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Wednesday, Jul. 14
Nobody's game suits Carnoustie

By Bob Harig
Special to ESPN Golf Online

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- The tales of woe are becoming as long as a summer day in Scotland, and horror stories abound. The tournament has yet to begin, and to hear the players talk, it might never end.

 Tiger Woods
U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart believes 75 will be a good score at Carnoustie.

The 128th British Open stars Thursday with players seemingly afraid to stick a tee in the ground. The rough is too rough, the fairways aren't fair, the wind actually blows hard.

At 7,361 yards, the Carnoustie course is the longest in the history of golf's oldest tournament. Par is 71.

"Any hole out here this week you make par on you have done well," Payne Stewart said. "If the wind blows, there is no telling what can win. ... You could see an astronomical score win this golf tournament. I mean, 75 will be a great round of golf, but they're going to hand the Claret Jug to somebody no matter what the score is."

And therein lies the key to this British Open. Stewart mastered that philosophy in winning the U.S. Open last month, never getting deterred when shots went astray, keeping his motto in mind all week.

Can he do it again? That kind of attitude will help, but Carnoustie is bound to bring other factors into play. Length off the tee will be important, simply because the course is so long. Six par-4s measure more than 460 yards. The par-3 16th measures 250.

That would seem favor players such as Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III and David Duval, all known for their length.

"I think this course suits anyone who is playing well," Woods said. "Anyone who is controlling their trajectory, because on this course, you are going to have to deal with some adversity, some wind, some rain, some calm. You have to adapt your game to those conditions and be committed to your shots. Whoever is feeling that confident will do well."

So perhaps that does not rule out a short hitter. In fact, being accurate off the tee might be more beneficial due to the deep and penal rough, which could serve to take away the long hitters advantage.

"There are some holes, if you don't hit the perfect tee shot, you are going to make bogey or worse," said 1989 British Open champion Mark Calcavecchia.

Singh said he might not hit a driver on the first nine. Duval and Stewart each mentioned several holes where they believed it was imperative to hit an iron off the tee in order to keep the ball in the fairway. A combination of length and accuracy is always important, which wouldn't hurt Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, who considers his chances better when the rough is high.

"It's going to be a heck of a contest just to try and keep the ball somewhere in the short grass and try to make pars," said defending champion Mark O'Meara, whose winning total was even par at Royal Birkdale. "On some holes, bogey is going to be a good score. You're going to miss a lot of greens out there, so your short game is going to have to be good and you're going to have to make some putts."

That would seem to serve players such as O'Meara, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard and Lee Janzen, all known for their strong short games.

"I've never seen the place looking better, but thank goodness it's not blowing," said three-time British Open champion Gary Player, who won the tournament here in 1968. "You can play a beautiful round of golf here and still shoot 83. That's how tough it is. In 45 years as a professional, I have never seen such long rough at a major championship venue or such narrow fairways."

In the end, it might simply be a mental battle. Sure, someone will have to be hitting good shots, getting up and down, making some tricky putts.

But those without the mental capacities can probably forget about the Claret Jug right now.

"I need confidence," said three-time British Open champion Seve Ballesteros. "And this is not the place to gain confidence."

Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal is more philosophical about the course.

"We can complain about the course as much as we like or want, but the simple fact is that it's going to be the same for everybody. Someone is going to win," said Olazabal. "It's pointless to talk about being fair or unfair or how tough it is. It's just a matter of adapting yourself to the situation and trying to be as calm and patient as possible, to do the best you can and see if you can succeed from there."

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