Home Team Seeks Upset

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — He’s 47 and more television commentator than golfer, but Nick Faldo is playing in his 30th British Open and is the link to better times in English golf.

Faldo is the last player from England to win the Open, in 1992 at Muirfield, and the last to win at St. Andrews, which he did in 1990 by five shots.

Faldo isn’t ruling out the chance that England’s drought could end this weekend. He even has a couple of options in mind.

“I think in this kind of weather and the toughness, obviously Luke Donald has been playing pretty consistent,” he said. “Lee Westwood is consistent in the wind, and there will be a few of us in the hunt, I’m sure.”

Faldo said he’s not sure whether players from the United Kingdom have an advantage playing on a links course such as the Old Course, because it’s rare to play links courses during the tournament season.

The trick, he said, is to know what you’re doing, which was the key to Tom Watson’s success.

“Look how Watson used to come over and kill us, simply because he knew exactly what he was doing,” Faldo said. “He was a great ball-striker and would land the ball where he intended. That’s the simple secret.

“You’ve just got to hit the shots that you intend, and you’ve got to be able to adapt to lies and bounce and wind and trajectory, all those sorts of things.”

Watson, 55, a five-time British Open champion, is playing the tournament for the 29th time, paired with 65-year-old Jack Nicklaus for the first two rounds. Donald is in the same group and preparing himself for what might happen during Nicklaus’ last appearance at a major championship.

“Hopefully I can turn it into inspiring rather than daunting,” Donald said. “Obviously, it’s going to be a different kind of atmosphere out there. Ernie [Els] told me that I might have to bring earplugs, because there’s going to be a lot of applause, a lot of clapping, something different than what I’ve probably ever experienced. But hopefully I can use the vibes from the crowd to motivate myself and use their kind of energy to spur me on.”

Then there is Colin Montgomerie, 42 and still searching for his elusive first major title, which doesn’t seem to be coming any closer. Montgomerie has one top-10 finish in his 15 British Opens, in 1994.

As for his winless record in majors, Montgomerie pointed to the media.

“I think the media made more of an issue than I did,” he said. “I’m not blaming you guys, but at the same time, you did make a huge issue of the fact about major championships with myself, and especially the closer I got to them, the more, of course, it was emphasized.

“If I stop here and don’t win a major, and the odds are going against it, we have to be realistic here. I’ll look back on the years I was No. 1 in Europe and the seven Ryder Cups I’ve played in and think, ‘OK, well, that was quite successful, thank you very much.’ ”

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St. Andrews is known as the Old Gray Town, but it has gotten a couple of updates: its first Starbucks and its first Subway sandwich shop.

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Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh, who’s better? The rankings say Woods is No. 1, but Sergio Garcia says it’s close.

“If I had to choose, if I had to choose a month ago, I probably would say Vijay,” Garcia said. “At the moment, probably Tiger is just ahead. But when they’re both on, I still feel like Vijay is a better driver of the ball.

“But Tiger is -- although Vijay is pretty good around the greens -- Tiger is a little better around there. So it’s pretty tight.”

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The last player from Europe to win the Open was Paul Lawrie of Scotland in 1999 at Carnoustie. Garcia, from Spain, is considered the leading contender to break through.

“I guess I’m going to try my best,” Garcia said. “I wouldn’t put it as Europe’s best hope. I think that there are a lot of European players that are playing well and have a chance. I just hope that I can be up there and hopefully win it.”