:00:44. > :00:50.Through the gates, and just in on the right, with all England were a
:00:50. > :00:55.golf course, this would be the golf course, this would be the
:00:55. > :01:05.first tee. And, the 18th green. 13 times the great and the good have
:01:05. > :01:21.
:01:21. > :01:27.strode out from this quirky corner, It can show its fear at the very
:01:27. > :01:37.ferst or the very last. I reminder of the enduring truth of sport.
:01:37. > :01:43.
:01:43. > :01:53.It's not how you start, but how you Endings, and beginnings. This
:01:53. > :01:56.
:01:56. > :02:04.golfing year, the Open returns to Hello, we are all set for more
:02:04. > :02:07.tales of the unexpected here at a breezy Royal St George Georges and
:02:07. > :02:11.the 14th Open Championship. This orn corner of Kent has produced
:02:11. > :02:17.cracking stories each time it has hosted the world's best golfers.
:02:17. > :02:21.They don't come much better than the most talked about man in the
:02:21. > :02:26.game, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy. He hasn't yet laid hands
:02:26. > :02:33.on the famous Claret Jug, he is the clear favourite after his runnaway
:02:33. > :02:36.victory at the US Open last month. The creation of Rory McIlroy, Major
:02:36. > :02:41.champion, is a story often told. The youngster with magic in his
:02:41. > :02:51.hands. His life, it seemed, was all preparation for the victory. How do
:02:51. > :02:55.
:02:56. > :03:02.you prepare for all that comes with I didn't expect it to be as hectic
:03:02. > :03:07.as it was, but you know, I think always, when you do something you
:03:07. > :03:12.sort of feel like, it's not as big a deal as everyone is making out.
:03:12. > :03:16.It's nice. It's great to have that support. Have you had to become
:03:16. > :03:20.harder - You have to. My life has definitely changed in the last
:03:20. > :03:25.three weeks. And, I, yeah, I just have to... I just have to deal with
:03:25. > :03:30.everything that goes on, you know, outside the ropes. When I'm inside
:03:30. > :03:35.the ropes and on the golf course, I try and play the best golf that I
:03:35. > :03:40.can. The demands on my time now, outside the golf course, are - it
:03:40. > :03:46.will become much harder to still, you know, do or be the same person
:03:46. > :03:50.that I was, you know, before I won the US Open. It's just - it's just
:03:50. > :03:54.something I'm going to have deal with. I wanted to be a Major
:03:54. > :03:58.champion. To gain a Major championship if you have to live
:03:58. > :04:03.your life out in the public eye, you know, it's not a bad tradoff to
:04:03. > :04:11.have. How did it come to this? Has there been a greater turnaround in
:04:11. > :04:15.sport from collapse in a springtime. I don't think anyone...
:04:15. > :04:19.dominating the world at the US Open? Mentally, I changed a lot on
:04:19. > :04:26.the golf course. I learnt a lot from that final day at Augustine.
:04:26. > :04:31.COMMENTATOR: My goodness me. combination of the Masters and the
:04:31. > :04:34.Open last year at St Andrews and getting into contention at the PGA.
:04:34. > :04:38.Learning something different each time from those events, it took me
:04:38. > :04:43.a little bit of time to put all the pieces together. You know, when I
:04:43. > :04:48.was able to do that, you know, I won the US Open. I don't feel as if
:04:48. > :04:54.I've changed that month. -- much, mentally on the golf course I feel
:04:54. > :05:01.I'm better. Winning one Major was never enough, you I wanted more. I
:05:01. > :05:07.have one my first Major, let's win my second, let's win a career Grand
:05:07. > :05:11.Slam. When I do that, let's do it again. Do you find the hype
:05:11. > :05:15.strange? I have won three times in my career. I want to win more than
:05:16. > :05:22.that. The way I con at -- won at Congressional, that is why the hype
:05:22. > :05:25.has been so much. But, you know, I don't know, I don't know what way -
:05:25. > :05:28.I think golf golf, you know, the golfing public in general are
:05:28. > :05:33.looking for that next player to come up and, sort of, dominate.
:05:33. > :05:41.Whether that is me, you know, we don't know yet. Hopefully, it is.
:05:41. > :05:48.If it's someone else, you know, that's great. And, this is our home
:05:48. > :05:51.for the next four days with a spot over looking the practice putt
:05:51. > :05:54.green and the 1st tee. How comfortable do you think Rory is?
:05:54. > :05:57.What expectation is he strongholding this week, Ken?
:05:57. > :06:01.think he will be, obviously, nervous. He will be very confident.
