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Wednesday, Jul. 14
Tuesday notebook: Irish eyes are smiling

Associated Press

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- Tom Watson will be a captain of one of the most storied golf courses in Ireland next year. Payne Stewart got such a fine reception in one Irish town that he wonders how he would fare in a race for mayor.

 
BLOOM FALLS OFF ROSE
  Justin Rose's last shot in the British Open flew out of the rough, over a bunker and straight into the hole.

The shot left the 17-year amateur tied for fourth place, and a celebrity whose promise seemed endless.

Rose is now an 18-year-old pro, and the only other thing he's remembered for these days is a sorry trail of 22 straight missed cuts.

He finally made the third round of a tournament two weeks ago at the European Grand Prix and placed 74th. Now, after earning barely $5,500 in his first year, he has to field questions about turning pro so early.

"I don't regret anything I have done, there's no doubt about that," he said Tuesday, two days before he tees off for the British Open. "Timing didn't quite happen, momentum didn't quite get going. But I never regret it.

"Turning professional -- I'd like to lay this ghost to rest," he said. "I was turning pro after the British Open no matter what happened."

Rose did so poorly after turning pro that he failed to earn his playing card for this season and has been relying on sponsors' invitations for European Tour events. He got his first check after dropping to the Challenger series of tournaments.

This a far cry from the time when teen-age girls shouted his name as he walked down the fairway at the British Open and the country cheered its young hero in the making.

"I feel a better player due to everything that has gone on -- technically, mentally, everything," he said. "I feel a lot tougher, there's no doubt. I can take anything that anybody throws at me ever again."

When it comes to the British Open, Americans are finding Ireland to be a home away from home.

Stewart, Tiger Woods, David Duval, Lee Janzen and Mark O'Meara were among those who spent five days playing links golf in Ireland the week before the Open.

"I think David was playing the best," Woods said.

One of the courses they played was the K Club, site of the 2005 Ryder Cup matches.

"It was a lot of fun. The camaraderie was very special," Stewart said. "We played a scramble. Tiger was on my team, so how many times do you think they used my drive?"

Stewart was more valuable playing his harmonica in the pubs at night.

"I think if I ran for mayor at Waterville, it would be a landslide," Stewart said. "I don't know why they have accepted me so much, but we have a very good time. We get into the pub and we get on the piano, and I bring my harmonicas out and the next thing you know it's about 4 o'clock in the morning."

While most players bounce around from course to course in a helicopter, Watson prefers to cross bodies of water in a ferry and then drive through the countryside.

"You can't see it very well from a helicopter," he said.

Watson's fondest memory this year was at Ballybunion, where the club was trying to raise money for a young professional trying to qualify for the Open.

"People just started singing. They had a microphone and went around the room, and it was beautiful," he said. "The problem was they asked me if I wanted to sing. I love to sing, but I wasn't going to get up there and embarrass myself."

That will change next year, when Watson becomes a captain -- an honorary position in which he will represent the club for a year.

"I'll be required to sing, so I better find a good song," he said.

He then belted out the first line of "When Irish Eyes are Smiling."

Monty's tunes
It's safe to say that Colin Montgomerie and Mark Calcavecchia have different tastes in music.

When Calcavecchia won the 1998 Honda Classic, he listened to the Rolling Stones during his drive from West Palm Beach to Coral Springs.

Montgomerie has been staying in the Gleneagles Hotel this week, about an hour's drive. His choice of music? Abba and Elton John.

"That's my wife's tape. It's stuck in there," Montgomerie offered. "OK, we're all Abba fans, aren't we? Most of it is good."

When asked if he would be wearing bell bottoms, Montgomerie laughed.

"Yeah, but I'll leave the white boots off," he said.

Youth is served
Zane Scotland, the 16-year-old who became the youngest qualifier in British Open history, was first discovered two years ago when Sky Sports and the Sun newspaper held a competition to find Britain's answer to Woods.

Scotland competed in a nine-hole tournament using the Stableford format and beat 12 other players to win a trip to the 1997 Ryder Cup.

Asked at the time about whether he'd like to be a pro, Scotland said, "Hopefully, if I do well in my exams at school, I'd like to advance to college golf in America and see how it goes from there."

If he sticks to that plan, he'll have a friend in Stewart.

"I hope he doesn't turn pro if he finishes third," Stewart said when told that a 16-year-old had qualified for the Open.

A year ago, 17-year-old Justin Rose tied for fourth, turned pro and missed his first 22 cuts as a professional.

Another horror story
Of all the nightmares told of Carnoustie, Watson has one that dates to before he won the Open in 1975.

Jack Nicklaus told him of a made-for-television event in the 1960s between Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer. The wind blew about 40 mph and the course was baked out. Nicklaus had a 77, Player a 78 and Palmer finished with a 79.

"That's nothing unusual," Watson thought.

Then they counted how many greens were hit in regulation. Nicklaus led with four, Player hit two and Palmer putted for a birdie only once.

"So, if you add the rough to it and you add the length to it, and you add the wind to it ... now what's going to happen?" Watson said.

Divots

  • Lee Westwood has a prank or two up his sleeve. He agreed to be interviewed on an English radio station Tuesday morning, and the host panicked when Westwood let the phone ring for more than a minute -- then answered it as if he were the owner of a Chinese restaurant.

  • While there have been several reports of luggage being delayed on flights to Scotland, save the sympathy for Mitch Knox. Duval's caddie walked 14 holes to get a look at Carnoustie, followed by an 18-hole round with Duval, wearing his black hiking boots.

  • Eight players have won half of the 38 major championships this decade. Scott Hoch, Jeff Maggert and Phil Mickelson have the most top-10s in majors in the '90s -- nine each -- without having won.

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