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 British Open Notebook Montgomerie mystified after another Open missed cut
Posted: Friday July 17, 1998 07:08 PM
SOUTHPORT, England (AP) -- Colin Montgomerie, Europe's best player the last five seasons, missed the British Open cut Friday for the fifth time in the last seven years with a 7-over 73-74--147. Even an eagle-birdie finish didn't help. "I wish I knew the answer," said Montgomerie. "If I did, I'd have worked it out six years ago when my Open form went south." Montgomerie continues as the best active player never to have won a major and now aims at the 1999 Open in Carnoustie. "I suppose I can look forward to next year. I hold the course record with 64 at Carnoustie," he said. Daly's damageTen. Count 'em. John Daly took a sextuple-bogey 10 on the 18th hole Friday at the British Open and needed help keeping track of the carnage. Payne Stewart, who was marking Daly's card, lost track of the count and had to be aided by the other member of the threesome, Bernhard Langer. Daly finished with an 8-over 78 -- 11 over for two rounds -- and took himself out of a tournament he won three years ago. Daly hit a fairway bunker on his drive. He blasted out but landed in another fairway trap. Then, in Stewart's words, "took five swishes at the ball" to escape -- only to land in a greenside bunker. He blasted out again and two-putted from 10 feet. "When you hit those bunkers, you just have to take your medicine," Stewart said. "He was not a happy camper when he left here." Weather reportAll-day sunshine is expected to return Saturday with winds kicking up to 20-25 mph. Sunday could bring heavy rain for a time, but should clear in the afternoon with sun and scattered showers. Winds could reach 30 mph in the final. Wildlife guideWhere else but a British Open would reporters be given a guide to the abundant flora and fauna just off the Royal Birkdale fairways? "The wildlife changes as you walk around the golf course," explains a guide produced by English Nature, the conservancy council for England. "The dunes inland have been colonized by plants that are different from those by the seashore." A small sampling hole by hole: mute swan (first hole), wild asparagus (third), water mint (fifth), oyster catcher (eighth), gray partridge (13th), gray heron (14th), sand lizard (17th). Chip shots: The 1996 Open champion Tom Lehman, who strained his right shoulder doing a handstand Tuesday while playing with his three children, went out Friday with a 9-over 79 after a 71 Thursday. "I just didn't feel right," he said. "I wasn't 100 percent or even close." And the shoulder? "Just tightness and stiffness and soreness," he said. ... Last year's champion Justin Leonard shot 6-over 73-73 and said, "this is probably the toughest pill I have had to swallow in my career." ... Australian Steve Elkington, the 1995 PGA champion, withdrew with a pinched nerve in his neck after opening with a 5-over 75. Francis Howley of Ireland also dropped out with a tendon injury after an opening 78. ... A total of 355 shots found bunkers in the first round. Royal Birkdale has 117 bunkers. ... Ernie Els, on what makes a good caddie: "Someone who turns up at the first tee on time and sober." ... English 17-year-old amateur Justin Rose on hitting a shot 15 rows up into the grandstand in the first round: "I thought they were falling asleep."
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