`Lucky Boy` Ben Wins British Open

`The incredibly lucky guy.` The press described 26-year-old American rookie Ben Curtis this way as he won the 132nd British Open by a stroke from Dane Thomas Bjorn and Fiji`s Vijay Singh.

His win cannot be considered just a fluke, however. It requires more than sheer luck to play through at Royal Saint George GC, where even `golf emperor` Tiger Woods had hard times.

Yet, the American rookie was indeed a lucky guy from the beginning. The organizing committee of the Open decided two weeks before the tournament to give tickets to the eight top-ranking player at U.S. PGA Tour one last time.

Curtis, in fact, ranked 13th at the Western Open held two weeks ago. He was able to get one of the eight tickets, however, with Tiger Woods, Mike Weir, Jim Puric exempt to the tournament.

His luck proved again when Bjorn threw away a three-shot lead by making double bogey on the 16th hole. Then, Curtis became the British Open champion with one under-par and 283 strokes. He was the only player who finished with under par.

Curtis grew up on the golf course his grandfather built. The Ohio-based professional was mostly known for being a two-time Ohio State Amateur champion, along with Arnold Palmer and John Cook. He was the 2000 U.S. amateur champion, but remained an unknown PGA Tour rookie until this week.

Having ranked 26th at the qualifying school last year, he could compete only at 13 tournaments. He failed to pass the cut-off five times and his highest ever finish was 13th in the Western Open. He had earned $6,020 in prize until last year.

Now, it is a different story. Curtis won 700,000 pound, or about $1.11 million, for the victory. And he is believed to be the first player since Francis Ouimet (France) at the 1913 U.S. Open to win the first major championship he ever played.

Young-Sik Ahn ysahn@donga.com