Barry Sharpe’s
CANADIANS ON TOUR
July 21, 2003

Ben Curtis
132nd British Open Champion
Royal St. George’s Golf Club
Sandwich in Kent, England

“Oh, my.”

That’s all Ben Curtis could manage to say when the 26-year-old from Ostrander, Ohio was handed the Claret Cup Sunday, July 20 as The OPEN Champion for 2003. He was a 1,000-1 long shot when this oldest of all golf tournaments began on what is arguably one of the toughest tests of golf in the world. Now he’s beaten the best in the world.

And to think, Ben Curtis hadn’t even qualified to play in the Open until paring the last two holes of the Western Open two weeks earlier. He went into the tournament ranked 396th in the world, still looking for his first professional victory.

"Oh man -- that's about all I can say right now. I came in here this week just trying to play the best I could and hopefully make the cut and compete on the weekend. And obviously, I did that.”

A rookie on the PGA TOUR, Curtis has pulled off one of the most stunning victories in golf history by capturing the Claret Jug in his first major championship appearance and in doing so knocked off some of the best players in the world, like Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Masters Champion Mike Weir of Canada, U. S. Open winner Jim Furyk and Thomas Bjorn. Curtis was the only player in the field to finish the Open at (72-72-70-69—283) 1-under par.

Bjorn led the Open after three rounds but saw his chances rolling backwards when he took three shots to get out of a bunker at the 70th hole, bogeyed the 71st, then missed a 35-foot birdie chip-in from out of the rough at the final hole to force a playoff. Bjorn and Vijay Sing tied for 2nd at even par while Tiger Woods and Davis Love shared 4th place at 1-over par. Weir never really was a threat to the leaders and although his weekend play was more inspiring the Masters Champion from Bright’s Cove, ON could only manage to finish (74-76-71-71—292) T28 at 8-over and earn $41,329 (No. 2 on the money list, $4,321,722).

After converting his cheque from pounds to $1,112,720 USD, Curtis has vaulted from 142 on the money list to 22. But it is a bigger leap than that for this PGA TOUR roockie who grew up on the course his grandfather designed and built 30 years ago. The British Open was only his 14th tournament playing with the big boys and never before had he finished higher than 13th. Nothing has prepared young Mr. Curtis for what lies ahead. Being ranked the #1 Amateur golfer in the world, as he was in 2000, has in no way prepared him for the attention he’s about to receive from the media, the fans or the corporate world

There is something about the British Open that always seems to leave us with something to talk about for months and years to come. Perhaps there was a clue on the first day that golf's oldest championship might again present some strange twists and turns when Tiger Woods, the world's most watched player, lost his opening tee shot in the rough.

Some of the younger PGA TOUR members must have thought Craig Stadler had mistakenly come to the wrong tournament when he showed up to play the BC Open in Endicott, New York. After all, the week before hadn’t Stadler just won the Ford Senior Players Championship after turning 50 in June? And who would have given him a chance at winning when he was eight shots off the pace through three rounds. But ‘The Walrus’ proceeded to score six birdies on the front nine, eagled the 12th hole and dropped another crucial putt for birdie at 18 to finish (67-69-68-63—267) 21-under par, good enough for a one shot victory and put his name in the record books as the first player to win on both the Champions Senior Tour and the PGA TOUR after turning 50. In the same year. Back-to-back. Alex Cejka came from behind (66-66-69-67—268) to tie 3rd round leader Steve Lowery (64-64-68-72--268) for second place.

Prior to Sunday Stadler had played nine events on the PGA TOUR this season and his last regular victory was seven years ago in Los Angeles. He’s competed four times on the Champions Tour and made some history last week when his first win came in a major tournament. Now Stadler is off to play in the British Seniors.

Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member Dan Halldorson (left) lost a bit of steam on the weekend after opening strongly and finished up (69-72-75-77—293) 76th, not all that bad for a 51-year-old from Shilo, Manitoba playing as little as he does. Glen Hatiuk of Selkirk, MB (71-72—143) and Richard Zokol, White Rock, BC (73-74—147) both missed the cut. Stadler’s son Kevin also missed the cut.

This week the PGA TOUR visits the Tournament Players Club at River Highlands in Cromwell, CT for the Greater Hartford Open where Bill Whaley is the General Manager and Director of Golf. And why is that special? Because Bill’s wife, teaching professional and homemaker Suzy Whaley, is about to become the second woman this year to tee it up with the men in a PGA TOUR event. Annika Sorenstam got into the Colonial last month on an invite, a sponsor’s exemption and (71-74—145) missed the cut, but Suzy Whaley, like Babe Zaharias did in 1945, has qualified for her spot. She warmed up for this week by going four rounds in New York at the LPGA’s Big Apple Classic and finished (69-75-75-72--291) T48 at 7-over par. Phil Michelson is rushing back from the British Open in hopes of winning this title for a third consecutive year.

