Woods holds off Monty for second St Andrews win

by Mark Thornhill, EM Publications.

ROUND FOUR LEADERBOARD (1810hrs)
@
   
Tiger Woods USA
274
 
Tiger is Open Champion

Tiger Woods wins his second Open title at the Home of Golf.

Colin Montgomerie Sco 279
Jose Marie Olazabal Esp
280
Fred Couples USA
280
Geoff Ogilvy Aus
281
Vijay Singh Fj
281
Sergio Garcia Esp
281
Michael Campbell Nz
281
Bernhard Langer Ger
281
Retief Goosen RSA
281
   

Day Four - Tiger Woods won the 134th Open Championship, becoming only the second post-war player to win two Opens at the Home of Golf, the other being Jack Nicklaus, in 1970 and 1978. Tiger, still not 30 years old, has now amassed a total of 10 Majors, including at least two of each of the four. Only Nicklaus had previously achieved that. Woods looks to be back to his very best, having finished 1st, 2nd, 1st in the three majors so far this year.

A final round 70 secured the title for Woods by 5 shots from Scotland's Colin Montgomerie. Jose Marie Olazabal and Fred Couples shared third spot. It was Monty's best finish in a Major since his playoff loss to Ernie Els in the US Open at Congressional in 1997.

With the pins tucked in difficult locations, no-one really mounted a challenge to Woods, although Monty and Olazabal were within a shot of the lead around the turn. But whilst Woods remained steady, Monty and Olazabal both made mistakes and the gap proved too great to narrow down the stretch.

A birdie at the 18th gave Scot Lloyd Saltman the Silver Medal as leading amateur at the Open Championship. The 19-year-old had earlier been set a target of four under par by his fellow Scot Eric Ramsay.

Monty is chasing his first Major title.

Day Three - Tiger Woods leads by two shots having given up some ground to the field. On a day when the course dried out and the wind picked up, the biggest move came from Retief Goosen, who finally found some form and shot a 66 to get to 9-under par.

Jose Marie Olazabal birdied the last to card a 68 and get to 10-under par and will partner Tiger in the final group tomorrow.

Colin Montgomerie also made progress, shooting a 70 in the company of Woods.

Monty played steady golf and holed a 25ft putt on the 18th for birdie. Tiger struggled on the front nine, taking two penalty shots, but regrouped over the closing stretch to shot a 71 and take a two shot cushion going into what promises to be a fantastic final day.

Day Two- Tiger Woods finishes the day four shots clear of Colin Montgomerie. Monty fired a six-under-par 66 in round two of the Open at St Andrews. The Scot carded an eagle, seven birdies and three boyeys.

Trevor Immelman and Vijay Singh were joined on 6-under by Brad Faxon, who shot a superb 66, Jose Marie Olazabal, Peter Lonard, Scott Verplank and Robert Allenby. A group headed by Sergio Garcia, who added a 69 to his opening 70, lie at 5-under.

It was the end of an era as Jack Nicklaus signed off with a level par 72 and a total 145.

Two Minute Silence at Noon - Silence fell over the St Andrews links at 12 o'clock Thursday as klaxons announced the start of a nationwide two-minute silence for the victims of the London bombings.

Woods Leads - Thursday 14th - Tiger Woods leads the 134th Open Championship. The world number one carded eight birdies on his way to a 6-under par round of 68.

Tiger Woods looked in great form as he shot an opening 66.
Tiger Woods was at his inspired best on the opening day of the Open.

Woods was three shots clear after birdies at 9,10 and 11, but wayward approaches at 14 and 16 found bunkers and resulted in two bogeys. He regrouped and birdied the last to card 66.

American Chris Riley joined a group on 4-under which includes Retief Goosen, Luke Donald, Jose Marie Olazabal, and Peter Lonard. Also joining them late in the day was former Masters Champion Fred Couples.

Scott Verplank finished 3,3 to join the group at 4-under, alongside Scottish amateur Eric Ramsay from Carnoustie, who had the day of his life shooting a 68.

