he’s back!

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open championship 2009page 5

the ones to watchturnberry’s open history

twenty men that could just take turnberry by storm!

padraig harringtonAge: 37. rAnk: 12.

MAjors: 3 (Open

07,08; PGA 08). Will

try to become first

player since Peter

Thomson in 1956 to

win three in a row.

tiger woodsAGe: 33. RAnk: 1.

MAjors: 14 (Masters

97,01,02,05; US

Open 00,02,08;

Open 00,05,06; PGA

99,00,06,07). Four

short of Jack nicklaus’

record 18 Majors.

anthony kimAge: 24. rAnk: 14.

Won twice on the

PGA Tour last year, he

has finished in the top

20 in both this year’s

Majors so far. Tied for

seventh in last year’s

Open.

greg normanAge: 54. rAnk: 299.

MAjors: 2 (Open

86,93). Shot 63 in

Turnberry win in 1986

and last summer led

with nine to play aged

53, finishing third.

ian poulterAge: 33. rAnk: 16.

Runner-up last year

and winner of four

points out of five at

the Ryder Cup, albeit

on a losing side.

paul caseyAGe: 31. RAnk: 3.

Having best-ever year

with wins in Middle

east, America and at

europe’s flagship PGA

Championship.

angel cabreraAge: 39. RAnk: 30.

MAjors: 2 (US Open

07; Masters 09). Held

off Woods for first

Major and sealed play-

off win at Augusta

earlier this year.

sergio garciaAge: 29. RAnk: 5.

Bogeyed last hole and

lost play-off to Padraig

Harrington in 2007,

then thwarted by the

Irishman again at the

US PGA last August.

lucas gloverAge: 29. RAnk: 17.

MAjors: 1 (US Open

09). First US Tour win

for nearly four years

came at Bethpage

Black last month after

he came through

qualifying.

kenny perryAGe: 48. RAnk: 4.

Missed becoming

oldest-ever Major

champion at Masters

by bogeying last two

holes and then losing

play-off. Stayed away

from Open last year.

geoff ogilvyAge: 32. rAnk: 6.

MAjors: 1 (US Open

06). Beat Mickelson

and Montgomerie in

chase for US Open in

2006. Current World

Match Play champion.

rory mcilroyAge: 20. RAnk: 20.

Top amateur in 2007

Open and a world star

already. Maiden pro

win came in Dubai in

February.

vijay singhAge: 46. RAnk: 10.

MAjors: 3 (PGA

98,04; Masters 00).

Top money-winner in

America for the third

time last season. Last

man to knock Woods

off world no.1 spot.

ernie elsAGe: 39. RAnk: 23.

MAJORS: 3 (US Open

94,97; Open 02). Won

play-off at Muirfield

and has had seven

top-seven finishes in

the championship this

decade.

henrik stensonAge: 33. rAnk: 7.

Joint third with Greg

norman last year,

fourth at US PGA

and winner of Players

Championship in

Florida in May.

jim furykAge: 39. rAnk: 9.

MAjors: 1 (US Open

03). Finished fourth in

the Open three times

– in 1997, 1998 and

2006 – but has only

ever won one Major.

colin montgomerieAge: 46. rAnk: 200.

eight-time european

no.1 and now Ryder

Cup captain. Five

times a runner-up in

Majors – more than

anybody who has

never won one.

tom watsonAGe: 59. MAJORS: 8

(Open 75,77,80,82,83;

Masters 77,81; US

Open 82). Back at

scene of 1977 ‘Duel

in the Sun’ when he

closed 65-65 to beat

Jack nicklaus.

lee westwoodAge: 36. rAnk: 18.

Third at last year’s

US Open and former

european no.1 who

has come out of slump

to be world force

again.

nick faldoAge: 51. MAjors:

6 (Open 87,90,92;

Masters 89,90,96).

Missed last year to

concentrate on Ryder

Cup, but back now for

his 96th Major.

TURnBeRRy is about to stage only its fourth Open

Championship – and if the previous three are

indicators then you can expect the cream to rise to

the top...

1977: The ‘Duel in the Sun’ between Tom Watson and

Jack nicklaus will go down as one of the greatest Major

championships ever and, even though the world rankings had

not been introduced back then, it was a

shoot-out to determine the finest player

of the day. Watson’s 65-65 finish in

the final two rounds enabled him

to beat nicklaus (65-66) by one

with a total of 268 that smashed

the previous lowest in Major

history by three and the previous

best in The Open by eight.

1986: Greg norman finally ended his

Major drought when he beat yorkshire’s

Gordon J Brand by five. Less than two months

later he became world no.1 for the first

time. norman, who led with a round to

play in all four Majors that season but

won only The Open, had a golden

chance on the Friday to shoot what

would have remained the only 62

ever in Majors – but three-putted the

final green for 63.

1994: nick Price had to wait less than a

month to achieve the world no.1 spot after

triumphing. Second to Watson at nearby

Troon in 1982 and to Seve Ballesteros

at Lytham six years later, another

runners-up finish was on the cards

until Jesper Parnevik, three clear

on the final tee but unaware of

his position, bogeyed while Price

birdied the 16th, sank a 50-foot

eagle putt on the 17th and then got

the closing par he needed.

did you know: anders forsbrand hit a brilliant

130 in the final 36 holes in 1994 – but still lost

out to eventual winner nick price!

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TIGER WOODS returns to The Open for the first time since 2007 looking to prevent Padraig Harrington from snatching a historic hat-trick.The Irishman has won the Major in each of the last two years, although Woods was absent in 2008, and will again lead the European charge. Sergio Garcia and young star Rory McIlroy are also in the running – but the whole Turnberry field will fear the world No.1. Woods himself said: “At Majors, you can’t have one thing missing. You can’t hit the ball well and not putt well or not chip well. It tests every facet of your game.”

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