Nick Flanagan: A refreshing change at The Open
BY Anthony Powter | European PGA Tour | 2005 British Open | Final Round | 18 Jul 2005
“This is a refreshing change” – these must have been the words that passed Nick Flanagan’s lips at the conclusion of his final round one under 71 to finish –4 and tied for 23rd at The Open today. This result had him finished strongly in the final field in what is often regarded by many as the leading major event of the year.
It’s also a far cry from “manic Monday” qualifying for Nationwide Tour events and playing on the Hooters Tour – precisely what the 2003 US Amateur Champion has been doing recently.
Like many of our young emerging golfing talents, Flanagan is currently roaming the secondary tours in the US in search of a regular tour card and his success at The Open comes off several impressive results on US soil recently.
Two tied second place finishes in successive weeks on the Hooters Tours in the Michelob Ultra Championship and the Touchstone Energy Open after a first round course record of 64, must have lifted the Novocastrian’s confidence as he headed for The Open. His entry into the third major of the year had came courtesy of the Australasian qualifying event for The Open earlier this year in Victoria, where he finished within the top 4 to secure his spot.
We should not lose sight of the fact that making the cut in any major is a fine achievement let along to be sitting tied 29th after three rounds – joined with the likes of mult- major winner Greg Norman and one of our best performers on the PGA Tour this season, Mark Hensby. Then to move up six spots on the final day is all the more impressive.
Major championships are set up to be difficult and there is added pressure simply because it’s a major. Players know this as well as spectators. If you play average in a major your score reflects this and we have seen plenty on high 70’s and rounds in the 80’s from seasoned professionals, Retief Goosen at the US Open is one example. This year’s major winners have managed to keep their bad round at something respectable and that is what makes this type of golf great as you really don’t know what is going to happen come Sunday afternoon.
Whilst Tiger lifted the Claret Jug in a masterful display of pressure golf and in doing so secured his 10th major, Flanagan’s achievement this week is itself notable. Flanagan is under no delusion about what is involved with professional golf and in his own measured way he concedes winning a US Amateur puts you in the focus immediately after as to how you flare in the professional ranks. It is now two years since he claimed the US Amateur crown and he does not see it so much as a cross to bear, but more a level of expectation that is attached to any US Amateur champion in the embryonic stages of their professional career.
It is pleasing to see that Flanagan is now making solid progress as a young professional – you only simply look at his success over the last few months on the Hooters Tour, a Tour which many of the PGA Tour players has played including the likes Lee Janzen, John Daly, Tom Lehman and David Toms. Another interesting statistic is that 40% of those players who earned their 2005 PGA Tour card played on the Hooters Tour. It’s much more than just a developmental tour, however, clearly it is designed with that objective, at least in the players minds.
Flanagan’s finish at The Open is a refreshing change to what was otherwise a disappointing Australasian summer in 2004-2005 for him. It is only a matter of time for a tour victory, be that back home in Australia or on the Hooters Tours where his sits 32nd on the money list as of the beginning of July. He also played in two events on the Nationwide Tour this season, making the cut at the Lake Eric Charity Classic, where he finished a creditable 34th.
Flanagan was clearly in his element this week at St Andrews having grown up on a links-type layout at Belmont Golf Club, just south of Newcastle – a course notorious for exposure to the elements, especially the wind. From an early age he developed the art of wind playing as well as refining his creativity around the greens. His short game does well from tight lies, which are most common to links layouts and clearly his armory assisted him this week at The Open.
His performance again illustrates he has the game, talent and capacity to mix it with the worlds best as well as play competitively in the majors. There would also have been an unusual feeling for Flanagan today, playing in the final day of a major whilst the likes of many of the worlds leading players including Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson had finished and were back in the clubhouse – a strange but wonderful feeling that will be a confidence booster for him upon his return to the Nationwide events in the US.
He now is heading back to Australia for two weeks before returning to the US and the Monday morning grind of pre-qualifying on the Nationwide Tour. There will be starts on the Hooters Tour for which he has an exemption and if there is no event on that tour on any given week then he generally plays on the Tarheel Tour in North Carolina.
Photo – Anthony Powter
