Paul Lawrie, a Scot from Dundee, a working-class town between St. Andrews and Carnoustie, became a gleeful beneficiary, beating Van de Velde and Justin Leonard in a playoff to embrace the Claret Jug. After 140 years, the Open still can learn lessons. I want to see it in the sand, where skill, intelligence and not brute strength are the main requirements. It will be an exam far different from U.S. Opens. More like Augusta National but far from a parallel.
Fairways are as expansive as Scotland's golfing soul.
Greens aren't just massive, they do double duty, with the same putting surface serving two holes. Of eight courses on the British Open rota, St. Andrews offers the least demands for driving accuracy and hitting greens in regulation. But no course, including Muirfield, Troon and Turnberry, has bunkers so tough and greens so challenging to putt. In the States, we grow up learning to fly shots a specific number of yards, aiming to rather quickly stop the ball on targets that can resemble helicopter landing pads. Golf is a feel deal in Britain, where we outsiders must learn when a 170-yard shot must fly maybe 145, then be allowed to bounce the rest of the way, which can mean aiming a dozen paces short of the putting surface.