Big Ben

Unknown Curtis shocks golf world by capturing Open Championship

07/20/03 2:20pm EDT
SANDWICH, England (AP) -- A wacky week at the British Open held one final surprise, and it was the biggest of them all: Ben Curtis holding the claret jug.

An unknown PGA Tour rookie in his first major championship, Curtis outlasted Tiger Woods and a collection of All-Stars for perhaps the most stunning conclusion to a Grand Slam event in 90 years.

Despite four bogeys on the final seven holes, Curtis closed with a 2-under 69 and was the only player under par on the difficult links of Royal St. George's.

After making an 8-foot par putt on the final hole, the 26-year-old from Ohio waited to see if anyone could match him.

Instead, they all wilted.

First it was Thomas Björn, taking three shots to get out of a pot bunker on the 16th to surrender the lead.

Woods couldn't find the fairway down the stretch and let a perfect opportunity to capture another major fall away. Vijay Singh didn't make enough putts, and Davis Love III ran out of holes.

That left the oldest prize in golf -- a shiny claret jug -- in the possession of a guy who never finished in the top 12 on the PGA Tour.

His best was two weeks ago at the Western Open, a tie for 13th that allowed him to qualify for the British Open.

No one gave him a chance, not against this lineup.

No one played better over four days on these brutal links north of the English Channel.

Curtis stepped inside a trailer and watched on television as Björn hit into the right rough on No. 18 and came up just short of the green, then returned to the practice range in case the Dane made the putt to force a playoff.

The birdie putt to tie turned away from the cup, and Andrew Sutton, the local caddie whom Curtis hired a week ago, said, "Ben, you're the Open champion."

Who would have believed it?

Curtis is believed to be the first player since Francis Ouimet at the 1913 U.S. Open to win the first major championship he ever played.

There have been other surprises in the majors.

Paul Lawrie at Carnoustie four years ago when Jean Van de Velde collapsed on the final hole; John Daly winning the '91 PGA Championship as the ninth alternate; Jack Fleck beating Ben Hogan in a playoff in the 1955 U.S. Open at Olympic Club.

Still, this ranks about the greatest shockers of all.

Ouimet was a 20-year-old who beat the greatest golfers of his time, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, in playoff outside Boston in 1913, a victory that made golf popular in America.

This one will give hope to the underdogs.

Björn's sloppy finish, especially the bunker shots on No. 16, dropped him to a 72 and into a tie for second with Singh at even-par 284.

Another stroke back was Woods, who bogeyed two of his final four holes for a 71, and Love, who missed two crucial birdie putts down the stretch.

"It's unbelievable," Curtis said. "Honestly, just playing on the weekend would have been fine for me. I just kept trying to play along. You never know what's going to happen."

He has his name on the claret jug, alongside the best who ever played.

"It will probably be tomorrow before I realize what happened," Curtis said. "Right now, I'm just trying to take it all in."

Curtis broke down as he tried to thank his family and fiance, then held the silver trophy up toward blazing blue skies over southeastern England as he composed himself.

Curtis learned the game of golf on a course built in rural Ohio by his grandfather, who died five months ago.

Until this week, Curtis was mostly known for being a three-time Ohio State Amateur champion, along with Arnold Palmer and John Cook.

He earned more than US$1.2 million, is exempt on the PGA Tour for the next five years and was introduced before thousands of stunned fans as the champion golfer of the year.

"Now, when my name is up on the scoreboard, I will feel like I belong," Curtis said. "This is the grandest tournament of all. I'm very fortunate to be a winner with all the great names on that trophy -- Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones."

Equally impressive: The guys he beat on a sun-baked afternoon at Royal St. George's, the links that takes away more than it gives.

No one felt the sting more than Björn.

A short birdie on the par-5 14th gave him a two-stroke lead at 4 under par, with Curtis three groups ahead and leaking oil.

Björn found a pot bunker off the tee and made bogey. His tee shot right of the pin on the par-3 16th -- the one place not to go -- caught the ridge and dropped into the bunker.

He blasted out over the lip, but the ball returned down the slope and into the sand. Another blast, same result. Björn finally got it out and made double bogey.

"I certainly feel like I deserve a little bit more than I got this week," Björn said. "That's the way it is. You go on. But I'm sure it's going to be tough the next few days."

Woods is now winless in the last five majors, although this was his best chance.

Despite missing fairways and greens, he was in great position as Björn and Curtis started giving back strokes. It ended when he came up short of the 17th green, ran his chip 12 feet by and missed the par putt.

"I put myself where I needed to be," Woods said. "I just didn't make the putts."

So ended a bizarre week.

It started Thursday with Woods losing a ball in the rough on his first tee shot. Björn was penalized two shots that day for grounding his club in the bunker after he didn't get out. Love hit a tee shot that was going out of bounds Friday until it caromed off a white stake.

And a guy ranked No. 396 in the world won the British Open.

Everyone said Royal St. George's was the most unpredictable links in golf. It got a champion no one could have predicted, either.