Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

2009 Open Championship

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Dates
  
16–19 July 2009

Par
  
70

Location
  
Ayrshire, Scotland

Length
  
7,204 yards (6,587 m)

2009 Open Championship

Course(s)
  
Ailsa Course, Turnberry

Tour(s)
  
European Tour PGA Tour Japan Golf Tour

The 2009 Open Championship was the 138th Open Championship, held 16–19 July at the Ailsa Course of the Turnberry Resort, in Ayrshire, Scotland. Stewart Cink won his only major championship after a four-hole playoff with Tom Watson. Watson, age 59, had the chance to win his sixth Open and become the oldest major champion in history during regulation play, but was unable to par the final hole and tied with Cink.

Contents

It was the fourth Open Championship at Turnberry; the previous winners were Watson in 1977, Greg Norman in 1986, and Nick Price in 1994.

Venue

As with previous editions of The Open Championship at Turnberry, this event was played on the resort's Ailsa Course. Since it last hosted the Championship in 1994, the course had been lengthened by almost 250 yards (230 m), with over 60 yards (55 m) having been added to the par 5 17th hole. Six new tees had been built, and the 16th hole was 45 yards (41 m) longer and had been remodelled into a dog-leg to the right, having previously been relatively straight.

Card of the course

Ailsa Course

Previous lengths of the course for The Open Championship:

  • 1994: 6,957 yards (6,361 m), par 70
  • 1986: 6,957 yards (6,361 m), par 70
  • 1977: 6,875 yards (6,286 m), par 70
  • Field

    Each year, around two thirds of The Open Championship field consists of players that are fully exempt from qualifying for the Open. Below is a list of the exemption categories, and the players who were exempt for the 2009 Open. Each player is classified according to the first category by which they qualified, with other categories they also fall into being shown in parentheses. Some categories are not shown as all players in that category had already qualified from an earlier category:

    1. First 10 and anyone tying for 10th place in the 2008 Open Championship
    Robert Allenby (5,15), Stephen Ames (5), Paul Casey (5,6,7,19), Ben Curtis (3,4,5,15,19), Ernie Els (3,4,5,15), Jim Furyk (5,15,19), Pádraig Harrington (3,4,5,6,13,19), David Howell, Anthony Kim (5,15,19), Greg Norman (3), Ian Poulter (5,6,19), Henrik Stenson (5,6,14,19), Steve Stricker (5,15,19), Chris Wood

  • Robert Karlsson (5,6,19) withdrew prior to the tournament due to an eye problem.
  • 2. Past Open Champions born between 17 July 1943 and 19 July 1948
    (Eligible but did not compete: Tony Jacklin, Johnny Miller)

    3. Past Open Champions aged 60 or under on 19 July 2008
    Mark Calcavecchia, John Daly, David Duval (4), Nick Faldo, Todd Hamilton (4), Paul Lawrie (4), Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard (5,15,19), Sandy Lyle, Mark O'Meara, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods (4,5,11,12,13)
    (Eligible but did not compete: Ian Baker-Finch, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Price, Bill Rogers)

    4. The Open Champions for 1999-2008

    5. The first 50 players on the Official World Golf Rankings for Week 21, 2009
    Ángel Cabrera (11,12), Chad Campbell (15,19), K. J. Choi (15), Stewart Cink (15,19), Tim Clark (15), Luke Donald, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Ross Fisher (6), Sergio García (6,14,15,19), Retief Goosen (6), Miguel Ángel Jiménez (6,7,19), Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson (12), Martin Kaymer (6), Søren Kjeldsen (6), Hunter Mahan (15,19), Graeme McDowell (6,19), Rory McIlroy, Geoff Ogilvy (11), Sean O'Hair, Kenny Perry (15,19), Álvaro Quirós (6), Justin Rose (19), Rory Sabbatini, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh (13,15), David Toms, Camilo Villegas (15), Nick Watney, Mike Weir (15), Lee Westwood (6,19), Oliver Wilson (6,19)

  • Trevor Immelman (12,15) withdrew prior to the tournament due to a wrist injury.
  • Phil Mickelson (12,13,14,15,19) withdrew prior to the tournament due to his wife's recovery from breast cancer surgery.
  • Shingo Katayama (23,24) withdrew prior to the tournament due a back injury.
  • Jeev Milkha Singh (6,20) withdrew prior to the tournament due a rib injury.
  • 6. First 30 in the PGA European Tour Final Order of Merit for 2008
    Darren Clarke, Richard Finch, Richard Green, Søren Hansen (19), Peter Hanson, Peter Hedblom, James Kingston, Pablo Larrazábal, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Francesco Molinari, Colin Montgomerie, Charl Schwartzel, Anthony Wall

    7. The BMW PGA Championship winners for 2007-2009
    Anders Hansen

    8. First 3 and anyone tying for 3rd place, not exempt having applied above, in the top 20 of the 2009 PGA European Tour Race to Dubai on completion of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship
    Thongchai Jaidee, Louis Oosthuizen, Robert Rock

    9. First 2 European Tour members and any European Tour members tying for 2nd place, not exempt, in a cumulative money list taken from all official PGA European Tour events from OWGR Week 19 up to and including the BMW International Open and including the U.S. Open
    Nick Dougherty, Johan Edfors

    10. The leading player, not exempt having applied above, in the first 5 and ties of each of the 2009 Open de France ALSTOM and the 2009 Barclays Scottish Open.

