Open 2009: Lyle defends his decision to quit last year's Open

Published on Monday 13 July 2009 22:46

A year after he was ridiculed for an ignominious retreat at Birkdale in the worst of the weather, Lyle has defended his actions, insisting he would make the same judgment in the same circumstances.

The champion golfer at Royal St George's in 1985, it was widely assumed Lyle's readiness to quit the Open after nine holes – he needed 45 blows to reach the turn – did his unsuccessful candidacy for the Ryder Cup captain's post no favours.

A straightforward man, Lyle's disinclination to talk up the hand injury which forced him out of the tournament backfired on the Scot. It was assumed a combination of high scores and miserable weather persuaded him not to continue.

Recalling the fierce criticism which came his way, Lyle insisted: "I would still make the same decision to walk off again, without doubt. I didn't walk off last year because of the weather. Obviously, the weather played a part – it wasn't like it was brilliant sunshine. There was just no point in carrying on. I knew there were some tough holes coming up. I was hitting it into the rough and with my hand as sore as it was, I didn't want to make it any worse. I was thinking about the Senior Open the following week when I made the decision. I didn't want to ruin my chances of playing in my first Senior Open."

As for that hand problem which forced the first-round withdrawal in 2008, Lyle changed his swing and is now free of injury. "It's gone now and that's thanks to the swing change," he added. "The angle I was creating on the downswing was jamming two knuckles together and when you are hitting hundreds of balls it hurts. I hit a couple of skanky ones on the opening holes last year and I couldn't feel anything in my right hand. The conditions didn't help because it was so cold. I couldn't feel anything."

In the end Lyle did feel the heat of opprobrium. The contempt for the Scot's readiness to capitulate to circumstance erased some of the affection for such a popular figure. Time, as always, lends perspective, and Lyle is glad to be back at the Ayrshire venue where he played some of the best golf of his career 30 years ago. Competing in the European Open, Lyle reached the eighth hole of the final round on the Ailsa in level 3s, a staggering run which included six birdies in the first seven holes. He eventually carded 65 to win the then massive sum of 17,500 and dislodge Seve Ballesteros as Europe's No1.

"I was a (tournament] pro at Turnberry for about five years," he recalled. "I had the name on the bag just after I won the Open. I wasn't living there but I was attached to Turnberry. I managed to win the European Open there in 1979, so I've had some good memories and some not so good memories. In 1986, I was defending and Greg Norman won."

With gorgeous views across the Firth of Clyde, it can be easy to mistake the beauty of the Ailsa for what's become a testing track. "It will be a big test," Lyle said. "The rough is going to be horrendous. It's very thick. I think if you can drive the ball well it will be important. You only have to get out of position a few times at Turnberry to be in trouble. There are massive amounts of bunkers now and it's like a minefield."

Lyle enters the Open with confidence following a fine showing at the Masters back in April. The Scot scored lower than Padraig Harrington to post a two-under par tally of 286 at Augusta and earn a share of 20th. "That was a nice week," he recalled. "I was still working on some swing changes and to go out there with the swing changes and play good golf was really very encouraging."