Gone With The Wind

After securing his second Open title, Harrington had high praise for the vanquished Norman. Photo: Dom Furore

He would play the final 15 holes in three under, scratching and clawing his way into the fray while so many others were moving backward. Norman hardly was alone among contenders gone wrong—K.J. Choi began the day two strokes back and shot 79, as did Simon Wakefield, who started three behind Norman—but eight guys shot 70 or better. If you hung in there and hit good shots, you got rewarded.

Poulter's charge gave the Brits something to cheer about, but after reaching the par-5 17th in two, he left his 50-foot eagle attempt eight feet short, then missed the birdie try. It was a costly mistake, as Harrington arrived at the 17th five groups later leading by two, which allowed him to play a safe 5-wood off the tee and still hit the green. He did that and much more.

"There was no discussion," caddie Ronan Flood said of Harrington's decision to play an aggressive approach. "[Another 5-wood] was the perfect club. All I did was let him know where he stood." Paddy hadn't looked at a leader board all day, but once Flood informed him of the lead, he laced a low cut from a hanging lie that took a giant hop into the putting surface and scampered along right edge.

"It's one of the few times I've ever heard him say 'good shot' before the ball is finished moving," Harrington said of his caddie. "He doesn't realize he does that, and I will rib him about it later." When the 5-wood came to a stop four feet from the flag, Flood probably should have said it again. The Irishman rolled in the eagle putt, taking a four-stroke advantage that made for a nice walk up the final fairway with Norman.

For a few seconds, at least, the winner's smile disappeared. Time to get serious. "I thanked him for his company," Harrington revealed of that last waltz with the Great White Shock. "He's a super guy. If you ever want to be paired with someone in the last group of [a major], Greg is the perfect guy."

The winner could not have been more sincere, but like a lot of things that happened last week at Royal Birkdale, it was a comment that could be interpreted in a couple of different ways.

Return of 'The Growler'

Photo: J.d. Cuban

Greg Norman's caddie during his magically improbable week—the classically grizzled Linn Strickler—was making a comeback of his own at Royal Birkdale.

Strickler, 58, who first caddied on the PGA Tour in 1972 and whose résumé includes bosses such as Curtis Strange, Fred Couples, Craig Stadler, Nick Price, Payne Stewart and Ben Crenshaw, had been out of the professional loop. Taking a break from a year of short-term gigs for players such as Robert Gamez, Tommy Armour III and Phil Blackmar, Strickler was "raking traps for 150-handicappers" this spring at posh Sebonack GC on Long Island.

One day in May, "Today" show host Matt Lauer showed up with a guest, his good friend Norman. Strickler had caddied for the Shark in practice rounds a couple of times in the early 1990s, but he was surprised when Norman started inquiring about his availability.

"I'm holding my sand-divot filler and my rangefinder, and the Shark asks me if I want to caddie for him at the British," said Strickler. "When he wondered if the club would let me go, I said, 'I don't care if they let me go or not. I'm going.' "

This was a dream for Strickler, who characterized Norman's place at the top of the leader board Friday as "H.G. Wells stuff." Saturday evening after his player secured the 54-hole lead, he acknowledged a "You're doing a good job" from Chris Evert and reflected on his journey in golf.

Strickler was just out of Vietnam, where he saw combat while assigned to work with bomb-sniffing dogs, when he noticed that an old softball teammate, Jim Barber, had finished second to Tom Weiskopf at the 1973 Philadelphia Classic. "I called him up and said, 'Congratulations, Barber. You've got a new caddie.' "

Strickler loved the life, and his jaunty, confident style soon made him a favored employee for A-list players. He won tournaments in the early '80s with Strange, who Strickler firmly contends "hated a bogey more than any golfer in history." When Strickler moved on to Couples, he earned the nickname "The Vacuum" because of the way he could spear Couples' tricky ball flips with one hand. It was with Couples in 1984 that Strickler had his biggest win, the 1984 Players Championship.

Strickler became permanently known as "The Growler" because of a raspy baritone that matches his Clint Eastwood squint. Veteran caddies love repeating Strickler's exchange with a young Payne Stewart, who noticed in their first round together that every yardage given to him from the fairway ended in either a zero or a five instead of a more precise number. "How come?" asked Stewart. Growled Strickler, "Because you're not that good."

In England, Strickler made a striking visual match with Norman. Both are the same height, lean and share a prominent facial bone structure and weathered features. "He's not his caddie, he's his daddy," noted one tabloid headline. One literate spectator called it "a 'Picture of Dorian Gray' thing."

"I really don't know why Greg asked me to work for him," said a grateful Strickler, on his way to nearby Liverpool on Saturday night to watch original Beatle Pete Best perform. "His son, Gregory, was going to come but had to change plans, and Tony Navarro is committed to Adam Scott. It was just a whim, but now it's a fantasy."

Suddenly, Strickler's reverie was interrupted by a golf writer blurting, "Can Greg really win?"

"What have you been watching?" snapped The Growler. "Most assuredly. Most assuredly."

—Jaime Diaz

Last Hurrahs

Greg Norman’s performance at last week’s British Open was not the first time a golfer at least 50 years old made a run at a major championship:

Harry Vardon (1920 U.S. Open)
The 50-year-old Vardon led by one after 54 holes at Inverness but faltered with a final-round 78 to lose by a shot to fellow Englishman Ted Ray.

Ben Hogan (1967 Masters)
A third-round 66 left the 54-year-old Hogan two back of three players, but a final-round 77 placed him T-10.

Julius Boros (1973 U.S. Open)
Already the oldest player with a major (he had won the 1968 PGA at 48), Boros, 53, was in a four-way tie for the lead after 54 holes at Oakmont. He finished T-7 after a final-round 73, as Johnny Miller’s 63 trumped everyone.

Sam Snead (1974 PGA)
Two years after finishing T-4 as a 60-year-old, Snead made another run at the PGA, but his final-round 68 at Tanglewood came up three shy of Lee Trevino. Snead finished T-3.

Jack Nicklaus (1998 Masters)
At age 58, Nicklaus made a push for a seventh green jacket, shooting 33 on Sunday’s front nine to get him within two shots of the lead. He eventually posted 68 for a T-6.

Greg Norman (2008 British)
Seeking to become the oldest major winner in history, Norman, 53, led by two after 54 holes, but his final-round 77 left him T-3.

—E. Michael Johnson