History of the Australian Open_

  奥运英语 更新：2007-2-9 阅读：  

History of the Australian Open_

hampion again - by this time he had been appointed the assistant pro at Royal Melbourne, and at Kingston Heath in 1948 Pickworth completed what remains as the event's only hat-trick by defeating Ferrier over 18 extra holes in the event's first ever play-off.

　　In the period from 1950 to 1953, the fiery Queenslander Norman von Nida won himself three Open titles, whilst in 1955, the great South African Bobby Locke won at Brisbane's Gailes despite torrential rains. That year levee banks had to be built around the greens to protect them from the temporary streams that were flowing across the golf course; a common sight for the hardy souls who ventured out to watch the action was players following their balls along those temporary streams as they waited for them to stop so a shot could be played. In 1956, a 20 year-old Bruce Crampton won at Royal Sydney, so matching fellow New South Welshman Lou Kelly's 1933 effort - Kelly was also 20 when he won over Royal Melbourne's West Course. Crampton, who went on to twice win the US Tour's Vardon Trophy and also to become the first foreigner to win $1 million in prize money on the US Tour, later described the Open victory as his greatest achievement in golf.

　　In 1959, Australia's Centenary British Open champion, Kel Nagle, won at The Australian, whilst 1960 saw what, until Aaron Baddeley, had universally been accepted as the last occasion ever that golf would witness an amateur's name being engraved on the Stonehaven Cup. That was the year a young Bruce Devlin won at Perth's Lake Karrinyup. Four years later at The Lakes, Devlin had a chance for a second title when he stood on the 72nd tee needing only a par to defeat Jack Nicklaus by a stroke. The old 18th at The Lakes was a par 5 with a slightly elevated green and for two Devlin was just short of the green and had only the slope left with which to contend. His first chip reached the top of the bank and then, almost unbelievably, the ball rolled back to his feet. After his second chip finished 4 metres away, he had that putt for the championship. Alas for Devlin, the putt hit the rim

of the cup and stayed out. The next day in the play-off, Nicklaus fired 67 to Devlin's 70 and won the first of his six Open crowns. The next year at Kooyonga, Gary Player shot rounds of 62 71 62 69 for the incredible total of 28 under-par 264 to lower his own Open record total by six strokes. Player won by six from the 1957 and 1961 champion, Frank Phillips, and Jack Nicklaus. Player's 1965 effort is still the tournament record and it gave him the fourth of his seven Open Championships, also a record.

　　In 1972, Peter Thomson recorded a victory that completed his achievement of title victories in each of three consecutive decades when he defeated David Graham in a play-off at Kooyonga. Graham, though, won his country's Open Championship five years later, finishing three strokes ahead of Don January, Bruce Lietzke and John Lister at The Australian in 1977. Graham went on to win the 1979 US PGA and 1981 US Open.

　　In 1979 at Metropolitan, Jack Newton won his only Australian Open after Greg Norman missed a one-metre return putt following his attempt at outright victory. In between this and another one-shot loss in 1981 (this time to reigning British Open champion Bill Rogers at Victoria), Norman recorded his first Open triumph following a one-stroke defeat of Brian Jones at The Lakes. He won again at Royal Melbourne in 1985 when, for the only time in its history, the Australian Open was shortened and the championship was played over 54 holes after torrential rain had washed out the scheduled first day's play.

　　His third title came in 1987 and he won by 10 strokes from Scot Sandy Lyle. The 1987 Open was memorable for more than just the size of Norman's victory though. Sunday's fourth round had to be cancelled and replayed on the Monday after fierce northerly winds made a number of greens unplayable. The next two years saw the continuation of the domination trend that "The Shark" had started. American Mark Calcavecchia blitzed the field at Royal Sydney in 1988 to win by six, and Queensland's Peter Senior made the 1989 event his own when he won at Kingston Heath by sevenThere the trend expired however with The Australian playing host to the tight 1990 title battle which was ultimately decided in a play-off between Craig Parry and America's John Morse. Morse prevailed at the first extra hole, further extending Western Australia's period without an Open champion.

　　In 1991 at Royal Melbourne, Robert Allenby produced the unbelievable when he won the Open as an amateur ………… almost! The title was his until Wayne Riley produced his unforgettable birdie, birdie, birdie finish (including a monster putt across the 72nd green) to win by a stroke. 1992 saw the silken swing of Steve Elkington emerge triumphant by two strokes from Peter McWhinney at The Lakes, whilst the silken putting touch of American Ryder Cup player Brad Faxon was simply too good at Metropolitan in 1993.