:06:01. > :06:07.He couldn't be more confident coming to this championship.
:06:07. > :06:13.Winning the US Open. Played marvellous golf there. He has had a
:06:13. > :06:18.practice rounds. Winning Majors, if you have done it you know you can
:06:18. > :06:24.do it again. With Tiger out golf seems to need a new hero to focus
:06:24. > :06:31.on. He has been menged mentioned in the same bracket as Tiger, that is
:06:31. > :06:34.an awful lot to have on young shoulders, isn't it? When you talk
:06:34. > :06:39.about jack Nicholson and Tiger Woods you are talking of the
:06:39. > :06:42.Premier League, he is not there yet. He is a naturally gifted player. He
:06:42. > :06:46.reminds me of Sandy Lyle. It comes to him easily. Pressure doesn't
:06:46. > :06:50.seem to get to him. He has that ability. Not Tiger Woods yet. He
:06:50. > :06:55.has the ability to be a great player, no doubt about it. What did
:06:55. > :06:59.you make of the way he responded to Augustine at Congressional? Thats
:06:59. > :07:03.with a terrific effort. Augustine could have really knocked the
:07:03. > :07:08.wheels off his motorbike, as it were, he came fighting back. It was
:07:08. > :07:12.exceptional, I thought. To win by eight shots. Beautiful golf. It
:07:12. > :07:15.didn't seem to affect him. To be a great golfer you have to go with
:07:15. > :07:21.the rough and smooth. That proved a lot to him, that is for certain
:07:21. > :07:25.that he can do that. No first time Major winner has come back and won
:07:25. > :07:28.the next one on the calendar since the Second World War. It is a tough
:07:28. > :07:32.ask for Rory McIlroy. Northern Ireland has two Major winners in
:07:33. > :07:39.the last 12 months. It is an extraordinary feat. What about
:07:39. > :07:48.England, no Major winners for the host nation since Nick Faldo in
:07:48. > :07:58.1996, surely, with five Englishman in the higher levels of the table
:07:58. > :07:59.
:07:59. > :08:08.there has got to be a better chance. This to be champion. There you go.
:08:08. > :08:13.England expects every man to do his duty. Thus spoke Lord Nelson at
:08:13. > :08:18.Trafalgar. Nick Faldo was the last to claim the claret in 1992. With
:08:18. > :08:23.the top two players in the world and four in the top 16 should
:08:24. > :08:28.England expect a victory in the battle to slay St Georges?
:08:28. > :08:33.there been such a good a feeling about English golf? Certainly not.
:08:33. > :08:39.We have a number of people, myself, Lee, Ian and Paul Casey and Justin.
:08:39. > :08:41.The list goes on and on. So, you know, hopefully we can breakthrough.
:08:41. > :08:45.How fedup are you with the questions about when, with regards
:08:45. > :08:50.to Majors and when with regards to English winners of this great
:08:50. > :08:55.tournament? Well, you know, not really fedup. You can soon stop
:08:55. > :08:59.them by winning this week, can't you. A number of players can
:08:59. > :09:04.capable of pulling of a victory. I don't need to Biophilia the names.
:09:04. > :09:07.You know who they are. It's a wide open tournament this week. No
:09:07. > :09:12.particular favourite, I would say. It's going to be the usual suspects
:09:12. > :09:18.of which England has quite a number in there who can win the claret and
:09:18. > :09:22.lift the Claret Jug. Golf is an individual game. You see guys Luke
:09:22. > :09:25.who I have grown up playing amateur golf with. I can see what he has
:09:25. > :09:30.done to get where he has got. That is through hard work, determination,
:09:30. > :09:34.there is no reason why other players can't follow that same line.
:09:34. > :09:37.So many guys at the top of the world rankings which have done an
:09:37. > :09:42.incredible job over the last 18 months. It would be fitting for one
:09:42. > :09:46.of the guys to come through this week. It would be great to have an
:09:46. > :09:52.English winner. Ins you have been playing golf there can't be so many
:09:52. > :09:56.weeks going into an Open where there are so many contenders from a
:09:56. > :10:00.home-grown perspective? Why not. I have finished top three in in five
:10:01. > :10:04.of the last seven. That ought to win you a Major sooner or later.
:10:04. > :10:09.Luke is coming in off the win. Westy playing well. This could be a
:10:09. > :10:13.year. I like the English chances, for sure. It wasn't that long ago
:10:14. > :10:18.there were one or two guys in the top 100 representing England in the
:10:18. > :10:22.world rankings. And, you know, now it's getting frustrating if it's
:10:22. > :10:27.two or three in the top ten. I don't even know how many we have in
:10:27. > :10:37.the top 100. It's a lot. That's brilliant. It really. Has been a
:10:37. > :11:05.
