British Open: Experience is huge advantage for older players

SOUTHPORT, England — Two old men by the sea did battle for the Claret Jug in last year’s British Open, throwing haymaker after haymaker at each other until one stood tallest at the end.

By the Firth of Clyde, Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson unleashed an uncommon display of brilliance at ancient Royal Troon, separating themselves from the field with spectacular play that left their peers in awe. Stenson prevailed by three with a record performance in which he finished with the lowest total score shot in a major championship (264) and joined Johnny Miller as the only players to shoot 63 in the final round of a major. His total in relation to par — 20 under — set an Open record. Mickelson’s 267 tied for the second-lowest total in the 145 Opens contested.

Meanwhile, J.B. Holmes finished third — 14 shots back.

What wasn’t unusual about the instant classic, however, was the age of the combatants. Stenson was 40. At 46, Mickelson was trying to become the oldest winner of the Open since Old Tom Morris in the 19th century.

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While golf is experiencing a youth movement — 18 players in their 20s have won 22 of the 36 events on the PGA Tour and six of the top-10 players in the world have yet to turn 30 — the undertaking by the youngsters has not taken to the British Open.

The oldest major championship in golf, which turns 146 with Thursday’s start at Royal Birkdale, has been dominated of late by the elders.

Since Charl Schwartzel won the 2011 Masters, the five oldest winners of any major have come in the Open — Stenson (40), Zach Johnson (39) in 2015, Mickelson (43) in 2013, Ernie Els (42) in 2012 and Darren Clarke (42) in 2011.

In the last 12 Opens, only three have been won by players in their 20s: Rory McIlroy was 25 when he won in 2014, Louis Oosthuizen 27 in 2010 and Tiger Woods 29 in 2005.

In the last 25 years, eight winners of the British Open have been at least 38. At Birkdale, it should be noted, the last two winners were Padraig Harrington, who was 36 in 2008, and Mark O’Meara, who was 41 in 1998.

And let’s not forget those who didn’t win — Tom Watson was 59 when he bogeyed the last to fall into a playoff he lost in 2009, and Greg Norman was 53 when he led by two with 18 to play before finishing in a tie for third in 2008.

“The type of golf you have to play is totally different than what we see in the other three majors,” two-time major champion Jordan Spieth said ahead of his fifth start in the Open. “You have to have a lot of imagination and a lot of ball-flight control.”

It’s a type of golf that requires repetition. Links golf demands shots rarely seen in the U.S. and allows the ground to be your friend. Drawing on all of your patience, not necessarily a strong suit of the younger generation, is essential en route to the Claret Jug. Surviving harsh weather that can pound the soul and shots is a must. Avoiding pot bunkers that can ruin the scorecard is crucial. Getting used to the slower green speeds, which can be unnerving, is required.

Simply put, experience in the Open cannot be overstated or overrated and is the great equalizer.

“You can be a great young player, but if you haven't been tested in those harsh elements a number of times, I think you've got less chance of succeeding,” Stenson said. “That being said, it doesn't have to be so, but I guess the age of the winners kind of speak that language.”

The Open, Johnson said, takes some getting used to.

“The more and more I play it, the more and more I realize what it requires and demands out of me,” said Johnson, who missed the cut the first three times he played the Open. “I've embraced the fact that you don't have to be perfect. You've just got to try to hit that ball solid. Solid shots usually pan out. They may not be phenomenal, but hit solid shots, hit solid shots. You learn to play links golf. And the more times you can play it, the better.”

Johnson, who won at St. Andrews, the Home of Golf, is the perfect example of length not being a requirement to win the Open and it certainly isn’t as important as in the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Stepping to the tee and simply pulling driver and swinging away is not advised on links courses. There are more moving parts in the blueprint to success at the Open, and players bent on playing just the power game fall victim to the setting that features heather, gorse, bushes, heavy rough and pot bunkers.

Younger players, especially with today’s equipment, are a fearless bunch with plenty wielding plenty of firepower. They have not been called upon very often to shape shots in the States. And they’re not accustomed to watching the ball roll out 40, 50, 60 yards on tee shots as they do on the hard, sandy-based links courses.

“An Open Championship can be played by a shorter hitter,” Harrington said. “And by suggestion, as you get older, you get shorter relative to the field. But a guy hitting the right ball flight will hit it further into the wind. A guy with a 160-mph efficient ball flight is going to go further than 180-mph inefficient ball flight. That's why an older guy can compete with the younger guys.

“A lot of the younger guys are physically gifted, but they don't have the experience with links golf. Assuming decent, tough enough conditions, it's a tournament for experience. Everybody can compete.

“It's not one dimensional.”

The weather can also eliminate half the field. If you end up on the wrong side of the draw and play your first two rounds in the harshest of weather, you are a long shot to win. Conversely, it increases the odds for the other half of the field and the older set if they are on the right side of the draw.

“I think that's the most frustrating part about this tournament, getting through the first couple of days, from my experience,” Spieth said. “Because if you're on the good end, you almost put pressure on yourself. ‘Hey, I need to jump out ahead.’ And it’s frustrating if you are in form and you get on the wrong side. It’s a mind game that you play with yourself.”

Justin Rose, the U.S. Open champ in 2013, dazzled the crowds in 1998 when he holed a pitch from 50 yards on Birkdale’s last hole for birdie in the final round as a 17-year-old amateur. Great things in the Open were destined for the Englishman. But it hasn’t worked out that way as his tie for fourth that year remains the best result in the tournament he loves.

“It surprises me after all these years that is still the best finish. Yes, there is unfinished business, for sure,” Rose said. “I don't want to say that if I don't win that it's going to be a huge sort of hole in my career, but to win it would kind of close the book in a way on my Open Championship story.

“I've got plenty of years to try to tick off. There's no rush, but certainly I'm into the do-it-now phase of my career.”

Well, at 36, he’s the right age.