A Pair of Aces

It will be good to be back at Muirfield this month for the first time since 2002, when I was walking the fairways for BBC TV. For two days Tiger played as he had in winning the 2000 Open at St Andrews: irons off tees, keeping out of the treacherous bunkers and often having long irons into greens when many others had wedges. He was unlucky to be caught in the worst of Saturday's brutal storm, when on one hole the aptly named Duffy Waldorf hit it into a bush 70 yards in front of the tee. Such was the gruesomeness of the conditions that Tiger barely managed 200 yards with his driver. Ernie Els was luckier, as the wind abated while he still had enough holes to repair the damage somewhat. Such are the vicissitudes of links and Open Championship golf. Tiger shot 81, Ernie 72, and Colin Montgomerie 84, after he'd moved into contention with a second round 64. On a lovely final day, a typically resolute Tiger bounced back with a 65 to finish tied 28th, while Monty shot 75 to finish 82nd. Tiger has won 14 majors and counting, Monty has won, err, none. But maybe that’s just a coincidence …

On Sunday, Ernie played one of the greatest bunker shots you could hope to see from underneath the steep face of a greenside bunker at the 13th, and went on to beat Thomas Levet in the only sudden-death play-off in the championship’s history. (The pair had earlier seen off Steve Elkington and Stuart Appleby in The Open’s now-standard four-hole play-off).

In 1992, Ernie was a fresh-faced youth just making his mark, finishing an excellent tied fifth. Working then for BBC Radio I was behind the 18th on Sunday when Nick Faldo hit a peerless 3-iron that never left the flag, and then proceeded to thank the press from "the heart of his bottom" in his victory speech. It is just possible that Sir Nick, who has confirmed his entry into the field for his first competitive outing since the 2010 Open, might be reminded of this when he tees it up this time around.