:11:05. > :11:08.Former Ryder Cup captain Mark James is with me. Do we make enough of
:11:08. > :11:13.the world ranking of Donald and Westwood. Is there too much
:11:13. > :11:17.emphasis these days on Majors? times, yes. When a guy gets to
:11:17. > :11:21.world number one you shouldn't ask questions questions of whether he
:11:21. > :11:26.is worth it. The fact that Donald and Westwood are one and two they
:11:26. > :11:30.have played a huge amount of high quality golf. If you look back over
:11:30. > :11:37.13 years, only a handful of people have been world No 16789 there have
:11:37. > :11:44.been 30 or 40 Major winners. there anything missing from his
:11:44. > :11:52.game, is there a case of luck? about luck. The right starting time.
:11:52. > :12:00.A few putts go in. No-one else gets hot. You can get lucky in Majors
:12:01. > :12:06.and very unlucky. He has been so unlucky. Luck Donald, the most
:12:06. > :12:11.dominant player across the year. How is his game cute suited to this
:12:11. > :12:15.course in particular? I don't know if it gets windy, I don't know how
:12:15. > :12:21.low he can hit or whether he shapes it that well. Earlier in the year
:12:21. > :12:24.he was down greens and regulation in the States, he moved up into the
:12:24. > :12:29.top 50. That means the last couple of months he has been playing very,
:12:29. > :12:34.very good golf. That will hold him in good stead here. If it is to be
:12:34. > :12:39.a an English winner, which one? number of players from England who
:12:39. > :12:44.could win. Obviously, Donald Westwood, cream at the moment. You
:12:44. > :12:50.have Poulter, Casey. They are high quality. And, Justin Rose. He has
:12:50. > :12:55.been hitting the ball well this year. Who knows. Thank you. It
:12:55. > :12:59.doesn't get much more English than Royal St Georges, does it? This
:12:59. > :13:04.course in 184 was the first upon which the Open was staged outside
:13:04. > :13:14.Scotland. It really is an area that is totally fascinating in a
:13:14. > :13:24.
:13:24. > :13:28.historical sense. We have been St George's itself has its place in
:13:28. > :13:33.Open Championship history. It was the first course in England to host
:13:33. > :13:41.the Open Championship. Before that had been Prestwick, St Andrews,
:13:41. > :13:47.Muirfield came in 1892. It moved south to St George's in 1894. You
:13:47. > :13:52.can great a close up look at the white cliffs at Dover here. They
:13:52. > :13:58.are being washed away and eroded all the time. Ian Fleming had a
:13:58. > :14:03.house down here. He was a member of Royal Saint Georges. The reason
:14:03. > :14:13.that James Bond is supposed to be called 007 because Ian Fleming
:14:13. > :14:17.
:14:17. > :14:21.liked to go up to cant Canterbury We talk about this corner of
:14:22. > :14:28.England being a gateway to the country. Down there is a Roman fort,
:14:28. > :14:34.where the Roman invasion in 14AD began. -- 43AD began. From the
:14:34. > :14:43.ancient to the modern, beside the fort is a modern Castle of
:14:43. > :14:47.invention that's the Pfizer factory, it was here they developed viagra.
:14:47. > :14:50.I have no idea what that is but I am told it's very useful.
:14:50. > :14:54.The Open championship adds another chapter to the long and varied
:14:54. > :15:01.history of this corner of England and at the heart of it all the most
:15:01. > :15:06.English of courses, Royal St George's.
:15:06. > :15:11.One man who loved this event was Alex Hay who for 26 years sat
:15:12. > :15:15.alongside Peter Alliss in our commentary box. Alex sadly passed
:15:15. > :15:19.away this week and we will all miss him, but none more so than his
:15:19. > :15:23.friend and colleague behind the microphone.
:15:23. > :15:30.I knew Alex for more years than I care to remember. I saw him through
:15:30. > :15:35.the phase of when he was a golf professional, I saw him arriving
:15:36. > :15:40.when he was a club professional. He was a good companion, amusing,
:15:40. > :15:44.entertaining, could have a temper at times but I loved him dearly and
:15:44. > :15:47.shall miss him. But, of course, he will be mostly remembered for his
:15:47. > :15:57.work in the commentary box with phrases like this:.
:15:57. > :16:00.
:16:00. > :16:10.One could almost say he will need history iron now.
:16:10. > :16:11.
:16:11. > :16:15.-- his foretree his -- his tree iron now.
