NOW THE OPEN INQUESTS BEGIN

Lee Westwood's three

bogeys over last four

holes cost him title

FROM THE BBC.COM WEBSITE
Lee Westwood admitted feeling let down by his short game after the final-hole bogey that left him one shot adrift of a play-off for the Open title.
A superb bunker shot had the Englishman on the green in two but he saw his attempts for birdie and par slide past.
"I'm feeling fairly low now having three-putted on the last," he said.
"The 18th is not an easy hole, but if you hit the fairway the pin is very accessible. I figured that I would need a birdie there to beat Tom (Watson)."
Westwood, pictured above, finished with three bogeys over the final four holes and was left wondering what might have been after seeing Watson and eventual champion Stewart Cink progress to a four-hole shoot-out with tournament scores of two under.
"I got myself into a great position, hit some great putts on my way in, but just couldn't make one," he added.
There are some good things from this week. I'm sure I'll think what they are after I've left here.
"I thought I had made an eagle at 17 and thought I had made the putt at 16 too. I hit a good shot at 15 which just went too far into the back trap."
Chris Wood, 21, was tied for third with Westwood after he too bogeyed the last.
Earlier in his round an eagle at seven followed by birdies at eight and ten had given the Englishman a share of the lead.
But dropped shots at 13 and 14 meant his failure to rescue a heavy approach to the 18th saw him finish just short of the leaders.
Ross Fisher, who started the day one shot behind Watson, suddenly found himself in a three-shot lead after birdies on the 1st and 2nd coincided with dropped shots from the American veteran.
But the 28-year-old, who finished fifth in the US Open earlier this year, was catapulted back into the chasing pack by a disastrous quadruple-bogey 8 on the par-4 5.
Fisher dropped another two shots over holes 7 and 8 and a run of ten consecutive pars saw him finish tied in 13th on two over.
But despite his rapid reversal of fortunes Fisher insists that he had held out hope of victory after taking eight strokes on the par-four fifth.
"You just have to carry on. I was only back to level par. I still had 13 holes to go so I still felt I was very much in it," he said.
"I felt if I could stay in it to the last few holes I knew 16, 17 and 18 had been very kind to me.
England's Luke Donald signed off with a final-round 67 to take him to level par for the Turnberry event.
The 31-year-old briefly established himself as clubhouse leader after his consistent golf produced five birdies peppered throughout his round.
"I played great, really controlled today, and gave myself a chance so I'm happy with my game. I did not have a good record in this tournament so I am pleased," he said.
Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke finished nine over after bowing out with a one-under 69.
Clarke's score represented a dramatic improvement on Saturday's eight-over round and he was three under after 10 before bogeys on 14 and 15 blemished his card.
Paul Lawrie ended eight over par after a two-under round of 68 which featured an albatross at the par-5 seventh
England's Paul Casey also enjoyed a better day in Ayrshire to remain unmoved on eight over.
In an even-par round he picked up birdies at 11 and 12 between dropping shots at 4 and 17, but the world number three blamed his form earlier in the event for his failure to get amongst the contenders.
"This week's been very disappointing. It is a great but challenging golf course and I didn't play well enough," he said.
"Friday was extremely difficult and a case of hanging on and trying not to post a big number, so six over was not a good enough job of hanging on. I failed to limit the damage.
"I've played some great golf intermittently but I just didn't put it all together in consistent rounds and made too many errors. There are some good things from this week. I'm sure I'll think what they are after I've left."
England's Oliver Wilson also made it home in a regulation 70 in a final round that featured birdies on 7 and 14.


