Matt Cooper kicks off his daily Open Championship diary with a nod to the past, and some hints as to what might be to come at a firm Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n
Arrival<\/p>\n
My journey to Royal Birkdale took me through the city of Liverpool this morning, prompting my feverish subconscious to start paraphrasing The Beatles: \u201cIt was 50 years ago today, when Sergeant Seve taught the band to play.\u201d <\/p>\n
Yes, it was at the 1976 Open (also hosted by Royal Birkdale), that a 19-year-old Spaniard called Severiano Ballesteros with an oh-so-emotive face and an outrageously arced follow through forever captured the affections of the British public.<\/p>\n
Nor was it the only introduction that week. Nick Faldo, a few weeks shy of his own 19th birthday, made his debut and finished in the top 30. And the 18-year-old Bernhard Langer was also in the field, but he missed the cut. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Sandy Lyle was warming up to defend the Midland Open, a professional event he\u2019d claimed a year earlier, and it was played at Hill Valley GC. By the end of the year Ian Woosnam, also 17, had turned professional and was living in a caravan in the car park at Hill Valley. <\/p>\n
Some month, that. Like the Open\u2019s fringe festival. Some youngsters thriving, others failing, all of them starting a journey to the top of the game that would end in style.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll take a little bit of that this week, please. Just a little bit will be more than enough for a cracking week. <\/p>\n
The other anniversary<\/p>\n
There is more to this Golden Jubilee than the celebration of the Famous Five\u2019s first steps because it is also 50 years since a 46-year-old crane driver from Cumbria who had never played a full round of golf in his life attempted to qualify for the 1976 Open.<\/p>\n
His name was Maurice Flitcroft and he became infamous after carding a 49-over-par 121 (his actual score was almost certainly higher). <\/p>\n
His story is wonderfully told in the book The Phantom of the Open by Scott Murray and Simon Farnaby, and was turned into a film too (currently on the BBC iPlayer by the way). <\/p>\n
Flitcroft was difficult to pin down with a unique mixture of earnest endeavour, deadpan wit and naive trust in the notion of the Open being quite literally open to all. <\/p>\n
He delivered some fantastic lines to a small but spellbound press corps after his 121. My favourite is: \u201cI thought I putted pretty well apart from the five putts on the 11th. Actually I\u2019d like to take the opportunity to praise Formby GC for the quality of their putting surfaces, as in texture and pace they resemble my living room carpet which I practise on every night.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of this line as my rattler passed the links at Formby (shortly after it had clattered past West Lancs where Faldo and Langer had qualified). <\/p>\n
Flitcroft\u2019s chaotic performance gave the press plenty of leeway, too, of course. Pat Ward Thomas in the Guardian wrote: \u201cThe details of his round can be spared but it was consistent in two halves of 61 and 60 marred by one only par at the 14th.\u201d A wonderful line.<\/p>\n
In time our hero was dragged into a remarkably comic duel with the R&A secretary Keith MacKenzie who found no humour in Flitcroft\u2019s desire to compete in his championship. <\/p>\n
It seems somehow rather lovely that, 50 years on, the R&A has introduced its new Last-Chance Qualifier.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d even suggest that it really ought to have been called the Maurice Flitcroft Memorial Last-Chance Qualifier, but I\u2019m not sure the R&A would entirely approve. <\/p>\n
The 156th man<\/p>\n
And so to that new competition. I must confess that when I first heard of it I was sceptical and I remained so when I heard that the theory behind it was to \u201cenhance the spectator experience\u201d.<\/p>\n
It sounded suspiciously like corporate speak and an excuse for increasing (or excusing) ticket prices, but I\u2019ve changed my mind.<\/p>\n
The eventual winner of the final spot in the Open was Joe Dean and afterwards the Englishman cast his mind back to the 2017 Open here at Royal Birkdale and what was then a rather quiet practice day. In contrast, he felt Monday\u2019s galleries were actively engaged in the Qualifier.<\/p>\n
I said to Dean that I thought the event reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory \u2013 that the 12 players had received golden tickets and it was a question of who would last the day.<\/p>\n
We had no chocolate rivers, no-one turned into a blueberry and no-one (not even YouTuber Wesley Bryan) ended up stuck in a small TV, but Dean did slightly resemble Charlie Bucket in that he has a pleasingly ordinary background.<\/p>\n
Sealing his spot via the Last-Chance Qualifier.<\/p>\n
With his fiancee Emily on the bag, Joe Dean rolls home his putt on 18 for par to secure his place in The 154th Open. pic.twitter.com\/lLqff3ZEyC<\/a><\/p>\n