It was a cold, windswept, howler at Royal Birkdale Thursday--a far cry from the sun drenched, balmy New York State Open at Bethpage Black.
In any case, the conditions were all the buzz at the first round of the British Open. There was talk, naturally, about where that ranked among the all-time weather fiascos over there. I can tell first hand that I can't imagine anything being much worse than the third round of the 2002 British at Muirfield.
That was something (fittingly) right out of Shakespeare's "The Tempest.": I am proud to say that Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun and I were intrepid enough to go out there on the course, where the sane reporters did not dare to tread. It took the rest of the day to dry out.
How tough was it? You remember. That's when Tiger Woods shot 81, and lost his chance for the Grand Slam.