　　In 1994 at Royal Sydney, Robert Allenby and Brett Ogle almost bled emotion as they stumbled over the closing holes at Rose Bay, both dropping shots and neither apparently aware of how to arrest their respective slides. It was a finale that will never be forgotten and it ultimately saw Allenby limp over the line, a single shot ahead of his rival. 1995 saw Norman win his fourth title as McWhinney again finished two strokes behind one of Australia's modern-day greats, and in 1996, Norman - on the back of an eight-shot triumph - issued a golfing lesson to a field that included superstar Tiger Woods - ultimately making it five. As for 1997, well it was a classic. The tournament started with arguably the year's best field in an event anywhere in the world outside of the four Majors, and the quality of the golf played was befitting the talent on show. On day one, Peter Lonard produced one of the best rounds in the history of the sport in this country. He ripped a specially toughened Metropolitan apart on his way to a 63 that was

two strokes better than Norman's and Faxon's previous course record.

　　His magic deserted him on day two though, and by early on day three it was Norman who appeared set to storm to his third consecutive Open title after reeling-off a rapid-fire six-under start for the first six holes. 24 year-old Englishman Lee Westwood was the one player able to go with Norman, and by day's end it had become a two-horse race. Day four was all it was billed to be - a dual between two of the finest players in the world that had the potential to go right to the wire. 18 holes proved not to be enough, and just when it seemed as though the deadlock would never be broken, Westwood, seemingly impervious to pressure of any kind, finally emerged the victor at the fourth sudden-death play-off hole. 1998 belonged to Western Australian left-hander Greg Chalmers……… and the trivia buffs. Chalmers became the first left-hander to win the Open since Claude Felstead way back in 1909; remarkably he also became the first Western Australian ever to win the Open; and he was the first Australian Amateur champion to win since Bob Shearer in 1982. It was also the first time Royal Adelaide had hosted the event since 1962, and the first time it had been outside of Sydney or Melbourne since 1974.

　　Aaron BaddeleyAs for Royal Adelaide itself, whilst it was undoubtedly fair, it was also brutally tough. In fact the resultant test, combined with the event's history, moved Nick Faldo to follow the sentiments previously uttered by Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd, and proclaim that the Australian Open should be made the world's fifth Major. He additionally expressed his amazement that such status hadn't been bestowed long ago. Between them, these three players have won 28 Majors - maybe it's time someone started listening……… 1999 was the year of a fairytale entitled ‘Aaron Baddeley’. The 18 year-old started the tournament as an amateur with a huge billing - Gary Player had rated him as better than Jack Nicklaus at a similar age - but who no one really believed could win; not on a stage this big….not yet. But he did; he achieved the unthinkable - he won the Open as an amateur in the modern era. The first amateur Open champion since Bruce Devlin in 1960, and that wasn't the end of it……… At 18 years, 8 months and 11 days, he'd surpassed five-time Open champion Ivo Whitton's 1912 effort by becoming the youngest champion in the history of the event. Whitton had been 18 years, 9 months and 5 days of age when he won his first title at Royal Melbourne.

　　Was it a stroll in the park, or a rapid-fire run over the final holes to emerge from the safety of obscurity? Hardly, he led for virtually the entire weekend and on the final day went head-to-head with Scotland's world-number-3 Colin Montgomerie. He also had to deal with the presence of eventual runner-up Greg Norman, who was surging on the back of a third round 64. But the young Victorian handled it all - his closing 69 equalled Norman's effort, and eclipsed Montgomerie by 2. Whilst modern-day reporters are prone to hyperbolise, this time the praise was justified - Baddeley's effort was arguably the greatest performance in the history of Australian golf.

　　And then in 2000, at Kingston Heath, the kid did it again - but this time as a pro. Two Australian Opens and not even 20 years of age. And again he did it from the front - playing in the final group on both Saturday and Sunday and dealing with the spotlight the whole way. Whilst the record books will show that second-placed Robert Allenby finished only two shots behind, the real story was the relative ease of a win that no one, at least no one outside of the Baddeley camp, realistically thought was possible. Baddel

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