    11. The U.S. Open Champions for 2005-2009
    Michael Campbell, Lucas Glover

    12. The U.S. Masters Champions for 2005-2009

    13. The U.S. PGA Champions for 2004-2008

    14. The U.S. PGA Tour Players Champions for 2007-2009

    15. Top 30 on the Official 2008 PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list
    Stuart Appleby, Briny Baird, Ken Duke, Ryuji Imada, Billy Mayfair, Carl Pettersson, Andrés Romero, Kevin Sutherland, D. J. Trahan, Bubba Watson

  • Dudley Hart withdrew prior to the tournament.
  • 16. First 3 and anyone tying for 3rd place, not exempt having applied above, in the top 20 of the FedEx Cup points list of the 2009 PGA Tour on completion of the HP Byron Nelson Championship
    Brian Gay, Charley Hoffman, Charles Howell III

    17. First 2 PGA Tour members and any PGA Tour members tying for 2nd place, not exempt, in a cumulative money list taken from The Players Championship and the five PGA Tour events leading up to and including the 2009 AT&T National
    Paul Goydos, Bryce Molder

    18. The leading player, not exempt having applied above, in the first 5 and ties of each of the 2009 AT&T National and the 2009 John Deere Classic
    Brandt Snedeker

  • Brett Quigley qualified at the John Deere Classic, but declined the invitation in order to attend the memorial service for the wife of fellow player Chris Smith
  • 19. Playing members of the 2008 Ryder Cup teams
    J. B. Holmes, Boo Weekley

    20. First place on the 2008 Asian Tour Order of Merit

    21. First place on the 2008 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit
    Mark Brown

    22. First place on the 2008 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit
    Richard Sterne

    23. The 2008 Japan Open Champion

    24. First 2, not exempt, on the Official Money List of the Japan Golf Tour for 2008
    Prayad Marksaeng, Azuma Yano

    25. The leading 4 players, not exempt, in the 2009 Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic
    Ryo Ishikawa, Tomohiro Kondo, Kenichi Kuboya, David Smail

    26. First 2 and anyone tying for 2nd place, not exempt having applied (25) above, in a cumulative money list taken from all official 2009 Japan Golf Tour events up to and including the 2009 Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic
    Yuta Ikeda, Koumei Oda

    27. The Senior British Open Champion for 2008
    Bruce Vaughan

    28. The 2009 Amateur Champion
    Matteo Manassero (a)

    29. The 2008 U.S. Amateur Champion
    (U.S. Amateur winner Danny Lee turned professional in April 2009 and forfeited his automatic exemption.)

    30. The 2008 European Individual Amateur Champion
    Stephan Gross (a)

    International Final Qualifying

    Africa: Jaco Ahlers, Marc Cayeux, Jeremy Kavanagh Australasia: Josh Geary, Tim Wood, Michael Wright Asia: Gaganjeet Bhullar, Liang Wen-chong, Terry Pilkadaris, Tim Stewart America: James Driscoll, Fredrik Jacobson, Richard S. Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Martin Laird, Davis Love III, Jeff Overton
  • Tim Wilkinson withdrew prior to the tournament due to thumb surgery.
  • Europe: Paul Broadhurst, Rhys Davies, David Drysdale, Rafael Echenique, Oliver Fisher, Branden Grace, Raphaël Jacquelin, Gary Orr, Richie Ramsay, Graeme Storm

    Local Final Qualifying

    Glasgow Golf Club - Gailes Links: Thomas Aiken, Peter Baker, David Higgins, Elliot Saltman Kilmarnock (Barassie): Markus Brier, Peter Ellebye, Daniel Gaunt, Lloyd Saltman Western Gailes: Fredrik Andersson Hed, Thomas Haylock, Steve Surry, Daniel Wardrop

    Alternates
    Drawn from the Official World Golf Rankings of 5 July 2009 (provide the player was entered in the Open and did not withdraw from qualifying):

    1. Mathew Goggin replaced Trevor Immelman.
    2. Ben Crane replaced Phil Mickelson.
    3. Steve Marino replaced Shingo Katayama.
    4. Rod Pampling entered the field as no players not already qualified finished in the top 5 at the Barclays Scottish Open.
    5. Thomas Levet replaced Brett Quigley.
    6. John Senden replaced Jeev Milkha Singh.

