Golf: Rusty swing, aches and pains ... and a spirit as good as new

A Kiwi legend returns to the scene of his greatest triumph for one last British Open. KEVIN NORQUAY reports.


LYTHAM ST ANNES - Sir Bob Charles has defied medical advice to play one last British Open, farewelling the course where he made New Zealand golfing history 38 years ago.

Wearing a white floppy hat, Charles, 65, battled through a practice round at Royal Lytham and St Annes yesterday.

After muttering about rusty swing, inflexible body and errant putting, he tilted his hat to point out two scars on his head, the legacy of a skin cancer operation.

"Six months I've got to stay out of the sun," he said.

"I'm not going to stay inside for six months, so I've got to wear a wide-brimmed hat."

It was the third time he had had surgery for skin cancer. The first, 23 years ago, removed a malignant growth.

"This is just two on my face ... it's just pre-malignant cancer so it was advisable to have surgery."

So Charles, the only New Zealander and only left-hander to win a major, has steeled himself to return to the windswept links course where in 1963 he became a household name.

Tied with Phil Rogers after 72 holes, Charles saw the American off by eight shots in a 36-hole playoff, putting superbly.

At the height of his fame in those pre-corporate days, Charles even had his own line of shirts.

Almost every New Zealand sporting male craved a Bob Charles shirt with the "action gusset." Marvellous things, they were, too.

Now the time has come for Charles to say goodbye to the British Open.

Under the rules, he must retire when he hits 66 - it was 65, but he and South African Gary Player, who won here in 1959, were given special dispensation to make their farewells at Royal Lytham.

A modest man who appears not to see anything remarkable in how well he played a game that can be a frustrating puzzle to most, Charles is not about to get emotional about goodbyes.

Royal Lytham was not his veryfavourite course, Charles said. St Andrew's was, with Royal Lytham second.

And it was about time he retired anyway, so he wasn't going to get teary-eyed.

"No, not really, I'm 65, so it's time to quit, isn't it?" he chuckled.

"All good things come to an end. I've enjoyed a lot of success, I've won two tournaments on this golf course and so I've got no more to accomplish in the game, really.

"It's just great to be out here. I love the game of golf, I love the competition, so here I am."

Of 10 British Opens played at Royal Lytham, counting this year's, Charles has played in eight.

He was too young for those in 1926 and 1952, he said, naming the winners of both.

So will he get emotional on the 18th, whether it be at the end of the second round (if he misses the cut), or after the fourth?

"No, no, not at all. I'll probably be shooting in the mid-80s and I'll be as aggravated as hell, thinking 'what am I doing out here?' I just hope I can smile when I come down the last hole.

"I don't have control over the ball like I used to.The old swing is pretty suspect, it works better in warm weather than it does in the cold. I swing better without sweaters and raingear.

"I don't have the flexibility of youth, and that's essential - you've got to have strength and flexibility to play this game well."

And the putting touch that saw him have 11 singles putts in his opening round in 1963 seems to have disappeared.

"My putting is suspect, like most other parts of my game," Charles said.

That no left-hander won a major in the 103 years pre-Charles, nor in the 38 years since, was due to the laws of probability, he maintained.

"We are a minority, you know, the odds are against us. I just came along at the right time, I guess.

"There is going to be someone else come along in the near future, and I hope there is. I would like to see more people play the game from, as we say, the right side.

"You've got Mike Weir, Steve Flesch, Phil Mickelson, they've all been knocking on the door to win tournaments ... it's only a matter of time before someone comes along and does it."

Charles, who won £1500 ($5237) when he captured the famed Claret Jug in 1963, said he had seen huge changes in professional golf.

Many were related to improved technology, which he felt had been over-rated as a reason for scores coming down.

He was more inclined to think it was due to players preparing better mentally.

"The thing that amazes me was that in 1958, when I first came here, a gentleman by the name of Tom Haliburton went out in 29.

"Now what does that say for modern technology, when 43 years ago a gentleman was able to go out in seven-under for nine holes?

"That's the great thing about the game of golf: you've still got to hit the shots and get the ball in the hole.

"The ball reacts totally differently to what it did 40 years ago.

"The metal drivers, the clubs, are more forgiving and the ball doesn't deviate that much, but you've still got to hit it and get it in the hole.

"It's still a fascinating game."

As for his action gusset shirts, which far preceded him into history ... the royalties helped to buy a farm that he still owns.

"It was a great contract I had with Lane Walker Rudkin and they got rid of me and took on adidas," he laughed.

He paused to think.

"Perhaps I should get back to using the action gusset; give me a little more freedom in the back-swing."

- NZPA