike was, and that’s why there were no updates regarding the Open Championship. So, we had Brendan follow the tournament and write a recap. So, better late than never, here it is.
What a weekend at Turnberry. Congratulations to Stewart Cink and Tom Watson!
Stewart Cink won his first major championship by beating Tom Watson in a four hole playoff. Cink made a birdie putt to put himself one shot behind Watson on the 18th, then all Watson had to do was par the next hole and he would have been the champ. But as we all saw, he choked and then fell apart during the playoff, and Cink won by six strokes.
This win really turns Cink’s career around. He hasn’t been the greatest golfer since joining the PGA Tour in 1995. He has missed at least one cut at a major every year since 2000. But this win changes everything. He will be viewed by history as a much better golfer because of this. It’s like Kobe winning his first championship without Shaq.
It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts after this win, and how he plays. I’m sure his overall stats won’t change much, but now he knows what it takes to win a major. He also moves up to 13th in the FedEx Cup rankings, putting him in good position for the playoffs.
And what can you say about Tom Watson? He put on a great show. He’s 59-years-old and still came in second, which is truly amazing. It’s too bad that he couldn’t pull it out in the end, but I still think he’s pretty happy. I was trying to get my friend to watch his putt for the championship, but she wasn’t really interested. I don’t think people fully understand what he just did. It’s like Dan Marino coming back after 13 years of retirement and taking his team to the Super Bowl.
Luckily for the media, Tom Watson came back from the grave and remembered how to play. It gave them something positive to talk about with Tiger missing the cut. It was really fun to watch his run at the Claret Jug. I’m guessing that we’ve seen the last of Watson, unless he sees this as an opportunity to come back for a bit, but I seriously doubt that. If this was his last surge, I’m glad I got to see it, and it made the Open exciting.
Now, let’s talk about Tiger missing the cut. We discussed Tiger not winning in our Open Championship preview, but we never thought he would actually miss the cut. This is the first time he has missed the cut in a major since missing the cut at the US Open in ‘06. I don’t really think this is a big deal at all. He had the longest streak for making the cut at championships with 38 consecutive cuts made, which is more than incredible.
That’s the thing that separates Tiger from everyone else, his consistency… and the number of people who yell “Get in the hole!!” from his tee shot on a par 5. Samuel L. Jackson showed us that you just, “Gotta know how to say it,” at the ESPYs in this goofy short golf video with Justin Timberlake.
I wouldn’t worry one bit about Tiger; he had some problems with his swing that he needs to go back to the well with, but he’ll be back and ready for the Buick Open. The time to worry is when he starts having more knee problems. Then panic.
