Notebook: Couples wonders what might have been

A good week for Boom-Boom could have been a whole lot better. Plus, Nick Faldo gives himself a great birthday present, Tiger Woods overcomes an equipment malfunction, low amateur Lloyd Saltman confirms his future, and more.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (PA) -- Fred Couples was left wondering what might have been after firing a final-round 68 at the Open Championship Sunday to finish at 8-under 280 and tied for third.

Although he has never won it, Couples has an impressive record at the Open, previously finishing in the top 5 on three occasions and in the top 10 eight times since making his debut here at St. Andrews in 1984.

And the American enjoyed another lofty finishing position this time -- tied with Jose Maria Olazabal -- after collecting five birdies and just one bogey in his final round. However, the 45-year-old felt a golden opportunity might have slipped through his grasp.

"I had a great day, played very well," he said. "But it could have been a heck of a lot better. "I birdied the first hole, one lipped out on three, birdied five, close on seven. Number nine for eagle spun out. Then I birdied 10 and 18, and that was it. So with a little bit of luck I could've been a couple better off and had a better finish."

Despite that disappointment, though, Couples was still able to finish the tournament with a smile -- partly because of the enjoyment he takes from playing at St Andrews, and partly because he was looking forward to putting his feet up.

"It's so much fun to play St. Andrews. It's a unique spot. It's a great place for me to come and play. I really felt good yesterday and today going out to play," he said.

"But I'm done now," he joked. "Standing here, my feet are ready to break off."

Couples was also full of praise for the thousands of fans who turned up to watch the tournament this week.

"They're always great. I've played a lot of Dunhill Cups and Opens here and they're fantastic," he said. "They know about golf. In a subtle way they root you on. They have favorites and I've always been enamored by how nice they are, how courteous they are and how well they know how good a shot you have hit. It's fun for all of us."

DALY, TOO: John Daly was another who felt he should have been celebrating a higher finish.

Daly, Open champion here in 1995, flirted with the leading pack on a number of occasions on the final two days, but was never able to follow up his formidable driving power with any sort of consistency on the green.

Sunday started well enough as he birdied the opening hole to move to 7-under. But the "Wild Thing" was only able to record one more birdie during the remainder of his round and dropped shots at the sixth, 15th and 17th left him at 1-over for the day and 5-under overall.

The Achilles heel for Daly was his putting.

"I hit the ball really great today, all week," said Daly, one of the most powerful strikers in the game who has led the PGA Tour driving distance category in nine of the last 10 years. "But I putted horribly. Granted some of them are 100-foot putts on par 4s for eagles, but I missed a lot of short putts today.

"The greens are really, really crusty. That's why the scores aren't as good as you might have expected," he added. "The ball is jumping off the putter and that made it very difficult to make any putts today.

Daly also felt the Old Course was even more testing this year than in his previous visits, even though the weather conditions were largely favorable for much of the week.

"It's a challenging golf course when the wind blows and the way the R & A put the pins this week it made the course tougher," he said. "I've seen pins this week I've never dreamed of or ever seen. That's the way the tour's going. There are no easy pins anymore. Now there are 18 hard pins every day."

BIRTHDAY TREAT FOR FALDO: Nick Faldo closed out his Open with a stunning birdie-eagle finish, and then offered to sell his result to the highest bidder.

Faldo birdied the treacherous 17th -- where K.J. Choi took a quintuple-bogey 9 earlier on Sunday -- and then holed a 70-foot putt through the Valley of Sin for an eagle on the 18th to a deafening roar from the crowd at St. Andrews.

It gave the three-time Open champion a closing round of 69 and 6-under total of 282 just a day before he celebrates his 48th birthday.

"Do you think I could sell that finish to the leaders?" Faldo joked. "I'll start with bids of $1 million.

"That was unbelievable, a very unexpected surprise and I'm delighted. I've had a great week after being 3-over at one stage on day one," he added. "To make the cut and claw my way up the leader board, I'm very happy."

Faldo eagled the 18th in the first round on his way to victory here in 1990, but admitted he had never finished birdie-eagle on the Old Course before.

"You kidding? That's as rare as a lobster thermidor," he added. "You make a 3 on 17 once in a decade but 3-2 [on the last two holes] will never happen again in my life. I can guarantee that one.

"That was special. Even I went mad. The crazy thing is as I walked behind the pin I thought, 'I fancy this,' and I haven't fancied a putt all week," he said. "I don't know how that happens. It's a beautiful birthday present."

DELAYING PRO DREAMS: Lloyd Saltman of Scotland insisted he will not turn professional in the immediate future after securing the silver medal for low amateur in dramatic fashion.

"I am not going to change any plans," said the 19-year-old, who emphasized his position as Britain's top amateur and recently was named to the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team, which will defend the trophy in Chicago later this summer. "I am looking forward to the Walker Cup, and it may be another two years before I turn pro."

Saltman closed with a 5-under total of 283, edging out fellow Scot -- and fellow qualifier -- Eric Ramsay by one shot. Saltman putted up and over the Valley of Sin on the final hole from 30 yards to two feet and celebrated as the ball dropped into the hole for a 71.

"I needed that. I saw what Eric shot in the morning and it was a great birdie," said Saltman. "The Walker Cup is my main goal, but winning the medal at the home of golf is a fantastic bonus for me. You have got to enjoy people watching and cheering you on."