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Gutted for Westy, I think at the end he was concentrating more on winning outright, rather than focus on a play off


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Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, who finished as the top amateur at the 2007 Open at Carnoustie, wrapped up his campaign with a 71 which left him eight over overall.
Justin Rose, who clinched the silver medal as a 17-year-old in 1998, finished with a par round to end tied for 13th on two over.
McIlroy's countryman Graeme McDowell recovered from a double-bogey 6 on the 8th with a battling back nine in which he matched three bogeys with three birdies.
He ended three over for the day and five over for the tournament.
David Howell shot his worst round of the competition to return to the clubhouse in 76 and stray to nine over.
A double bogey on 15 came amid dropped shots on 13, 14 and 16 before a birdie on the penultimate hole helped limit the damage.
Nick Dougherty also failed to press on as he made four bogeys, including one on the tricky 5th, on his way to a three-over 73 for the day. He finished on a six-over total of 286.
An opening-round 68 had Anthony Wall just four shots off the lead, but he continued to drift out towards the backmarkers with a last-day 72.
After reaching the turn one under, four successive bogeys between 13 and 16 saw the Englishman settle on seven over for the tournament.
David Drysdale, who along with Lawrie was the only Scot to survive into the weekend, picked up three birdies over the final seven holes to post a 73.
His final total of 10 over was largely down to a slow start that saw him shoot five bogeys over the front nine.
Paul Broadhurst struggled to find form as he finished with a 74 that left him 10 over for the tournament.
Fellow Englishman Graeme Storm's solid round burst into life over the final five holes, where a run of bogeys was only interrupted by an eagle on 17.
He signed for a one-over 71 for a score of nine over for the four days.

Things you probably didn't know about

STEWART CINK

Open Champion, 2009

Date of Birth: May 21, 1973 ... which makes him 36 years old.

Birthplace: Huntsville, Alabama.

Height: 6ft 4in.

Now lives at: Duluth, Georgia with wife Lisa and sons Connor and Reagan.

Education: Four years at Georgia Tech University, Atlanta.

Turned pro: 1995.

Joined US PGA Tour: 1997 after winning Mexican Open and three events on Nike (now Nationwide Tour).

Ryder Cup appearances: 2002-2004-2006-2008.

Harper comes off reserve list to share

Bothwell Castle victory with Arnott

Former Scottish boys champion Lee Harper (Archerfield Links) made the most of being called up off the reserve list to join the field for today's £7,000 Bothwell Castle pro-am.
Harper, the 1999 Scottish boys' match-play champion, tied with Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs Golf Range) for victory with a score of three-under-par 67. Both men earned £904.83 each.
The fifth of Harper's birdies was crucial. It came at the 18th when he knew he needed it to share the first prize. Lee did well to cancel out a double bogey 6 at the third, the only bleminsh in halves of 34 (two under par) and 33 (one under). It was Harper's first Tartan Tour victory of the season.
It was a third shared win of the season for former PGA Cup player Arnott. He birdied the first, second, fourth, 10th and 15th with two bogeys, at the 11th and 17th in halves of 33 and 34.
Fraser Mann (Musselburgh) steered the Kerr Investment amateur trio of Raymond Kerr (handicap 13), Robert Hunter (6) and Neil McLeod (15) to victory in the team event with a net score of 18-under-par 52.
Leading pro scores
Par 70
67 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs), Lee Harper (Archerfield Links), £904.83 each.
68 Craig Ronald (Carluke), Fraser Mann (Musselburgh), Jonny Sharp (Carrick at Cameron House), £472.52.
69 Craig Lee (unatt), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), David Orr (East Renfrewshire), £243.85.
70 Alan Lockhart (Ladybank), Mark King (Kingsfield), Colin Gillies (Perry Golf), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie), £148.24 each.
71 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle), Stephen Gray (Hayston), £115.51 each.
72 Samuel Cairns (Colville Park), James McKinnon (Irvine), Lee Vannet (Carnoustie), Chris Kelly (Cawder), £85.50 each
73 Kenneth Monaghan (Bothwell Castle), Jonathan Lomas (unatt), Christopher Russell (RAW Golf Course Design), Scott Catlin (Greenburn), Ewan Davie (Dunblane New), £50.77 each.
74 Brian Mason (Callaway Golf), James Erksine (Portpatrick Dunskey), Graeme Lornie (Paul Lawrie Foundation), £48.39 each.
75 Ian Graham (Crow Wood) £48.39.
76 Euan Cameron (Hamilton), Mark Loftus (Cowglen), £48.39 each.
77 Vincent Brown (Westerwood), Anthony Mackrell (East Kilbride), Fraser McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) £48.39 each.
78 John Ruth (Sandyhills), Euan Reid (Strathclyde Park), £48.39 each.
80 Alan Purdie (Kingsbarns), £48.39.
81 Scott Gillespie (Burntisland), £48.39.
NRs Kevin McAleer (Gleddoch), Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh), £48.39 each.

