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 Woods, Westwood co-favorites Royal Birkdale to be tougher course this time
Posted: Wednesday July 15, 1998 11:30 AM
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) -- When Royal Birkdale last played host to the British Open, Ian Baker-Finch was at the top of his game and par was a high score on a calm weekend that featured the course at its most benign. Leap ahead seven years and a lot has changed on the rolling hills and sand dunes hugging the coast of the Irish Sea. And not all of it involves Baker-Finch, whose game went into such a funk after he won here in 1991 that he will spend this British Open in a broadcasting booth. The greens are new, the rough a little deeper and the fairways a bit narrower. But it is the wind that has howled here all week that has players shaking their heads in disbelief and talking about U.S. Open-type scores in the third major of the year. "If it stays like this, 290 [10-over-par] would be real good," U.S. Open runner-up Payne Stewart said. "When you come over here you expect this kind of weather, but for the last few years we have had very nice weather." Not so far this year, as the weather has been so bad in practice rounds that players were running out of balls after the wind carried shot after shot into the knee-deep meadow rye grass that sways in the breeze between fairways. Tom Lehman lost six balls on the ninth hole alone, and U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen didn't even begin to look for some of his wayward shots. "I cannot think of a time I've lost more golf balls without hitting the water than I have in the last two days," Janzen said. Just when the world's best players were getting over conditions at the Olympic Club, where Janzen shot even par to win, Royal Birkdale served notice that it won't be the pushover it was in 1991 when Baker-Finch shot 64-66 the last two days to win his only major. Baker-Finch's 8-under 272, which included a 29 on the front nine of the final round, was the best score shot in the seven Opens at Royal Birkdale, a par-70 that plays plenty long at 7,018 yards. The wind didn't blow that year, however, as it has during the blustery practice rounds as players have struggled to remain steady over the ball while being peppered at times by rain. "I cannot see anybody shoot under par for four days if it stays like this," Janzen said. Conditions were so bad at times that Lehman hit driver-driver and couldn't reach the 421-yard second hole. Some players couldn't hit the ball far enough into the wind to reach the fairway on the 480-yard, par-4 sixth. When the wind was at its worst Monday, Tiger Woods could hit a 3-iron only 152 yards on the par-3 seventh hole. Of course, Woods then nearly reached the green with his tee shot on the downwind 457-yard 8th hole after being urged by playing partner Mark O'Meara to hit it over the dogleg to within a few yards of the green. 'They said they wanted me to try a driver so I hit it up in the wind, hit it 440 or something,' Woods said. 'It was something out there for fun to see how far I can hit it and see what happens.' British oddsmakers have made Woods and Lee Westwood co-favorites to win the Claret Jug when the 127th Open championship begins Thursday. It is the first time Woods has not been a sole favorite in any tournament he entered since winning the Masters last year. Westwood is now the hotter golfer after winning for the seventh time on four continents in the last seven months last week at the Loch Lomond in Scotland. "If I were a betting man, I would put a good bet on him," Lehman said. "He has his confidence going and he has every right to have it. He should be a strong factor here." Westwood, the 25-year-old who has inherited the mantle of Britain's best player from Nick Faldo, hits the ball low and straight, an advantage in any windy conditions. He also has a deft touch around the greens. And if he is around the lead come Sunday, Westwood says it won't be because of nerves if he is denied his first major championship. "I'm not afraid to win so, you know, if I do get the opportunity I hope to take it," Westwood said. Last year's winner, Justin Leonard, is among the usual list of contenders, as is Nick Price, Ernie Els and Lehman. Adding a little flavor to the field are a pair of hot amateurs in U.S. Amateur champion Matt Kuchar and 18-year-old Spanish standout Sergio Garcia. Gary Player, appearing in his 43rd consecutive Open, is in the field of 156, but the biggest news is the absence of Jack Nicklaus, who at the age of 58 is ending his incredible streak of 146 consecutive majors. Also missing is Baker-Finch, who won only the Australian PGA after his 1991 win, and whose game went so bad that he shot 92 in the opening round last year at Royal Troon and withdrew from the tournament. Baker-Finch will be in the ABC booth helping broadcast the tournament, and says he has no plans to compete professionally in the near future. "To see what Ian had to struggle through was difficult for anyone, but he's probably doing the right thing right now,' said Masters champion O'Meara, who practiced regularly with Baker-Finch. 'It can be very humbling and golf is a very humbling game."
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