SANDY Lyle, the champion golfer at Royal St George's in 1985, yesterday urged his young compatriots not to lose heart after a meagre Scottish representation of just four players qualified to tee up at Birkdale in the 137th staging of the Open.
"The Scots contingent isn't getting any bigger, is it?" he pondered. "Four (golfers] is better than none at all. Hopefully, in time, it will change but it's disappointing that guys like Alastair Forsyth didn't get in. And Stephen Gallacher mus
t be sick after four days banging away (at Loch Lomond], one shot messes up your chances of being in the Open. There is nothing you can do but buckle up and look for better next year."
As a past champion who endured difficult times in his own career, Lyle can also sympathise with Paul Lawrie's plight as the winner at Carnoustie in 1999 also looks to recapture form in Lancashire.
"He' s been cold for a while but it's not for a lack of work. He obviously puts his hours in and travels around quite a lot. He'll have been disappointed with himself after winning the Dunhill not to capitalise on that and pursue better things. The opportunity to play here is always great for him."
Now plying his trade on the seniors circuit in Europe and the USA, Lyle returned to the UK from a trip to Eastern Europe without his clubs yesterday. He'd expected the worst to happen and undertook the journey with a set of back-up blades. His own, first choice, bag, which he'd left at home in Scotland, will arrive in Southport today.
"I haven't got any clubs at the moment," he reported. "My clubs are in Moscow or somewhere, although I'm not quite sure. I was actually in Khazakstan, which is Borat country, isn't it? It's a lot more modern than I thought it was going to be.
"I had visions of horse-drawn golf carts, hens everywhere and things like that. But it's a modern sort of place, a bit like Dubai, with wide streets and a lot of new building. I was only there for a day, really, but I was actually pretty impressed with what they've done and what they're doing. They run a pro-am there very year, they've had Seve Ballesteros and a few others over in the past. I don't think Seve ever recovered after being there a few years ago, with all the vodka on offer...
"I hope to see some clubs today. I was at least wise enough to take my spare set out with me, so I don't really mind if they spend three days in an airport, because I've got my other clubs coming down with my caddy tomorrow."
If he was half of the Old Firm at his peak, Lyle at 50 doesn't have a problem seeing himself now as the golfing equivalent of Partick Thistle.
"I'm enjoying the seniors tour, although it's a bit like third or fourth division football, in that the crowds are smaller and quieter in places. But the competition is still pretty stiff, especially in America, where they're scoring six, seven or eight under par in the first round. And that's not on easy courses, so it's pretty impressive.
"Ian Woosnam and I played in a legends event down in Savanah and finished third, with a better-ball score of 29 under over three rounds. That tells you how tough it is. It's nice to be turning up every week feeling that I've got a chance of winning. I'm a rookie, which is fun, and I should really do well on that tour.Woosie has won twice and I'd like to join him. It's great stuff."
Of all the British contenders this week, Lyle regards Lee Westwood as the player best equipped to inscribe his name on the Claret Jug.
"He was right there at the US Open and that performance must have been a tremendous boost for him. He's got to be our strongest player."
Lyle has vivid memories of Birkdale in 1983, though for an incident which took place off the links rather than his golf that week after he was invited to sign an unexpected area of a woman's anatomy.
"Christine (his wife in 1983] was in hospital waiting to give birth to Stuart when this girl in high heels and a leopard skin coat came up to me as I was signing autographs," he recalled. "She whipped off her top and I heard the clicks of the cameras. That was when I knew it was a set-up. It wasn't something which ever happened again..."
The full article contains 789 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