Stewart Cink beats tiring Tom Watson in

four-hole play-off for Open title

FROM THE R&A WEBSITE
American Ryder Cup player Stewart Cink is the new Open champion, snatching the title from the hands of compatriot Tom Watson in a four-hole play off after they tied on a two-under-par total of 278 at Turnberry this evening.
Watson, who had turned the clock back all week, ran out of time in his bid to win his sixth Open over the same course where he won his second in 1977. The dream ended in anti-climatic fashion as the 59-year-old five-time champion wearied over the extra holes and destroyed his chances when he took two shots to force himself clear of the thick rough to the left of the 17th fairway. As they walked off that green he trailed 36-year-old Cink by four shots.
The final hole was a formality. Watson blocked his tee shot into the crowd and was in rough short of the green in two. Cink hit two perfect shots to less then three feet and tapped in the winning putt. Watson, sadly, trailed by six shots.
Unfortunately for the talented Cink, who has earned his place in the higher echelons of the game, he was cast in the role of villain.
Playing in his 50th major championship, Cink created his shot at the title with a closing round of 69, making up three shots on Watson over the final 18 holes. He has won five tournaments on the US PGA Tour over the past 12 years and has played in 11 Opens with a previous best of tied for sixth at Carnoustie in 2007.
He took up the game when his parents, both single handicap players, left him at the driving range before he was old enough to go on the course.
“I grew up watching Tom Watson on television and hoped I could one day follow in his footsteps,” said Cink. “I never expected to be playing against him. It has been a surreal experience on one of my favourite courses in this wonderful championship.”
Ross Fisher started his last round birdie-birdie to take the lead but ran up a catastrophic quadruple bogey 8 a few holes later and his chance had gone.
Lee Westwood was in the leading pair on and off after that but dropped crucial shots over the last few holes and he too finished with an anti-climax of three putts on the 18th to fall out of joint second place.
Chris Wood, the Englishman who won the silver medal as leading amateur at Royal Birkdale 12 months ago, did amazingly well as a rookie pro to tie for third place with Westwood on 279.

ANOTHER LOOK AT TURNBERRY'S FINAL DAY
... FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Stewart Cink claimed his first major title as Tom Watson squandered the chance to create history in a dramatic Open Championship at Turnberry.
Watson just needed to par the final 72nd hole to claim his sixth Open title - a remarkable 34 years after his first - and become the oldest major winner by 11 years. But the 59-year-old hit his approach through the green and then three-putted from the back fringe, his putt for victory from eight feet never threatening the hole.
And Cink then won an anti-climactic four-hole play-off for the Claret Jug and a first cash prize of £750,000 by six shots, playing the fifth, sixth, 17th and 18th in two under par as Watson stumbled to four over. Watson's monetary reward was £459,000.
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Click on the next line for more news from Turnberry:
The Open Championship's official website
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The American pair had finished tied on two under par, Cink making a birdie on the last for a round of 69 and Watson, who led by one at the start of the day, returning a 72 after three-putting from off the back of the 18th green.
England's Lee Westwood and Chris Wood missed out on the play-off by a single shot after both bogeyed the 72nd hole, Westwood three-putting from long range and Wood failing to get up and down from the back of the green.
Compatriot Ross Fisher led by two shots after birdies at the first two holes, but took a quadruple bogey 8 at the fifth and eventually finished tied for 13th.
Speaking after receiving the Claret Jug on the 18th green, Cink added: "I stand here a little bit intimidated by this piece of hardware I have in my hands.
"There are a lot of emotions running through my mind and my heart and I'm so proud to be here with this.
"I don't even know what to say. My hat's off to Tom. He turned back the clock and did a great job and it was fun watching you all week Tom."
+Paul Lawrie remains the last British player to win an Open - 10 years after he did it at Carnoustie. Paul had the best outward half of 31 today, perehaps the best outward half of the tournament. He had an albatross 2 at the long seventh after a birdie at the third to turn in four-under-par 35. He ran up a triple bogey 7 at the 12th and dropped another shot at the 14th but finished on a high for a 68 with birdies at the short 15th and 18th (a finish that would have made all the difference if Tom Watson, Chris Wood or Lee Westwood had been able to produce the same figures a couple of hours later than Lawrie!). Paul finished on seven-over-par 287 and picked up a cheque for £13,750, and David Drysdale, the only other Scot to make the cut, totalled 290, to earn himself £10,500.


