Five Players To Watch at Carnoustie
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
In addition to the superstars who are always expected to contend, any Open Championship field includes a number of players worth keeping an eye on. Barring a typically efficient Tiger Woods exhibition or a well-prepared Phil Mickelson at last playing the shots needed to win on a links, any one of the following five players could take home the claret jug.
ANGEL CABRERA It really would be something if the Duck from Argentina won two majors in succession, but as he proved at Oakmont five weeks ago, he is not out of place among the game’s elite. To be fair, he was knocking on the majors’ door long before his U.S. Open triumph (nine top-20 finishes including six top-tens prior to the U.S. Open), and he finished just one shot out of the three-man play-off at Carnoustie in 1999. His length will certainly come in handy around Carnoustie’s 7,421 yards, but this streaky putter needs to find whatever worked on the greens at Oakmont if he is to figure on Sunday afternoon again.
PAUL LAWRIE One suspects Lawrie’s major count will remain at one for the rest of his career, but no one will be more inspired this week than the man who best endured the trials of ’99. Lawrie has won only twice since his Open victory, his last title coming at the Wales Open in 2002, but the 38-year-old is happy with his form and says he has been playing well enough recently to put in a good showing. He also says he would have preferred a low-key start to the championship, but insists playing with Tiger the first two rounds won’t bother him.
JUSTIN ROSE The third player in Woods’s group is Justin Rose, the European that many people, including Nick Faldo, are saying could be the continent’s next major champion. Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, and Niclas Fasth are all above Rose in the world rankings but the Englishman has proved to be more resilient than any of them in recent years and finished in the top ten at both the Masters and U.S. Open earlier this year. He missed the cut here in ’99, a year after his incredible tie for fourth at Royal Birkdale as a 17-year-old, but returns with an all-round game and more experience of the game’s ups and downs than most 25-year veterans.
K.J. CHOI Choi’s has been a steady rise to the top since he first joined the PGA Tour in 2000, but two big tournament wins in the last two months (Memorial and AT&T National) — the fifth and sixth of his career — have catapulted the South Korean to no. 12 in the world rankings and earned him a place among the favorites at the Grand Slam events. A solid performer in virtually every statistical category (although a few more yards off the tee wouldn’t hurt), Choi is definitely ready for his first major championship victory.
JONATHAN BYRD Byrd, a sweet-swinging 29-year-old Clemson graduate, has never been considered for a Ryder or Presidents Cup place and has missed 62 cuts from 157 events on the PGA Tour over the last seven years. However, he has amassed over $7.5 million in earnings and has three tour wins including a one-stroke victory over Tim Clark at the John Deere Classic in Iowa last weekend. This is his first appearance at the Open Championship, and Carnoustie will probably look very strange to him. But after making three birdies in the last five holes on Sunday to finish at 18 under par, he’s obviously full of confidence.