:16:15. > :16:18.There's never a day goes by for him that something wonderful doesn't
:16:18. > :16:28.happen. What a wonderful shot that is. It
:16:28. > :16:30.
:16:30. > :16:40.gets better and better. It can't possibly, it can! We are a
:16:40. > :16:43.privileged couple to get to come He had the most infectious laugh in
:16:43. > :16:47.the business, didn't he? And our thoughts are with Anne and the two
:16:47. > :16:52.boys right now. Alex will have within thrilled with the resurgence
:16:52. > :17:02.of European golf. Rory McIlroy has followed a trail blazed by Graeme
:17:02. > :17:03.
:17:03. > :17:09.McDowell and Martin Kaymer. There has been a major shift in the world
:17:09. > :17:12.game. One year ago he was the
:17:12. > :17:20.unpronounceable outsider, now he is a familiar face, dreaming of a
:17:20. > :17:26.double. If you can stay calm and patient and enjoy yourself, that's
:17:26. > :17:29.a big part of Major weeks. There was mentally that belief in
:17:30. > :17:33.yourself that helped me a lot and I am sure when I am in that position
:17:33. > :17:43.again to win a major I know that I have done it before
:17:43. > :17:44.
:17:44. > :17:48.and just have that belief that it People say when are you going to
:17:48. > :17:53.win a first Major? Then the next question when are you going to win
:17:53. > :17:56.your second? It's horrible to say a Major championship is a burden. Six
:17:56. > :18:00.or eight months afterwards, I loved every second and played very well.
:18:01. > :18:05.It was more as a defence of the title got near that the three or
:18:05. > :18:10.four months leading up to that everyone wanted to talk about 2010
:18:10. > :18:14.and I wanted to kick on with 2011. I don't put too much pressure on
:18:14. > :18:20.myself, I just kept playing my game the way I have been playing the
:18:21. > :18:30.whole week. There's nothing else you can say
:18:31. > :18:37.
:18:37. > :18:44.I think I have learned about myself under pressure situations and
:18:44. > :18:48.hopefully this week just get the game right and this golf course be
:18:48. > :18:51.quite patient. That's what it's all about here, to grind it out, to
:18:51. > :18:55.fight and to wait for your chance. It's not about beauty golf, it's
:18:55. > :18:59.about scoring well. Preparation. Being prepared for anything.
:18:59. > :19:03.Realising it's going to be a big, long tough weekend ahead, really
:19:03. > :19:07.grinding tough golf and you have to be really mentally prepared to be
:19:07. > :19:11.patient and be mentally prepared for a real test of golf. It does
:19:11. > :19:17.help if you have done something before to remind yourself you have
:19:17. > :19:23.done it, it's possible to do it again. You can get a good deal of
:19:23. > :19:30.confidence out of that. Are there sometimes you sit there and you put
:19:30. > :19:33.your feet up and you think I have won the claret Claret Jug? A lot of
:19:33. > :19:36.times, you think wow, it was quite good. It was unbelievable spaoerps
:19:36. > :19:40.and I would -- experience and I would love to be known as Open
:19:40. > :19:49.champion again. Whoever does walk away with the Claret Jug will have
:19:49. > :19:53.to conquer the most sourtly course on the rota. It has a reputation as
:19:54. > :19:58.one of the most hazardous courses of them all. Ken Brown can tell us
:19:58. > :20:03.what awaits them. Royal St George's is in perfect
:20:03. > :20:07.condition. The players are going to love it. There's more spin than
:20:07. > :20:10.usual so you have half a chance of playing shots out, but if you go
:20:10. > :20:20.wide you are in the thick stuff. A real feature of the golf course
:20:20. > :20:25.
:20:25. > :20:28.this week are these undulating fairways. Bunkers peppered around
:20:28. > :20:33.the course, with the lovely golden sand. Look wonderful but tough to
:20:33. > :20:36.get out of. The greens, well, they're velvet. A lovely carpet of
:20:36. > :20:40.green grass, just about holding enough. A good shot on the fairway
:20:40. > :20:45.you will be able to spin the balls. This week it's all about the breeze.
:20:45. > :20:50.If the breeze is about, Royal St George's is a tiger. This week the
:20:50. > :20:54.course is set up perfectly for the Open championship. If the sunshines
:20:55. > :21:01.there will be good numbers, but if it doesn't it will be a brute. It
:21:01. > :21:05.may have been an American who tamed the brute the last time. The last
:21:05. > :21:12.five Majors have been won by non- Americans so a golfing superpower
:21:12. > :21:22.in decline? There are 52US players on the field this week who would
:21:22. > :21:33.
