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The Week: Midwest Express Western Open winner Jerry Kelly already had his ticket, but 15 others earned a trip to Muirfield in IllinoisBy Gary Van Sickle
The road to Muirfield goes through ... Lemont, Ill.? It's true. While Jerry
Kelly won the Advil Western Open at Cog Hill's Dubsdread Course in an
entertaining duel with Davis Love III (who would be platinum level in a
Frequent Runners-up Club), several other players duked it out in a tournament
within the tournament. Fifteen qualifying spots into next week's British Open
were available -- seven for the top money winners from the Western, the four
events leading up to it and the Players Championship who were not already
exempt, and eight more for the highest Western Open finishers not already
exempt.
The main goal for all the competitors at the British will be stopping Tiger Woods, who was a no-show at Cog Hill. Woods had planned to play in his sixth consecutive Western but pulled out due to flulike symptoms, possibly a delayed U.S. Open hangover. "He told me he was toasted -- just exhausted," said Tour veteran John Cook, who lives near Woods in Windermere, Fla. The disappointment over Woods's exit was not universal, however. "I figure we just added three-quarters of a million dollars to the purse and cut 10 minutes off the driving time from my hotel to the course," said Brandel Chamblee. Without Woods, the tournament's focus turned to Muirfield, which will host the Open for the first time since Nick Faldo won there a decade ago. "If Tiger is going to win all four majors this year, this might be the hardest one," said 1994 British champion Nick Price. "It's a shotmaker's course. It's not long, just over 7,000 yards. It's not about killing the ball; it's about position. There were only six or eight guys who hit it long enough to win at Bethpage. There's triple that many who could win at Muirfield." Steve Stricker, a Wisconsinite like Kelly, earned a berth into the British Open. He shot a final-round 65 to come in 13th, making a par save on the 72nd hole with a dicey sand shot to a pin on a severe slope. He canceled a fishing trip to northern Wisconsin that he had planned if he didn't make the British, but he didn't care. "I hate to miss majors, and the thought of missing this one was grinding on me," he said. Another player to watch at Muirfield is Peter Lonard, an Australian who played his way into the British by tying for fifth at the Western with Stuart Appleby, Neal Lancaster, Chris Riley and Duffy Waldorf, all of whom also earned British berths. Lonard, a 34-year-old world traveler who has quietly moved to 28th on the money list in his rookie Tour season, recently bought a house in Orlando and plans to sell his residence in Berkshire, England. "I like this Tour," he said. "When you have time off, you can actually practice because it's not raining. I'm here until you can get rid of me." Though Lonard has never played Muirfield, he said, "I take it for granted that it's like every other British Open where you've got to hit it five feet off the ground. That's me. I can hit it lower than anyone. I can't wait to get there." Lonard's charge bumped David Gossett out of the British Open. Gossett, a former U.S. Amateur champion, had competed at Muirfield in the '98 British Amateur. "I remember a practice round when it was cold, windy and raining sideways," Gossett said. "I was loving it. Everybody else was in the clubhouse saying, 'Who's that crazy guy?' It was awesome." He's not going back this year. His road to Muirfield dead-ended in Lemont. O.B. —Seth Davis Issue date: July 15, 2002 |
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