Agony at 18th denies Green record

Published on Monday 23 July 2007 00:05

AS CURSES go, the one that Alan Tait seems to have left on his course record at Carnoustie threatens to be of the long-term variety. Events over four riveting days at the great Angus links suggest that the 64 the Scottish club professional shot 13 years ago is primed to repel all comers.

Before the Open championship that was completed yesterday, only Colin Montgomerie had threatened to eclipse the mark established by Tait in the 1994 Scottish PGA Championship. Even the eight-time European Order of Merit winner, however, managed only a tie in the Scottish Open of 1995. On Saturday, the American, Steve Stricker, reached seven under par after a birdie at the 14th hole, leaving him requiring just one more to give him a 63. Four successive pars on the home stretch left him undoubtedly elated at promoting himself to second place on the leaderboard, but also frustrated at coming so close to an entry in the Carnoustie archive.

In the final round yesterday, Richard Green's extraordinary deeds would make Stricker's disappointment seem like a celebration. The Australian left-hander, with a four-under-par run of 32 strokes to the turn - and in the worst of the discouragingly wet conditions - had reached seven under by the time he left the 14th green. This palpitation-inducing figure had been reached via a birdie at the 13th and an eagle 3 on the next. When another shot was picked at the par-4 17th, Green had the new record in his hands, eight under, and with a par 4 required at the 72nd hole.

If that last, formidable obstacle was to be successfully negotiated, Green realised, a precision drive would be imperative. It is an indicator of the danger in that tee shot that Green should be able to reflect on his ball being sent no more than a yard left of its intended flight. "I definitely felt a bit of pressure on that tee," he recalled afterwards. "It's a very demanding hole. It's just over 500 yards and there's so much trouble on both sides from off the tee that you really have to focus on what you're doing and make a good swing.

"I felt I made a good swing, but the ball started just a yard left of my intended line and ended up in the rough. That's how precise you have to be with that drive. If the lie in the rough had been any better, I would probably have had a go at the green with my second. I had said to my caddie Stuart [Dryden] that if the lie was good, I would give it a go. If it's not, it answers the question for you, there's no decision to be made."

Having sensibly laid up and found the green in three, however, the 36-year-old Melbourne man still had a putt for the par which would give him a distinction of which to be proud. From around 15 feet, the strike was solid, but the ball slid past the hole on the left.

"The emotions I was feeling at that point, it was obviously a question of focusing on giving myself as good an opportunity as I could. I read it as well as I could possibly have read it and probably hit as good a putt as I was going to hit. But it just missed on the low side.

"But I was walking off after that, very happy with my round of golf. It leaves me in good shape for the rest of the year. Obviously, playing well in an Open and, without winning, it will probably be my best result in a major. It's given me good experience, so I can't complain."