Columnist Dean Juipe: Surprise winner is no surprise

Dean Juipe

Monday, July 21, 2003 | 9:53 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The delightfulness of the British Open annually makes it the most entertaining golf tournament in the world. Perhaps the Masters has a slightly greater stature, but for sheer, widespread public appeal nothing beats "The Championship" as it has come to be called.

Beyond the humpback greens and fairways, the waist-high brush and bottomless bunkers, the British Open also -- and somewhat routinely -- introduces or reacquaints fans with a host of players they may not otherwise see the rest of the year.

It's as if the bizarre courses and conditions bring out the crazies and open the door for the most unlikely of championship candidates.

First-round leader Hennie Otto of South Africa was such a player. As was S.K. Ho of South Korea.

Both performed well under immense scrutiny and pressure, made doubly difficult by their lack of familiarity with the limelight.

And while neither was a significant factor in the final round Sunday, perhaps they took some pleasure in seeing one of their own sneak away with the Claret Jug.

Ben Curtis, a player so far removed from the upper echelon that he only qualified for the tournament a week earlier and who is ranked No. 396 in the world, added implausibility upon implausibility until he was the only man left in the field under par.

Has a major champion ever been less well-known?

Has one ever prevailed despite bogeys on four of the final seven holes?

Has one ever seen his game go south down the stretch while his name was incongruently going north on the leader board?

If anything, it appeared Curtis had -- predictably, some would say -- choked after taking a two-stroke lead early on the back nine at Royal St. George's in Sandwich, England.

He gave a stroke back at No. 12 when he pulled his par putt, got away with a par after a wayward tee shot at the following hole and bogeyed No. 14 when it took him four to reach the par-5. Another bogey at No. 15 and Curtis had fallen behind Thomas Bjorn, who, at that point, looked to be the certain winner.

But nothing is certain when it comes to hanging on to a lead in the British Open, as Jean Van de Velde will forever be remembered. Three up with one hole to play at Carnoustie in 1999, he triple-bogeyed the hole and later lost a three-way playoff to Paul Lawrie.

Bjorn's crumble is no match for Van de Velde's from an historical perspective, yet it was surprising nonetheless. He is, after all, a seven-time winner on the European tour and a highly regarded player by those not restrained by borders and ponds.

As any aspiring expert could have said, Bjorn, Thomas Levet and Justin Rose were three good, if somewhat overlooked, candidates to win when play began Thursday. One or more figured to be in contention and two were for a while, Rose having missed the cut.

The cut, incidentally, came at 150, or seven strokes more than in 1993 when the tournament was last played at Royal St. George's. That year the course was uncharacteristically green and plush, and the scores were so low that it took 143 to qualify for the weekend.

This year 143 was good for second place heading into Saturday's third round.

But this year the course was ideal from the superintendent's twisted point of view. "Biscuit brown," he called it as balls dropped from spines atop the middle of fairways scurried for the rough and putts played games with holes as if they were decoys.

Only Curtis finished under par, which, fans will tell you, is the way they like to see golf played. They want the pros to struggle, want them to feel a little pain.

And this Sandwich was piled high with misery.

Bjorn couldn't believe he didn't fare better; same with Tiger Woods and probably Sergio Garcia. Phil Mickelson failed again to win his first major title, David Duval couldn't snap out of his slump and defending champion Ernie Els couldn't repeat. Mark Roe was disqualified, and Jesper Parnevik, too.

One by one, each of the 156 players in the field was so steadily visited by misfortune that it must have seemed the Grim Reaper himself was rooted at the door.

In the end, a player who had already collapsed was able to stagger in while all around him gasped for air.

Ben Curtis has his Andy Warhol moment of fame. If it only lasts for 15 minutes it's still something that can never be taken from him.