FLOORSOME FOR JAIDEE: Thongchai Jaidee managed to finish even-par for the tournament, despite spending the week sleeping on the floor. Jaidee, the first golfer from Thailand to make the cut in the Open, decided to give up his bed so as not to aggravate a niggling back problem.

He compensated for his Spartan sleeping arrangements, though, by spending his evenings at the only Thai restaurant in St. Andrews.

"It is a 15-minute walk from here and run by people from Bangkok," said Jaidee after posting rounds of 73-68-75-72 to finish tied with such familiar names as Robert Allenby, Luke Donald, Fredrik Jacobson, Miguel Angel Jimenez and former Open champions Paul Lawrie and Justin Leonard.

"I found out about it when I came here two years ago," he added. "Now I have Thai food every night and every night I sleep on the floor."

Jaidee hopes his success around the Old Course will inspire others in Thailand to take up the game.

"That would be very nice for golf in my country," he added. "I have enjoyed the Open very much. It was important I made the cut."

POULTER FINDS LITTLE TO CELEBRATE: Ian Poulter of England could not hide his frustration at the Open Championship Sunday, despite securing his best finish in a major.

Poulter carded a final-round 69 at St. Andrews for a share of 11th place, but was fuming at a finish of bogey-par while his playing partner Nick Faldo went birdie-eagle.

"It's my best finish in an Open, but I should be winning these tournaments now and I'm not happy," said Poulter, whose previous best result was 25th at Troon 12 months ago. "I'm disappointed I didn't finish the job off and that's very frustrating. In my eyes, I haven't had a great tournament. It's okay.

"I'm hard on myself, but if ever I get happy with finishing 15th or 12th then someone needs to put my clubs away and I'll take up tiddlywinks," he added. "I know I can win a major now, I believe I can. If I play well for four days I will win one. I know that and I think a lot of other golfers know that as well. I'm confident in myself and my own ability.

Faldo, however, believes Poulter is on the right track.

"Like many players, it's good for him to get in and feel the real heat of a major," Faldo said. "I'm a firm believer you need to climb that ladder slowly, feel the heat, go back and work it out, see what you've got to change in your game and come back ready for it.

"Very few have jumped straight in. If you've taken five or 10 years to get to that level that's fine," he added. "It's a different ball game winning a major. I don't think it's any exaggeration to say the pressure is tenfold. You have to learn to be able to cope with all that."

EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION: An equipment malfunction wasn't going to slow Tiger Woods down this week.

Woods broke his driver in practice before the Open began, cracking the face with one swing. He switched to his backup driver, a graphite shafted Nike Platinum with the same 460cc head, for the tournament.

Woods' instructor, Hank Haney, said he took the switch in stride.

"It went just a tiny bit higher than his other one, but it was no big deal," Haney said. "He didn't let it bother him. He was swinging so good, he didn't even think twice."

FORTUNATE CART: Bernhard Langer can thank the driver of a golf cart carrying TV equipment for helping him out on the ninth hole Sunday.

Langer ended up making birdie on the hole after his ball, which was heading toward some thick gorse bushes, bounced off the cart instead.

Instead of a possible unplayable lie from the bushes, he was able to pitch a shot over the bushes and made a 25-footer for birdie.

The two-time Masters champion finished tied for fifth and joined Tiger Woods as the only players to post four sub-par rounds with his final round 71.

JACK AND TIGER: Tiger Woods might want Jack Nicklaus to stick around a little longer.

Woods has won all four major championships that Nicklaus bade farewell at, beginning with the 2000 PGA Championship. Woods also won the 2000 U.S. Open and this year's Masters in the last appearance for Nicklaus in both.

FULLY MONTY: Dozens of men wearing kilts, hundreds of blue and white Scottish flags and a standing ovation at nearly every grandstand still weren't enough to bring Colin Montgomerie his first title in a major championship.

He fell short, but it wasn't because of a lack of support.

Calling themselves the "Full Montys," five young men wearing T-shirts saying "We Love Monty" and sporting blond Afro wigs followed Montgomerie around. Four other Scottish men, each carrying large Scottish flags around the course, waved their support for Monty at every hole.

"This is your year, Monty, and everyone knows it," Chris Pyle screamed when Montgomerie edged to within one shot of Woods when he birdied No. 9 -- leaving him at 12-under with Woods on 13-under. Alongside, his brother, Colin, waved the flag and shouted encouragement.

"I don't know if he'll ever be in contention again like this in a major, and a major in Scotland," said Calvin Cameron, one of the Full Montys. "Probably not. This looked so much like his year. It's very disappointing."

FULL TIGER: Woods had his own enthusiastic fans -- none sticking out more than Andy Kulina and Mike Peirce. The two Americans from Ohio, who work in London, followed Woods wearing Bengal-colored pants, topped with tiger ears and waving tiger tails.

The outfits were the brainchild of Peirce, who had them made for him a dozen years ago when he followed the Cincinnati Bengals NFL team.

"A friend made them for me, but I put them in a box and never wore them until Tiger came along."

They donned the costumes at the 2002 Ryder Cup at the Belfry in Birmingham, England, where the Americans defeated Europe.

"We were looking for a second chance," Kulina said, "and today is it."

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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