SPORTING ASPECT
The British Open
BY FRANK LITTLER THE new champion will be taking the trophy on its longest journey. Until last week—except for 1907, when Arnaud Massy was the winner—if the Cup left these shores it went either to a variety of addresses in the United States or to the mantelpiece of Arthur D'Arcy Locke. This year Australia's turn has come.
Thomson (72, 71, 69, 71) is a former Melbourne amateur, twenty-four years old, and there will be no emphasis here on a young and vigorous country, on a new challenge in fields Which have long been an Anglo-American-Germistonian Preserve. The truth is that Australian golf grew up a long time ago. Before the present champion was born, Joe Kirk- wood (from Riversdale, the same club) was driving balls off the face of a watch, stroking six-foot putts along a semi- circular line, and otherwise mystifying the onlookers with trick- shots no one attempts nowadays, either for cash or for fun. In later years, Jim Ferrier, with a less subtle magic, has been Pocketing cheque after cheque on the American tournament circuit.
But the real inspiration of Thomson's success—as he stressed at the prizegiving—has been Norman von Nida. Whatever may be thought of 'colourful personalities,' the Queensland professional was sparking British golf with his talent and his tantrums at a time when most of us could scarcely believe Hitler was dead. This trail-blazing, and a great deal of Personal encouragement from von Nida, was not wasted on the new champion.
His style is orthodox, except for a back-swing shorter than it need be, and in a game at which the tall and thin rarely excel his build is conveniently stocky. In many ways his career resembles Locke's. Both were toddlers beside a Commonwealth course, both shed amateur status, both have profited from American experience, and both have an attitude to the game which is neither casual nor obsessive. There were no ups and downs in Thomson's four rounds—the figures reveal steadiness rather than fireworks. It is a quality as marked in his demeanour as in his play.
Golf victories must always be related to their setting, and _newcomers to Birkdale are likely to be less hostile than down- right bewildered. The stranger's first impression, from either the road or the railway, would be of a vast, unkempt garden, fronted by an airport. The airport turns out to be a club- house, ` functional ' in style, and a careful descent into the willow-scrub (` Next time I play this course,' remarked Jim Turnesa, I'll play it on stilts, reveals hidden greenery. The fairways are narrow, many of them sinuous, the tees are perched on the dunes, and at the foot of these dunes nestle greens which look as though they have been tailored in more pastoral country and then delivered here complete.
This queer mixture of vegetation, handiwork and natural deposits was twice tamed by a 67 and several times by a 69. The winner, like many others probably if the truth were known, left his driver sheathed and used a spoon or a No. 4 wood from the tee. The jungle may be neutral, but it was better to be short and safe than long and lost.
S. S. Scott (surely the term ` standard scratch score ' was not in use when he wak christened ?) added one more course record to the many he already holds. Through lack of international experience he might well have cracked in his final round, but he kept his game under control and pleased the burghers of Carlisle by coming in second with 284. On this mark he was joined by Dai Rees, who had got into difficulties almost within touching distance of the last flag. Locke went out late in the afternoon, and turned on all the power he has for the 68 which would have given him his fourth title. His 68th shot, however, reached the eighteenth green too far from the stick. In situations like this he has often holed putts ` long enough to need a passport,' but this time he failed by little over a foot. With a creditable 70 he joined Rees and Scott for a share of the second place.
It is, frankly, impossible to sympathise with most of the 350 competitors. Open Championship or not, dozens and dozens of them had not the faintest chance of qualifying, let alone reaching the top twenty. Indeed the entry is now so unwieldy as to deter overseas challengers from coming. But it is easy to offer regrets to at least four previous runners-up —Dai Rees (perhaps by now the second best-known Welshman in London), Jimmy Adams, who turned in two 69s on the last day, Antonio Cerda, who must have saddened the cwnisados in his own country as well as his encouraging friends in this, and finally Frank Stranahan, who has again succeeded in proving that money isn't everything. (' If he doesn't win it this time,' Stranahan senior is reported to have said, ' put him to work.') The American professionals' bid is nowadays more senti- mental than severe. Turnesa---a name as dynastic in United States golf as Whitcombe is here—turned in the best score, to share third place. Of the others, Sarazen again showed the graciousness of his seniority, both on and off the course, and a really moving appearance was that of Al Watrous. an the Golden Twenties he gave Bobby Jones a fright at Lytham and St. Anne's, and though we were prevented from watching by a previous engagement (with quadratic equations and the ablative absolute) we played hooky three years later to see him in Walter Hagen's team at Leeds. That being a quarter of a century ago, his performance last week—surviving the qualifying rounds and then notching 300 for the rest—gave intense pleasure to everyone who remembered him.
Finally, it is no criticism of the present rota to suggest that the Open might henceforth move away from the coast. Britain is the only country in the world which insists on a Seaside venue for its major golfing event. There is no clear reason for the neglect of sylvan settings—of which we have plenty—nor for the fact that south of the Mersey only two clubs, and those adjacent, have been honoured with the Championship in all the long years of its history. Fifeshire winds and Birkdale scrub might well yield to the trees and lakes of a picturesque inland course.
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