Open Championship Mop Up

A few tidbits from Monday's aftermath of the Stewart Cink-Tom Watson Open at Turnberry.

Lawrence Donegan in The Guardian:

Cink is a decent enough cove (although his invocation of the Almighty in his victory speech jarred with those who believe that God has more pressing matters to deal with the outcome of sporting events) but he acknowledged when asked if he felt like the villain in Hollywood romance who stole the hero's girlfriend, this was the victory no one wanted "Well as long as I get the girl I am OK with that," he said.

Steve Elling at CBSSports.com:

It's not Cink's fault, but millions invested their hearts with Watson. It felt like when Geoff Ogilvy inherited the U.S. Open title three years ago after Harrington, Furyk, Montgomerie and Mickelson all made a mess of the 18th hole. But mind you, Cink had four birdies over the last eight holes. He shot 69 and was the lone player who began Sunday within five strokes of the lead who broke par. So he clearly earned his win.

Thomas Bonk at GolfDigest.com:

ABC had scheduled Watson to work Sunday's fourth round in the network's so-called halfway house, a booth near the lighthouse. But that didn't work out, of course, due to the fact that Watson happened to be leading the tournament at the time. On Saturday, Watson ran into ABC's Mike Tirico. Said Watson: "Am I fired?" Said Tirico: "You fired yourself."

A couple of encouraging remarks from Peter Dawson in this Mike Aitken piece regarding the age limit.

"I think there are many ways to phrase an exemption," reasoned Dawson. "I mean, one could have an extension of the age limit for any past champion who had performed particularly well.

And...

"It's great to see the names of the past competing. But I do think it's important that we see them in a state where they are reasonably competitive.

Sounds like there will be some creative ways they can ensure he's eligible to 65 based perhaps on recent performance. However, creative and the R&A are not things you generally associate with one another.

Bob Harig at ESPN.com notes that Watson moved to 105th in the world rankings from 1,374th, a jump of 1,269 spots and says that "Official World Golf Ranking representatives said it is the biggest one-week jump since the rankings began in 1986."

He also writes:

The PGA of America is considering offering Watson an exemption into the PGA Championship next month at Hazeltine and has until Aug. 3 to finalize its invites. The PGA is the only major keeping Watson from having a career Grand Slam.

A Scottish Herald report (Douglas Lowe?) shares this interesting note:

Astonishingly for someone with his record, Watson still earned more for his second place - £450,000 - than he did in his previous 31 Opens.

His debut win at Carnoustie in 1975 was worth £7500, his "Duel in the Sun" triumph at Turnberry in 1977 earned him £10,000 and for Muirfield 1980, Troon in 1982 and Birkdale in 1983 the sums were £25,000, £32,000 and £40,000.

Watson's total earnings from the championship before this weekend were £368,592. Now they are £818,592.

Derek Lawrenson says he's hoping for a return to Turnberry...someday in the not forseeable future after the hotel is complete and they figure out a way to attract crowds.

This was the only Open I've attended in 26 years that didn't feel like an Open. Indeed, there was so little buzz during the first three rounds it felt like one of those minor European Tour events you see on Sky where the on-course commentator is doubling the audience.

OK, I'm exaggerating, but not by much.