Rob Johnson of Terre Haute, Indiana took no short cuts this time nor did he receive any favorable breaks from Mother Nature. Johnson worked hard through all 72 holes to win the Telus Edmonton Open Sunday by two shots, finishing (69-64-71-69—273) 11-under par for his second Canadian Tour victory this season. Johnson’s first win six months ago came in the rain-shortened 36-hole TravelTex.com Canadian Tour Challenge in Austin,TX.

“Well, I held up for four days here, and maybe some people thought I wouldn’t have done it in Austin,” said Johnson, the first double winner of the season on the Canadian Tour. “The first win was great, but two times in the same year-- I tell you, that sounds even better.”

The Telus win was worth $24,000 and moves Johnson into top spot on the Order of Merit with $50,850 in earnings.

Canadian Tour rookie Dustin Risdon, 22, of Calgary AB had a chance to put the heat on Johnson but couldn’t get birdie putts inside 20 feet on the final two holes to drop and finished (70-68-69-68—275) two shots back for $14,400.

“If those putts had fallen, maybe things would have been different but not a bad finish for my second tournament. I had a good feeling coming in and felt I could do it. I just couldn’t quite finish it off.”

Stuart Anderson, Edmonton put on a late surge to finish (70-71-69-66—276) 8-under and in a four-way T3 with Dave Christensen, Elk River MN (72-69-69-66—276), Jason Enloe, Dallas, TX (70-765-70-71—276) and Scott Hend, Australia (73-70-64-69—276), worth $6,900 to each of them. Arden Knoll of Kelowna, BC finished (67-67-71-72—277) in a three-way T7th, worth $4,650 while Winnipeg’s Todd Fanning collected $3,600 for his (74-66-71-67—278) three-way T10th. The Tour now moves west for this week’s Victoria Open, with all four rounds being broadcast live on The Golf Channel.

It has taken her a year to make it back but Hee-Won Han of Korea has finally won the Sybase Big Apple Classic presented by Lincoln that she lost in a playoff last year. This time Han avoided a playoff by posting an (68-66-68-71—273) 11-under par two shot cushion to register her first LPGA victory. Meg Mallon, a two-time winner of the Canadian Women’s Open, let this one slip away. Tied with Han at 11-under through three rounds, Mallon shot 2-over her final round (70-67-65-73—275) and that was the difference that enabled Han, the LPGA”s Rookie-of-the-Year in 2001, to pick up a cheque for $142,500.

Last week’s BMO Canadian Women’s champion Beth Daniel recovered from a tough third round and managed to finish (68-68-75-71—282) T9. Nancy Harvey, Swift Current, SA won $4,094 for finishing (72-73-74-71—290) T42nd; Liz Earley, St. Catharines, ON $3,377 for (67-75-78-71—291) T48 and Angela Buzminski, Oshawa, ON, won $1,976 and finished (74-71-80-72—297) T67. A.J. Eathorne, Penticton, BC was cut.

Before he heads off to the Mayo Clinic to find out what’s causing the constant pain in his hands and knuckels, Australian Mark Hensby can be comforted in the knowledge his golf game is not suffering. At the Henrico County Open in Glen Allen, VA Hensby rolled in a six-inch birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Zach Johnson to earn his third career title and a soothing $81,000. Both players finished tied at the end of regulation at 20-under par. Hensby (71-67-67-63—268) posted his career-best final round, a 9-under 63 to get to the clubhouse first while Johnson (67-68-68-65—268) used a frantic birdie-birdie-birdie-par-eagle finish to create the playoff only to fluff is chance in overtime with a poor approach shot. David Morland IV of Brantford, ON put on a valiant finish to (68-71-69-67—275) T24 and earn $3,720. David Hearn, Brampton, ON and Ahmad Bateman, Windsor, ON were cut.