:21:33. > :21:38.refute that, the most high profile I have been around a long time. I
:21:38. > :21:41.don't feel old but I have been around a long time. I have enjoyed
:21:41. > :21:46.playing and competing and I feel like right now I have been able to
:21:46. > :21:50.get my game at a level I feel as is high as it's been even though my
:21:50. > :21:55.results have not been there. Wonderful distance control again.
:21:55. > :21:58.love to compete and always have. It gives me an opportunity to play and
:21:58. > :22:02.compete against the best players and try to win championships that I
:22:02. > :22:05.have dreamt about as a kid and that fire never goes away. I will be
:22:05. > :22:09.playing just about every week all the way through the end of
:22:09. > :22:12.September, gives me an opportunity to get some of my best golf out and
:22:12. > :22:15.an opportunity to play the way I know I have been playing, I just
:22:15. > :22:23.haven't gotten the scores in the last year or so but I think it's
:22:23. > :22:27.about to turn. Golf has become a global sport. We need good young
:22:27. > :22:37.players and good young global players to promote the sport on an
:22:37. > :22:38.
:22:38. > :22:42.international basis. Fowler at the 17th and on and on and on. That's
:22:42. > :22:46.ridiculous. I feel like American golf is in good shape. We have a
:22:46. > :22:51.lot of good young talented players, as well as older established
:22:51. > :22:55.players who have done it year after year. I feel like American golf is
:22:55. > :23:00.fine and our players will end up winning some tournaments but it's
:23:00. > :23:04.important that we have good young players like Rory McIlroy. We need
:23:04. > :23:12.these guys to step up and play. In the US we have guys like Ricky
:23:12. > :23:17.Fowler that are coming on, a kid in college. Dustin Johnson has
:23:17. > :23:22.something that you can't acquire, which is clubhead speed. Players
:23:22. > :23:29.like that give international golf a strong flavour.
:23:29. > :23:35.Jake Townsend is a star-spangled kind of guy, you will be on Radio
:23:35. > :23:43.Five Live this week. Is the power base diminishing now, is this a
:23:43. > :23:48.blip or major shift? There's been cycles, you have Seve, Ian Woosnam,
:23:48. > :23:53.they were the power base. It's shifted to the Americans in the 90s
:23:53. > :23:57.and early 2000s. It's gone back to this side of the Atlantic and it's
:23:57. > :24:02.ready for Westwood to win, Donald to win his first and certainly you
:24:02. > :24:07.would expect McIlroy to win a bunch of them. This is a global game now.
:24:07. > :24:12.Is there anything that's inhibiting US golf, maybe even Tiger's
:24:12. > :24:21.absence? Tiger has created a vacuum nobody's rushed to fill. Fowler is
:24:21. > :24:25.the guy the Americans want to come in. I think he is a way off yet.
:24:25. > :24:29.Glover has won the Open but hasn't contended in other Majors. Those
:24:29. > :24:33.are the guys probably going to do it but they're going to have to
:24:33. > :24:38.contend before they win. Thank you very much. Some of the the younger
:24:38. > :24:48.mans you ventioned haven't won a Major yet but they're winning fans
:24:48. > :24:58.
:24:59. > :25:04.with offcourse and ticks. This # Smash, bang, you got to hit the
:25:04. > :25:10.ball far and the crowd goes # I want my birdies all day long,
:25:10. > :25:16.but the bogeys go hey # You want to play with the pros
:25:16. > :25:26.# You got to hit it in the hole now # You want to reach the top
:25:26. > :25:27.
:25:27. > :25:31.# You got to give it all you got Honestly, what do you make of that?
:25:32. > :25:38.Tputsy? -- gutsy? Not sure what hurt more, my eyes or ears having
:25:38. > :25:43.to listen to that. Not my kind of music. We have just about covered
:25:43. > :25:49.all the main contenders in our preview. What knows maybe another
:25:49. > :25:54.300-1 shot could do a Ben Curtis on us. Let's look at how things will
:25:54. > :26:04.transpire tomorrow. They'll be teeing off from 6.30am and these
:26:04. > :26:04.
:26:04. > :27:09.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:27:09. > :27:15.All sorts of interactive options available to you via the red button.
:27:15. > :27:21.If you can't be with us for all that time, then the BBC website and
:27:21. > :27:27.5 Live will have full coverage of all the latest news. The great Seve
:27:27. > :27:34.Ballesteros claimed this Claret Jug three times and got his first taste
:27:34. > :27:38.of lynx golf here. The R&A have honoured him this week by putting