Turnberry Brings Out the Best

Venue's History Indicates a Top Player Will Emerge in End

TURNBERRY, Scotland, July 15 -- The sun came out Wednesday over the Firth of Clyde, the stretch of ocean that runs along Turnberry's Ailsa Course here, and Tom Watson walked toward the back nine. He looked across the water as he strode to the 10th tee, turned to his caddie, and mentioned the reflection of the clouds in the sea, still as could be.

"Pretty calm out there, isn't it?" Watson said.

Watson knows, better than most, that Turnberry typically stays calm for just hours at a time. The wind here will determine so much about the British Open, which begins Thursday. If it picks up, it could make the closing holes a ferocious test or a birdie-fest, depending on its direction. If it stays away, even for a day, it could leave the course all but helpless, and produce a number such as the 63 Greg Norman shot here in 1986. It is, after all, the British Open, where wind is the most important player in the field.

But whatever happens with the weather, Turnberry is likely to produce a champion worthy of the moment. Only three of the 137 previous Opens have been staged on this gorgeous slice of seacoast. In 1977, Watson beat Jack Nicklaus on the 72nd hole, matching Nicklaus's 40-foot birdie putt with a short birdie of his own, one of golf's finest moments. In 1986, it was Norman, who shot that brilliant 63 in the second round -- "One of my better rounds," he said Wednesday -- and won by five. And in 1994, it was Nick Price firing four rounds in the 60s, winning by a shot over Jesper Parnevik, propelling himself to a win at the PGA Championship later that summer.

Those three champions -- Watson, Norman and Price -- were, without much argument, the best player on the planet at the time of their title here.

It is not the most storied venue for this championship, nor the most frequently used, nor even the sternest test of a player's abilities. But the 7,204-yard, par-70 layout -- lengthened since Price won here 15 years ago -- has a way of evaluating the field and selecting a golfer that isn't, say, a Ben Curtis or a Todd Hamilton -- fluky winners who took titles at St. George's in 2003 and Royal Troon in 2004, respectively. Turnberry is where the best seem to play the best.

"Why some venues produce winners like that and others don't, I have no idea," said Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, golf's governing body outside the United States which oversees the championship. "The setup of the courses and the type of player required is pretty similar in all the Open venues. I think it's happenstance, myself."

Some courses, though, seem selective that way.

Pebble Beach, one of the great American venues, has hosted four U.S. Opens. The champions: Nicklaus, Watson (over Nicklaus), Tom Kite and Tiger Woods, by a record 15 shots. St. Andrews's British Open champions since 1970 have been Nicklaus (twice), Seve Ballesteros (twice), Nick Faldo, John Daly and Woods (twice).

Turnberry, by now, has gained that reputation. The history is such that Rory McIlroy, the 20-year-old Irishman who is already considered a contender here, can tick off the key shots, accurately labeling the 1977 match between Nicklaus and Watson "the Duel in the Sun," remembering Norman led all four majors in 1986 but won only here, and recalling Price's monstrous birdie putt that used nearly all of the 17th green, even though McIlroy was only 5 at the time.

There are different theories why memorable players played memorably here, and some of them are inordinately technical. Norman talked at length Wednesday about the way the fairways are sloped, requiring players to control the ball in the air so they can throw them into the camber at the right angle. Some greens, too, are bowl-shaped, more receptive to iron shots that are well-struck at the right moment.

"There's a lot of little nuances around this golf course if you get to know it," Norman said. ". . . The good players study it very, very well. They know it."