FUTURE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP VENUES
2010 ST ANDREWS, Fife
2011 ROYAL ST GEORGE'S, Kent.
2012 ROYAL LYTHAM & ST ANNE'S, Lancashire.
2103 MUIRFIELD, East Lothian.

STEWART CINK (United States) bt TOM WATSON (United States) in a four-hole play-off for the title after they had tied at two-under-par 278 for four rounds

Open Championship Scoreboard

FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
278 Stewart Cink (US) 66 72 71 69, Tom Watson (US) 65 70 71 72 (Cink won £750,000; Watson £400,000).
279 Chris Wood (England) 70 70 72 67, Lee Westwood (England) 68 70 70 71 (£290,000 each).
280 Luke Donald (England) 71 72 70 67, Retief Goosen (SAF) 67 70 71 72, Mathew Goggin (Tasmania) 66 72 69 73 (£180,000 each).
281 Soren Hansen (Denmark) 68 72 74 67, Justin Leonard (US) 70 70 73 68, Ernie Els (SAf) 69 72 72 68, Thonas Aiken (SAF) 71 72 69 69, Richard S Johnson (Sweden) 70 72 69 70 (£112,000 each).
282 Jeff Overton (US) 70 69 76 67, Andres Romero (Argentina) 68 74 73 67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 64 73 76 69, Matteo Manassero (Italy) (am) 71 70 72 69, Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 66 73 73 70, Justin Rose (England) 69 72 71 70, Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 71 70 71 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 69 72 69 72, Boo Weekley (US) 67 72 72 71, Ross Fisher (England) 69 68 70 75 (£67,500 each, with exception of amateur Manassero).
283 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 71 72 70, Oliver Wilson (England) 72 70 71 70, Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 69 70 72 72 (£36,250 each).
284 Davis Love (US) 69 73 73 69, Soren Kieldsen (Denmark) 68 76 71 69, Nick Watney (US) 71 72 71 70, Mark Calcavecchia (US) 67 69 77 71, Kenichi Kuboya (Japan) 65 72 75 72, James Kingston (SAf) 67 71 74 72, John Daly (US) 68 72 72 72 (£31,500 each).
285 Richard Sterne (SAf) 67 73 75 70, Martin Kaymer (Germany) 69 70 74 72, Jim Furyk (United States) 67 72 70 76 (£24,000 each).
286 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 70 69 76 71, Thomas Levet (France) 71 73 71 71, Nick Doughery (England) 70 70 73 73, Vijay Singh (Fini) 67 70 75 74, Steve Marino (United States) 67 68 76 75 (£20,000 each).
287 Anthony Wall (England) 68 72 75 72, Branden Grace (SAf) 67 72 73 75, Bryce Molder (United States) 70 73 67 77, Paul McGinley (Ireland) 71 71 70 75 (£16,000 each).
288 Paul Lawrie (Sco) 71 73 76 68, Zach Johnson (US) 70 71 77 70, Paul Casey (Eng) 68 76 74 70, Rory McIlroy (NIr) 69 74 74 71, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 69 72 73 74 (£13,750 each).
289 Darren Clarke (NIr) 71 71 78 69, Kenny Perry (Us) 71 72 75 71, Graeme Storm (Eng) 72 72 74 71, Robert Allenby (Australia) 70 74 73 72, Johan Edfors (Sweden) 71 73 72 73, Billy Mayfair (US) 69 73 73 74, Steve Stricker (US) 66 77 70 76, David Howell (England) 68 73 72 76 (£11,750 each)..
290 David Drysdale (Sco) 69 73 75 73, Tom Lehman (US) 70 72 74 74, Paul Broadhurst (Eng) 70 72 74 74, Kevin Sutherland (US) 69 73 73 75 (£10,500 each).
291 Ryuji Imada (Janap) 74 69 79 69 (£10,100).
292 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) 71 70 76 73, Padraig Harrngton (Ireland) 69 74 76 73, Stuart Appleby (Australia) 71 72 76 73, Sean O'Hair (US) 68 75 75 74 (£10,000 each).
293 J B Holmes (US) 68 70 75 80 (£9,600).
295 Mark O'Meara (US) 67 77 77 74, Fredrick Jacobson (Sweden) 70 72 77 76 (£9,500 each).
303 Paul Goydos (US) 72 72 77 82 (£3,200).
304 Daniel Gaunt (Australia) 76 67 79 82 (£3,200).
Selected other payments:
Colin Montgomerie £3,200, Tiger Woods £3,200, Martin Laird £2,650, Elliot Saltman £2,650, Sandy Lyle £2,375, Gary Orr £2,375, Sir Nick Faldo £2,100, Lloyd Saltman £2,100, Gary Norman £2,100.

