The same thing happened to the same group three times in five minutes. As for cashing in, the residents of the local Sandwich Bay Estate relieved punters of £10-a-time to use a road, taxi drivers have been charging up to £15 for a local journey that’s normally £4, and countless local restaurants, hotels and B&Bs have upped their prices to rake in a few extra quid. Fair enough, some might say, but a good advertisement for a future Open it wasn’t. One saving grace was a small, friendly eaterie in nearby Deal called The Hole In The Roof. (By the way, R&A, the stuffy press tent, with no air conditioning and one small fan for 500-plus people, could have done with a hole in its roof) It serves decent grub and leaves no hole in your pocket Or sour taste in the mouth.. Somewhere between the terrific shot at 17 last Friday that secured his place for the weekend and teeing off in his third round, Nick Faldo arrived at the conclusion that he could still play golf In his own mind Faldo became competitive again “Until I made the cut I wasn’t sure,” he said. “Then everything changed.”
Somewhere between the terrific shot at 17 last Friday that secured his place for the weekend and teeing off in his third round, Nick Faldo arrived at the conclusion that he could still play golf In his own mind Faldo became competitive again “Until I made the cut I wasn’t sure,” he said.
“Then everything changed.”
The transformation came on Saturday. Suddenly, he was no longer one of yesterday’s men but, at 46, a real life contender, shooting 67 to enter the final day at four over, very much in contention “You never know,” he said. “As long as nobody runs away with it, I could be in with a chance.”From the moment Faldo set off shortly after mid-day yesterday, his widespread popularity was clearly evident in the size of the gallery that followed him and the applause he received. “Come on Nick, they cried.” Age came into the equation but not in any negative sense. Jack Nicklaus won the last of his 18 major championships at 46, a mark Faldo reached on Friday, so why not another for the three-time Open winner.As others of his generation fell away or were unable to sustain a challenge, Faldo remained in the picture, picking up two shots to reach the turn at two over, the Championship still in his sight.In conditions considerably cooler than the previous day, when the temperature at Sandwich soared into the eighties, Greg Norman was unable to maintain the form that recalled his victory at Royal St George’s in 1993, when he closed with one of the most memorable rounds in Open history.
His chances more or less ruined by a second-round 79, Norman finished with a 68 that met his expectations. “I haven’t played much this year but it was exciting to feel that I was performing at my peak. It can be uncomfortable out there but it also rewards a guy who has the courage to play positively whether it’s a full shot, a punch shot or a chip.”Faldo faithfully stuck to the policy Norman recommended, causing a great cheer to go up when he eagled the par-five seventh after making birdie two holes earlier. The disappointment of a dropped shot at the next did not deter him.
Two more birdies, at the 11th and 14th, put him at even par for the tournament and raised the excitement that surrounded his progress. But, like a boxer running out of legs deep into a contest, he then got hit with back-to-back bogeys. There were enough red figures around by then to drop Faldo down the leaderboard and direct attention elsewhere.Afterwards, could not avoid conveying a sense of disappointment. Time waits for no athlete but for some it slows respectfully to a crawl Another year Another chance. Who knows? Faldo recalled looking at a scoreboard and finding himself only one shot off the lead. “I thought ‘Wait a minute, I’m still in this’, then shortly afterwards I was told that [Ben] Curtis had gone five under That’s when my legs got heavier. At my age stamina gets to be a problem.”Faldo could still hear the roar of the crowd.