Defending Champ Teed Off Over Draw

After shooting a 2-under-par 70 on Saturday, Nick Price spent most of his post-round interview complaining about how he isn’t being treated like a defending champion should.

Price was still seething about his Friday round - specifically, about his late afternoon tee time that had him playing amongst the qualifiers and no-names on spiked-up greens and in brutal wind.

“To be honest, I’m hurt to be sent out at 3:25 as defending champion,” Price said. “I feel that wasn’t justified. I remember qualifying one year and being sent out at 3:15. But when you’re defending champion you don’t expect to go off at 3:25 and finish at 9. It really hurts.”

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which runs the tournament, sets the tee times. It is believed Price was put in the late afternoon to appease ESPN, which broadcast the tournament to the United States and wanted a marquee name to anchor its afternoon telecast.

Price shot a 2-over-par 74 on Friday, one of the best scores of the late afternoon golfers. But the conditions were much easier for the morning golfers, and Price had virtually no chance.

“That 74 may have cost me the championship,” said Price, who won last year’s Open at Turnberry. “If I finish three or four shots back I’m going to be really angry.”

That wasn’t all Price was upset about. He went on to complain that his face wasn’t on the official tournament program - it was a close-up shot of the Claret Jug with Price’s fingers clutching it.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining,” Price said. “I guess it hasn’t been a good week.”

Later in the day, Michael Bonallack, secretary of the R & A’s championship committee, had this response:

“We didn’t give Nick a 3:25 starting time. He was drawn out at that time, and a draw is a draw.

“As for Price’s picture not being on the program, not every defending champion has his picture on the program. But if Nick wins again I think he can rest assured that he will have his picture on the cover.”

Friendly advice

John Daly, who won the 1991 PGA Championship after getting into the field as the ninth alternate, knows something about coming out of nowhere to win a major championship.

Asked if he had any final-round advice for Michael Campbell - who is trying to do the same thing - Daly grinned a sly grin. He is trying to catch Campbell, not help him. But he did offer this advice:

“Yeah. Just go out and make three or four double-bogeys right off the bat.”

Cook’s Muirfield nightmare

John Cook hates to be reminded of his British Open disaster when he three-putted the 17th at Muirfield three years ago and virtually handed the title to Nick Faldo.

“I don’t think about it much, only every 5 minutes,” the American golfer said. “Actually, I might go 8 to 10 minutes without thinking about it.

“But I can smile about it, too.

“It did not take me long to get over that 1992 disappointment,” Cook said. “I managed to turn it into a positive thing, and I went on to learn from it and win later in 1992.”

That year he won the Bob Hope Classic, Hawaiian Open and Las Vegas International.

Cook was in contention this year when he moved within a stroke of the lead at the halfway mark.

But a 3-over-par 75 dropped him back to 2-under overall, seven shots behind leader Michael Campbell of New Zealand.

Drummond remembers

Ross Drummond’s appearance in the third round, thanks to a 4-under 68 in the second, brought back memories of his best-ever Open performance, also at St. Andrews.

Although the Scot finished 30th, he totaled 18 birdies for the four rounds, which was one more than the winner, Seve Ballesteros.

“Unfortunately, I also had 16 bogeys and one double bogey,” said Drummond. “Otherwise I could have been Open champion instead of Seve.”

Drummond needs a lot more birdies this time. He’s 12 shots off the lead going into today’s final round.

Be like Jack

Lots of players would like to emulate Jack Nicklaus. Japanese golfer Hisayuki Sasaki did just that, but won’t be boasting about it.

Like multi-titlist Nicklaus, Sasaki took a 10 at the par-4 14th at the home of golf.

Starting at 1-over, Sasaki was going well in Saturday’s third round, including an eagle 2 at the ninth, when he ran into the 14th, a 567-yard par-5.

The problem Nicklaus had in Thursday’s first round was getting stuck for four shots in a trap known as “Hell Bunker.” The master golfer also three-putted, but Sasaki’s route was a little more complicated.

His first tee shot went over a fence on the right and out of bounds.

“We walked to the ball, not having been told it was out of bounds, and had to return to the tee to take a second tee shot,” Sasaki explained.

“I also went out of bounds this time, well over. Then I hit a third tee shot into a bunker on the left side of the fairway.”

Sasaki, by now playing his sixth shot because of penalties, got out of the bunker the first time. But his seventh overshot the green into another bunker at the back. He got out and two-putted for 10.

Sasaki is well out of contention. His third round 72 gives him a 1-over total of 217, 10 shots off the lead.