Torrance still among best in the business

NOT even Tiger Woods grinds harder than Bob Torrance. Up before the kitchen staff at the Carnoustie Hotel around five yesterday morning, the 75-year-old Scot was flummoxed when he couldn't get a cup of coffee in the foyer before heading out to the range to meet up with long-term pupil Paul Broadhurst, who needed assistance before setting off in the dawn patrol three-ball at 6.30am.

A gentle and wise soul, the one failing Torrance won't tolerate in others, whether it's golfers or whoever, is a work-shy attitude. When it comes to teaching players, he'll help anyone, from a postman on sabbatical, Eddie Thomson, to one of the world's top ten professionals, Padraig Harrington, provided they're willing to roll up their sleeves.

The only one of today's coaches who was at Carnoustie in 1953 to watch Ben Hogan complete the Grand Slam, the history of the modern game courses through Torrance's veins. In awe of Woods' almost mystical ability to hole putts under duress, the Scot told the world No 1 at St Andrews seven years ago he was the chosen one. Well aware of Torrance's reputation as one of the most gifted teachers who ever lived, Woods replied: "Coming from you, Bob, that means a lot."

When Thomas Bjorn worked with Torrance four years ago, in the summer he finished second at the Open, the Dane said: "Bob's biggest asset is that he has seen them all, the best ball-strikers from the days of Hogan and Sam Snead to today. None of the other teachers have that. He has 50 years of experience and there is no substitute for that."

Thanks to the attention to detail Torrance brings to his work every day - the Scot has the shrewdest eyes in golf - four of his pupils, Paul McGinley, Harrington, Alastair Forsyth and Broadhurst all featured on the second-round leaderboard at the Open yesterday.

As a thank-you to this titan of Scottish golf, the Association of Golf Writers, at a dinner here on Tuesday evening, presented Torrance with an award to commemorate a lifetime in the game. The world No 10, who paid a glowing tribute to the man who transformed his swing, was unstinting in his appreciation.

"If you compare pictures of my swing today with the one I had as a Walker Cup player, you'll see I don't look like the same person," said Harrington, who either stays in the spare room at Bob and June's house when he visits Largs or at a small hotel 50 yards from their door. Asked about his best-known pupil, Torrance describes the tireless Dubliner as the golfer he'd waited all his life to meet. "There are no short-cuts in this game and Padraig was ready to put in all the effort and more," he said.

If he can eliminate the late errors which marred an otherwise steady performance - he dropped three strokes over the closing four holes yesterday - and challenge for his first major at Carnoustie this weekend, Harrington admits it would be a very emotional occasion for both men. Because it was here, more than half a century ago, that Torrance first saw on Hogan and the way he looked at golf changed forever.

Before he saw Hogan for himself, Torrance had a bet of half a crown with a friend that the American would not win the Open. Once he saw him, however, the curtains opened.

It would be over the top to describe Torrance's home as a shrine to the Hawk, but a signed photograph hangs on a wall and Hogan's dedication informs every aspect of his professional life. Love of the game rather than pursuit of wealth continues to distinguish the work of someone who grasped early on in his teaching career that there was no one-size-fits-all method in golf. Having watched all of the great players of the past half century in action for himself, Torrance believes the only qualities shared by the game's champions are dedication, mental strength and consistency of performance. Asked about Forsyth, whose ball-striking was transformed during the winter months in Largs, the coach first points to his head and then to his heart. "Alastair has got it here, and here," he said.

McGinley, who compiled his round of the season at Carnoustie on Thursday, started work with Torrance ten years ago and still rates the Scot as the best coach in the world. "He has a tremendous insight into the game, without the need of video cameras or other gadgets," noted the Ryder Cup player. "Everything is instinctive with him. He can pick out a player's faults just by looking at him."

Torrance believes the takeaway and the start of the downswing are the key components. He also sees a consistent tempo as hugely influential. However, swinging a club is just one part of the equation. "If you don't play and score, the rest is worthless," he cautions.

On the range at Carnoustie earlier in the week, Tom Lehman, who once had a Ryder Cup spat with Torrance's son Sam at Brookline, was the latest major winner to spend time with the legend. "I learned more about my swing in that hour with Bob than I'd done in the last four years," said Lehman.