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Notebook Fasth gets second place, Ryder Cup berth
LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) -- Niclas Fasth got two treats for the British Open: second place in his first Open and a guaranteed spot on the prestigious Ryder Cup team. The little-known 29-year-old Swede shot 4-under 67 Sunday to finish at 7-under 277 -- three shots behind American David Duval, and one ahead of Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Billy Mayfair, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer. The second place guaranteed him a spot on this year's European Ryder Cup team, moving up to sixth from 19th with only seven qualifying events left. The top 10 qualify automatically. Fasth said he hadn't even thought about the prestigious biennial competition against the United States, which is set for Sept. 28-30 at the Belfry in Birmingham, England. "Nothing before today," he said. "I really haven't had time to think about anything after the round." Fasth tried to play both the U.S. and European tours in 1998 and failed miserably, making only three of 15 cuts in the U.S. and winning only $20,360. "I spent all my time on a plane," he said. He has won only once in Europe -- the Madeira Island Open a year ago. But he has been in the mix this year with two top-three finishes. But his best finish -- a tie for second last month in the Irish Open -- is nothing compared to being runner-up in golf's oldest event. "It's wonderful," said Fasth, who won $504,000 for finishing second in the only major he's ever played. That's almost twice what he's won playing 14 tournaments this season in Europe.
Not this timeSergio Garcia, who was 5-under for the tournament -- five behind Duval -- figures there's more to winning a major than good putting."In the majors you have to be lucky to win and I wasn't," he said after shooitng 1-under 70 on Sunday. "So I have to keep doing what I'm doing and when somebody decides it's my turn to win, then ... I'll win it."
Darren's chanceDarren Clarke's third-place tie wasn't his best finish in the British Open. He was second in 1997. But Sunday may have been his best chance to win golf's oldest major.He went to the 17th at 8-under for the tournament, well within reach of eventual winner David Duval. Duval, playing three groups behind, eventually won at 10-under. Call it nerves. Call it what you will. Clarke hit a severe hook off the tee that landed in a fairway bunker and eventually produced a double bogey 6. The hole saw him land another shot in the grandstand and one more in a greenside bunker. Adios. "I hit my tee shot too well and ran out of fairway," is how the Northern Irishman put it. "I tried to hit a low, hard draw and hit it too far." Did it cost him the tournament? "No. It cost me the opportunity," he replied. Clarke, a promising European who has never quite delivered, seemed to take it all in stride, puffing away before and after the round on his trademark Cohiba cigar. "It's just one of those sort of things. ... What do you want me to do, break all the clubs in my bag? What else can I do?"
Tiger talkTiger Woods described the British Open as "fun" after struggling with his driver and finding hip-high heather and a dozen bomb-crater bunkers.Woods finished at 1-under 283 after an even-par 71 on Sunday, tied for 25th. "I enjoyed this test. This was fun," he said. "I just wasn't able to swing the club properly this week, my mechanics were a little bit off. Today was the only day I felt like I could swing the club off the tees. "Today I drove it great, I drove it on a string today. "I just didn't have it the first three days. ... You're not going to play well every week. Everyone who plays this game understands that. "I ground it out the best I possibly could. I got a lot out of my scores this week. Thanks goodness I was chipping and putting pretty good. If I could have driven it the way I did today the first three days, I think I would have been closer to the lead."
Don't askJohn Paramor, the PGA European Tour's chief referee, was the man who called the two-stroke penalty on Ian Woosnam when the Welshman discovered he had 15 clubs in his bag instead of the allowed 14.Would Woosnam have been discovered if he hadn't turned himself in? "I don't know," Paramor said. "Almost certainly you're going to find it eventually, aren't you? These guys do it all the time. It's a self-regulating game. You have to remember that. The guys referee themselves. We're just there to help if they get into problems." Did Paramor think the offending caddy Miles Byrne would keep his job? "I don't know," the Englishman said. "I didn't think it was prudent to ask."
Langer RyderBernhard Langer, who has been on the European Ryder Cup team nine times, thinks he should be on the one that plays Sept. 28-30 against the Americans.Langer, who finished tied for third Sunday and shared the lead after three rounds with Duval, finished with an even-par 71 Sunday and a 6-under 278. Langer, who is in 14th place in the points standings (the top 10 qualify automatically), will probably need to be picked as a wild card by captain Sam Torrance. "I hope this sends Sam another message after my performance in Memphis [where he finished second in the FedEx St. Jude Classic]. "I was also the best European in the Masters, I was second best here and I was best in the fifth major, which is the Tournament Players Championship." The European team's top 10 through Sunday includes: Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn, Padraig Harrington, Pierre Fulke, Lee Westwood, Niclas Fasth, Colin Montgomerie, Phillip Price, Paul McGinley and Andrew Coltart.
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