    First round

    Thursday, 16 July 2009

    A calm and sunny Thursday meant good scoring conditions for the opening round of the 2009 championship. Miguel Ángel Jiménez took the overnight lead by firing a 6 under par 64. Past champions turned back the clock as 59-year-old five-time winner Tom Watson carded a bogey-free 65, and both 1989 champion Mark Calcavecchia (age 49) and 1998 champion Mark O'Meara (52) shot 67s. 2003 champion Ben Curtis also opened with a 65 to tie for second alongside Watson and Japan's Kenichi Kuboya, who was even par through 14 holes, but finished birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie. Last year's Cinderella story Greg Norman turned in a disappointing 77. Two-time defending champion Pádraig Harrington shot a quiet 69. Tiger Woods struggled off the tee and shot 71. Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink and Camilo Villegas, all looking for their first major championship, started strong with 66s. Notable players at -3 67: Calcavecchia, O'Meara, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, Mike Weir and Vijay Singh.

    Second round

    Friday, 17 July 2009

    The second round was windy with scattered showers, so it was much tougher than the first day. The scoring average was more than 2 strokes higher with just 7 sub-par rounds being posted on Friday compared to 50 on Thursday. The weather was at its worst during the morning, with the best rounds being the 68s of American Steve Marino, who would be joint leader at the end of the day, and England's Ross Fisher, who would be tied for 4th place. Retief Goosen shot an even par 70 and would also share 4th. Veteran Tom Watson continued his excellent performance. He struggled through the front nine, but holed long putts at the 16th and 18th, as he made three birdies on the back nine to tie Marino for the lead at 5 under par. At the age of 59, Watson looked to become the oldest winner of a major championship.

    The cut fell at 144 (4 over par) with 73 players making the cut. Sixteen-year-old Italian British Amateur Champion Matteo Manassero, playing with Watson, posted a level par second round 70, to go with his first round 71, to make the cut and all but secure the silver medal as the leading amateur. Among those to miss the cut was world number one and pre-tournament favorite Tiger Woods. Going out in the afternoon, he could only manage a four over par 74 after making 2 double bogeys on holes 10 and 13, and he would finish one shot outside the cut line at 145. It was the first time Woods had missed the cut in the Open, and only the second time he had missed the cut in any major as a professional, after the 2006 U.S. Open. Other notable players to miss the cut included Mike Weir (67–78=145), Ben Curtis (65–80=145), David Duval (71–76=147) and Geoff Ogilvy (75–78=153).

    Amateurs: Manassero (+1), Gross (+9).

    Third round

    Saturday, 18 July 2009

    Tom Watson continued his good form with a one over par 71 to maintain a one stroke lead going into Sunday's final round. Australian Mathew Goggin was one of only five players to shoot under par in conditions similar to Friday, and ended the day just one stroke off the lead, tied for second with Ross Fisher. The best round of the day was a three under par 67, posted by Bryce Molder, who leapt into the top 10, having been tied for 53rd after round two.

    Final round

    Sunday, 19 July 2009

    Fisher, with birdies at each of the first two holes, took the outright lead from overnight leader Watson early on day four as Watson had 2 bogeys in 3 holes. Fisher dropped back with a quadruple bogey 8 on the 5th hole and was never in contention again. Lee Westwood eagled the 7th hole to move into the lead, which he held or shared for most of the round, but bogeys at three of the last 4 holes saw him fall one stroke behind clubhouse leader Cink, who rolled in a 15-foot (5 m) putt for birdie at the 18th to move to two-under, one clear of the previous year's leading amateur Chris Wood. Watson birdied the 17th to move into the clear lead at 3 under par. Needing a par four at the 18th to win, his approach shot took an unfortunate bounce and rolled off the back of the green. Watson was unable to get up and down and entered into a four-hole playoff with Cink for the Claret Jug.

    Amateurs: Manassero (+2)

    Scorecard

    Final round

    Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
    Source:

    Playoff

    Watson and Cink had tied at 278 (–2) during regulation play and entered a playoff for the championship. Under the rules of the Open Championship, a four-hole aggregate playoff was played over hole numbers 5, 6, 17, and 18.

    On the first playoff hole, both players found greenside bunkers, but while Watson was only able to make minimal progress towards the hole and made bogey, Cink splashed out to 6 feet and made his par. Both made par 3s on the second hole. On the third hole of the playoff, the par 5 17th, Watson's drive found a bad lie in heavy rough, and he was unable to reach the fairway with his next shot. Having reached the green in four, he then three-putted for a double bogey, while Cink hit the green in two and two putted for birdie. With a four stroke lead on the final hole, Cink hit his approach to five feet, and made birdie to triumph in the playoff by six strokes and win the Open Championship.

  • Four-hole aggregate playoff on holes 5, 6, 17, and 18
  • Scorecard

    Playoff

    Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
    Source:

    References

    2009 Open Championship Wikipedia