US PGA Tour Scoreboard
US BANK CHAMPIONSHIP
Brown Deer Park GC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 210 (3x70)
199 Frank Lickliter II 66 70 63
200 Greg Chalmers (Aus) 64 67 69
201 Chris Riley 67 66 68, Jeff Maggert 68 67 66
202 Jeff Klauk 64 69 69, Brendon De Jonge 70 66 66, Jeff Quinney 67 68 67, John Mallinger 70 66 66
203 Kevin Na 69 65 69, Jerry Kelly 69 68 66, Kris Blanks 70 63 70, Omar Uresti 69 67 67, Jeff Sluman 69 66 68, Steve Flesch 69 65 69, Bo Van Pelt 67 68 68
204 Michael Letzig 68 67 69, Joe Ogilvie 67 71 66, Casey Wittenberg 71 69 64, Dicky
Pride 72 69 63, Johnson Wagner 68 69 67, Jason Gore 66 70 68
205 Kirk Triplett 67 70 68, Harrison Frazar 70 66 69, Tom Pernice Jnr. 70 68 67, Steve Elkington (Aus) 69 69 67, Matthew Jones (Aus) 71 68 66, Joe Durant 67 70 68, Glen Day 71 67 67, Marc Turnesa 69 65 71
206 ChrisStroud 71 67 68, Tag Ridings 66 70 70, Lee Janzen 70 68 68, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 67 69 70, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 72 68 66, Bob Tway 73 64 69, Loren Roberts 69 69 68, Skip Kendall 66 70 70, Tommy Gainey 67 68 71
207 Spencer Levin 71 68 68, Brian Davis (Eng) 73 68 66, Scott Hoch 70 67 70, Steve Lowery 70 68 69, Mark Hensby (Aus) 67 72 68, Parker McLachlin 70 68 69, Mark Wilson 68 70 69, Brad Faxon 70 70 67, Brett Quigley 68 72 67, Tim Petrovic 68 70 69, Corey Pavin 73 67 67
208 Kyle Stanley 71 66 71, Tim Herron 70 69 69, Scott Sterling 69 71 68, Cameron Beckman 72 69 67, Carlos Franco (Par) 69 71 68, Garrett Willis 72 69 67, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 69 71 68
209 Jay Williamson 68 71 70
210 Jonathan Kaye 70 67 73, George McNeill 69 70 71, David Peoples 70 70 70, Ronnie Black 71 70 69, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 73 68 69
211 Aron Price (Aus) 70 70 71, Colt Knost 68 71 72, Mark Brooks 71 70 70, Heath Slocum 71 70 70, Kevin Streelman 71 67 73, Kevin Stadler 69 69 73, John Rollins 71 68 72, Bill Haas 73 68 70, Guy Boros 70 69 72, Nicholas Thompson 70 71 70
212 Cliff Kresge 68 73 71
213 Shaun Micheel 70 71 72, Troy Matteson 68 70 75
214 Aaron Watkins 71 70 73, Leif Olson 69 70 75, Troy Kelly 69 72 73, Ryan Helminen 73 68 73, Peter Lonard (Aus) 72 69 73