US Open Champion Michael Campbell finished with a 3-under par 69, alongside France's Thomas Levet and the former USPGA Champion, Bob Tway.

One of the favourites, the US player David Toms, shot a 74 but disqualified himself having struck a moving ball on the 17th.

*****

How to obtain the Nicklaus £5 Note A fiver on Jack - Monday 11th - The Royal Bank of Scotland will be introducing into circulation two million 5-pound sterling notes in Scotland during the Open at St. Andrews - with Jack's picture on them!

Nicklaus will be the only living person to appear on a Scottish note besides Her Majesty the Queen and the late Queen Mother.

The special note will be unveiled July 12 at the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and is available from the Royal Bank of Scotland - full details at the Official RBS press release on how to obtain the notes.

*****

Scottish weather - Scottish Winner? - Wednesday 13th - Spectators and competitors have been enjoying superb sunny skies for the practice days. The Old Course is playing like a fast traditional links course. With the firm conditions, low scoring is going to favour players who can conjure up pitch and run shots, but many are worried that the dry ground will play into the hands of the big hitters.

Purists will be hoping for a good Scottish breeze to get up by the weekend to provide testing conditions. With no less than 11 Scots in the field, the chances of a homegrown winner are about as good as they have ever been. Colin Montgomerie, Paul Lawrie, Alistair Forsyth and Stephen Gallacher will be leading the way for Scotland.

*****

St Andrews.com Stand in the Fife Tent St Andrews.com@Open 2005!!! If you are at the Open 2005, pop into the Fife Council Exhibition Tent at the Village.

As well as a host of interactive stands and demonstrations showcasing the Kingdom of Fife, the Exhibition will display the St Andrews.com website.

We'll be delivering a special ecard page which only visitors IN PERSON can access. Send friends and relatives a greeting live from the Open 2005!!!

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Harrington withdraws after death of his Father - Tuesday 12th - World Number 9 Padraig Harrington has pulled out of the Open following the death of his father, Patrick. Harrington's father had been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in March. A spokeswoman for Harrington's management company said the Dubliner was "devastated".

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Jack Nicklaus
Nicklaus won two Open titles at St Andrews - 1970 and 1978.

Golden Bear retires - Jack Nicklaus has formally announced that the Open Championship at St Andrews in July is likely to be his last competitive tournament. It will bring to a dignified end the career of the greatest golfer in history.

Nicklaus last appeared in the Open back in 2000 at St Andrews.

"I enjoy being part of history but I don't consider myself competitive any more and the Open will probably end my competitive career," he said.

Full story here.

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Seve misses out - another former St Andrews Champion, Severiano Ballesteros, winner of The Open over the Old Course at St Andrews in 1984, has withdrawn from this year's Championship. Seve's continuing back problems mean he has not played competitive golf for more than a year. Under the conditions governing entry to the Championship his place will be taken by Jose Maria Olazabal, the highest ranked player in the Official World Golf Rankings not to have qualified.

*****

The last time the Open was at St Andrews was in 2000, when Tiger Woods won the Millennium Open. Woods was never in any of the Old Course's bunkers, and sealed his third Major win in a row in style with a record 19-under-par score of 269.

As in 2000, the course has again been slightly lengthened, with the creation of five new championship tees. (Find out more about the original 2000 changes.)

The latest alterations for 2005 have been partially to defend the course against new technology (in particular the golf ball), but also to make sure that the Open is played over a course that reflects both the modern game and keeps intact the traditional aspects of links golf. The Old Course will now measure 7,279 yards for this year's Open Championship, 164 more than when Tiger Woods won the title in 2000.

"We are restoring rather than changing the course," said Royal & Ancient Golf Club chief executive Peter Dawson. "Modern equipment and the greater athleticism of golf's leading players have led to many of the Old Course hazards being taken out of play, but because of the history of the Old Course, moving hazards is not the option it would be at many other places. We just want to re-instate the old decisions players had to make."

 

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