In the storied history of the BC Amateur Championship dating back to 1893 only 12 golfers have managed to successfully defend their titles in the 101 tournaments that have been played. The newest member to join that elite grouping is 19-year-old James Lepp (left) of Abbotsford who captured his second consecutive Clarica BC Amateur Championship in relative ease Thursday, July 17 playing the windswept Lake Point Golf & Country Club in Fort St. John. A University of Illinois sophomore, Lepp lived up to expectations with his (68-67-68-73—276) 12-under par performance that resulted in a four shot victory. Kent Eger, 22, of Invermere, birdied his final hole (71-71-70-68—280) to gain sole possession of second place. Victoria’s 16-year-old Peter Ahn did the same (75-71-67-68—281) for a share of third with James Allenby, 18, of Langley (72-67-69-73—281). This quartet will represent BC in the Willingdon Cup Matches during the Canadian Amateur August 13-17 at Vancouver’s Shaughnessy G&CC.

James Lepp’s golfing career took a remarkable leap forward in 2001. After finishing fourth in the BC Junior and tying for third in the BC Amateur he then won the Canadian Junior in Nova Scotia. His skills continued to improve while attending University of Illinois on scholarship and last season Lepp, whose physique resembles that of Masters Champion Mike Weir of Ontario, became only the third Junior to ever win both the BC Amateur and Junior titles in the same year, For good measure he went on to successfully defend his Canadian Junior crown in Saskatoon. Last month Lepp was a member of the winning squad that helped Canada win the inaugural Copa de las Americas team tournament in Puerto Rico, the same location where the World Cup will be played in 2004.

FOR THE RECORD: Those 12 golfers who managed to defend their BC Amateur titles (in some cases more than once) and the year of their defence were: W.E. Oliver (1895-96); Harvey Crombe (1898-99 and 1903-04 and 1909); A.H. Goldfinch (1901); A.V. Macan (1913); Percy Clogg (1949); Bill Mawhinney (1952); Lyle Crawford (1955); Ron Kidd (1958); Bill Wakeham (1963); Johnny Russell (1968); Doug Roxburgh (1973 and 1977-78 and 1989); and Lepp (2003). Of the 101 BC Amateur championships staged 16 multiple winners have claimed 50 titles and the undisputed leader is Roxburgh with 11 victories spanning four decades. Crombe won nine times in a period of just 13 years.

After winning the BC Ladies’ Amateur Championship and having her name inscribed on the A.G. Flumerfelt Trophy on four previous occasions, Vernon’s Jackie Little (right) has learned one thing for certain and that is don’t worry about other players in the field, just take care of what you can control. And that’s exactly how Jackie Little captured her fifth BC Ladies’ Amateur title at Beach Grove Golf & Country Club (Wednesday, July 16). Four shots off the pace and alone in fifth place after the opening round, Little made her charge the second day cutting the lead to three strokes and slipping into second, then played cautiously the final round to finish at (75-73-74—222) six over par with a five shot margin. Delta’s Holly Sanders, a pre-tournament favorite, went from second to third to second (74-78-75—227) while playing on her home course. However, it was Bree Sharratt, a former Beach Grove junior visiting from Brandywine, CA, who had maintained a three-shot lead through two rounds, who appeared to self destruct on the front nine the final day and ended up (71-74-84—229) alone in third place. Vancouver’s Katrina Leckovic of Marine Drive finished two shots further back in fourth while Samantha Richdale of Kelowna and Christina Spence of Alberni shared fifth place at 232.

Next weekend Little gets to perform in front of her hometown fans when the Western Canadian Ladies Championship tees off at Vernon G&CC July 26-28. Joining Little on the BC team will be Sanders, Spence, Leckovic, Melissa Newman-Gillespie and Janey Deimling.

FOR THE RECORD: Little previously won the BC title in 1992-1993-2000-2001. Ahead of her with nine victories is Golf Hall of Fame of BC member Violet Pooley Sweeny. Another Hall member, Marilyn Palmer O’Connor has eight wins, Vera Hutchings seven. Little is tied for fourth with Mrs. Harvey Combe with five victories.

FROM THE LAND OF THE BUNKERS

After spending part of the weekend watching the best golfers in the world maneuvering around one of the toughest courses in the world, if you have designs on visiting Sandwich, England and playing Royal St. Georges, here’s something you should know in advance. Green fees per round are 75 pounds ($167) but if you’re up to it you can stay and play all day for $246. The St. George’s visitor policy is as follows: “Welcome weekdays only must be pre-booked. No visitors at weekends or on Public Holidays. Must have Handicap Certificate (under 18) and be member of club affiliated to E.G.U. Caddies to be booked in advance. Trolleys available.”

LATER THIS WEEK . . . .

Canadian Tour Commissioner Ian Mansfield	The Canadian Tour is leaving Swan-e-set