Champions humbled

For Watson, Ballesteros, past British Open glory tough to find

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Posted: Thursday July 16, 1998 04:00 PM

Tom Watson may have five British Open titles, but his opening-round 73 may have taken away his chance at a sixth (AP)

SOUTHPORT, England (Reuters) -- Tom Watson and Seve Ballesteros, with eight British Open titles between them, lost their way badly Thursday on the first day of the 1998 event.

Three-time winner Ballesteros flailed his tee shots into the Royal Birkdale rough, sighing theatrically, while playing partner Watson, with five titles under his belt, bellowed at himself as he zigzagged from one side of the course to another.

Watson and Ballesteros, with a combined age of 89, both finished with 3-over 73s, while Steve Stricker, the junior partner at 31, showed the old hands how the game should be played with a steady, par 70.

"Hit straight, Hit Straight," Watson shouted at himself at the sixteenth as he bogeyed.

The 48-year-old American and the golfer most youngsters still seek to emulate, found the bunkers five times on Thursday as his sure touch deserted him on the back nine.

Compatriot Stricker fumbled nervously at first in front of the two big name old-timers but blossomed as Ballesteros began firing his tee-shots into the rough.

The Spaniard invariably pulled off stunning second shots to save par -- on one occasion playing a stroke more at home in baseball as he lashed the ball from a waist-high bank.

But the constant scrambling eventually punished the 41-year-old and he ended his 3-over round in front of an adoring crowd at the 18th with a humiliating three-putt.

Watson started strongly and had just carded his first birdie on the seventh when catastrophe struck in the form of a double bogey at the next.

The normally unflappable American drove his tee-shot into a left-hand bunker and then only just managed to blast out onto the lip. His shot from there ended up in a greenside bunker and he needed all his experience to avoid a triple bogey.

While this was going on, Ballesteros was occupying the other bunker on the eighth while Stricker -- puzzled by the amount of sand flying around -- stuck to the middle of the fairway.

Ballesteros, whose form has dipped alarmingly over the past three years, said he only had himself to blame: "I hit three bad tee shots for my three early bogeys. I did not putt very well."

Watson was equally tough on himself: "A lot of bunkers. I struggled on a few holes and I never really got going. I putted well, but did not keep the ball in play enough."

Stricker, meanwhile, calmly carded a par round to keep him in contention for what would be his first major championship.

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