ESPN.com - Golf Online - British Open 2000 - Torrance keeps streak alive amid Ryder flap

Associated Press
Tuesday, July 18

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Sam Torrance put aside a nasty Ryder Cup rift and qualified Monday for the British Open, keeping alive his streak of 29 years of being eligible to play in golf's oldest championship.

Torrance was among 44 players to fill out the field for the 129th British Open, which starts Thursday at St. Andrews. Also getting in were 20-year-old Adam Scott of Australia and English amateur Luke Donald, who plays college golf for Northwestern.

Brad Faxon was among those who failed to qualify. He planned to return to the United States in time to defend his title this week in the B.C. Open.

Others who failed to qualify were '95 Open runner-up Costantino Rocca, Glen Day, amateur Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose and Gary Nicklaus. Mark McCumber, who had played in the last three Opens at St. Andrews, was eliminated on the fourth playoff hole at Leven Links.

Torrance, the European captain for the 2001 Ryder Cup, has been caught in the middle of a battle between Nick Faldo and Mark James, the losing captain at The Country Club who will be Torrance's vice captain at The Belfry.

James has come under fire for his tell-all book about the Ryder Cup, in which he criticizes Faldo and says he trashed a good-luck note Faldo had sent the team. Faldo was not selected for the Ryder Cup, missing the matches for the first time since 1975.

"You'd need to be in Outer Mongolia to get away from it and even then you probably wouldn't," Torrance said. "But it doesn't bother me at all. My game hasn't suffered because of my Ryder Cup commitments and I'm playing very solid."

Torrance was eligible for last year's Open at Carnoustie, but had to withdraw because of a bad back. He had a 5-under 66 at Scotscraig, the first time he has had to qualify in almost 30 years.

While Faxon failed to qualify, he leaves Scotland with his head held high. Faxon had been critical of Americans who did not bother to even try to qualify for a major championship. He had a good reason to miss this year -- defending champion of the B.C. Open -- but made the trip anyway.

Jack Nicklaus, who will be playing his final British Open, arrived to Lundin Golf Club on Monday in time to watch his 31-year-old son Gary try to join him in the field. But young Nicklaus shot himself out of contention with a 74 in the first round, and his 68 was of little use to qualify for his first major of the year.

Aaron Baddeley, the promising Australian amateur who was given exemptions to the Masters and U.S. Open, failed to qualify.

Also missing out is Santiago Luna of Spain, whose absence is noticeable for one reason -- he was the last player to beat Tiger Woods at St. Andrews, in the semifinals of the 1998 Dunhill Cup.