It Seems Like So Long Ago

TROON, Scotland —  He was 29 when he won the British Open at Royal Troon in 1989, so Mark Calcavecchia stopped to make a mental note of the passage of time, a mere 15 years.

“Was it 50?” he asked.

It probably seems like it for the 44-year-old, whose triumph here is his only major title, among 10 PGA Tour victories.

“I don’t think I’m done by any stretch, but at this point, I wouldn’t say underachiever would be a definition, but I should have won far more.

“After I won this tournament in 1989, I would have thought for sure I’d have had at least one more major by now.... You can always look back and say I should have worked harder, I should have done this, I should have done that, but I think I’ve done all right. And no regrets, really.”

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Tiger Woods, ranked No. 1 for 257 consecutive weeks, can be bumped out of the top spot by Ernie Els this week if Els wins and Woods is worse than 17th.

Woods will play the first two rounds with Lee Westwood and Greg Norman.

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Thomas Levet, whose closing 63 earned him a victory Sunday at the Scottish Open, is ranked 64th, an improvement of 57 places. Mark Hensby, who won the John Deere Classic, moved up 39 places to 59th, and could have been exempt for the British Open, but decided against playing. Hensby’s spot was taken Monday by Barry Hume of Scotland, the first alternate from the local qualifying at Western Gailes.

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Tom Weiskopf, the 1973 British Open champion at Royal Troon, is playing this week at the invitation of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, which runs the tournament. His son, Eric, who was born the year Weiskopf won here, will caddie for him.

Weiskopf said there may be a short list of potential winners here.

“I’ll have to go with the big ones,” he said. “Obviously, Tiger, Ernie, Phil [Mickelson], Vijay [Singh] and Retief [Goosen], and I fancy Jim Furyk. This is a good course for him. He’s very precise. He might not have the power, but he played these holes beautifully in practice today. I’d put him on my list.”