2010 British Open
Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:15:44
After a great family holiday in Italy, I’ve arrived in St. Andrews for the Open Championship. This is one of my favourite weeks of the year. A week in which you get a true sense of how old and rich the game of golf is. Everywhere you go there is golf, on the streets, in the pubs and with the people.
My time in Italy was great! It gave me a chance to spend some time with my family and recharge my batteries. I did actually find a small course in Italy where I was able to hit a few balls. We saw a lot of the country and rented a great place in Tuscany. There we had a wonderful woman named Giovana cook for us every night, making fresh pasta topped with lots of cheese and coupled with the beer and wine. I think I may have put on a few pounds!
Before I left I worked with my coach, Mike Wilson, to iron out a few things at The Telus Skins Game. I felt really good playing those two days up there, especially the second nine. Now it’s back to business and I’m hoping I can build on that again here at St. Andrews.
I’m also hoping that the originality needed here at The Old Course will help me out. I’ve always liked links golf because it requires certain creativity. Here, you don’t play such a straight-forward game. It seems there’s always more than one way to get the ball in the hole. For instance, on the 13th hole, I’ve found that hitting it into the sixth fairway provides me with a better angle into the green and therefore I hit my tee shot almost over the grandstand. Then there’s the whole matter of getting to the green – you can fly it, hit a little skipper or even putt it – it’s not unusual to have 40-yard putts out here.
I had a great moment here on Sunday when I was playing. I was practicing playing a shot off the road on the 17th hole – it seems you almost always have to do that at least once during an Open here – and I could hear someone walking up the road. As I hit the ball and watched it roll up to about five feet, I turned around to see Arnold Palmer. Mr. Palmer said I hit a good shot and told me the story about when he won here. He had hit the 17th three times in regulation and three-putted all three times. The one time he hit it down on the road where I had just been, and he got it up and down for a par.
Playing shots from the road is a perfect example of what inspires me about the Open Championship – it’s just so different and so much fun
To be honest, I would have thought that my record in this championship would have been better than it is at this point in my career. I’m hoping that maybe I’ll do better in my 40s than I did in my 20s and 30s.
Finally, on Tuesday night, I had a chance to meet up with some of the Canadian media who are here covering the Open and to pay tribute to Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star. Perky, as we all know him, will be attending his 49th and last major as he is retiring at the end of July. He’s one of the greats and it was fun to celebrate his career with a pint. Thanks to John Kawaja and all the folks at Taylor Made for hosting us. Enjoy your retirement, Perky. You’ve earned it.
As always, thanks for your support.
Mike
