The inside story of 2003’s incredible Open Championship

0-2003

The inside story of the 2003 Open Championship at Royal St George’s Golf Club, one of the most dramatic Majors ever.

Today’s Golfer’s 2021 Major coverage is brought to you in association with TaylorMade.

Even more than usual for the world’s biggest and most important event, the 2003 Open Championship had a little bit of everything. You might even call it Shakespearian. 

There was tragedy aplenty, especially in the fates of two men. Mark Roe was disqualified after the third round – in which he had just shot the low round of the week, a 67, to lead the tournament – when it was discovered that he and playing partner Jesper Parnevik had failed to swap cards on the first tee. 

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And for Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn (Hamlet?), who led by three strokes with four holes to play, only to finish bogey-double bogey-bogey-par to lose by one. 

Then there was romance in the shape of Ben Curtis, an almost wholly unknown young American, who slipped almost unnoticed past a galaxy of star names on the final day to lift the old Claret Jug. 

As we prepare for another (hopefully) epic Open at Royal St George’s, what follows is the ultimate inside story of that incredible week 18 years ago through the eyes of those most closely involved.

PETER MALIK (Curtis’ agent): We got Ben an exemption into the Western Open. Then he finished 13th and that got him into the Open. It wouldn’t now. 

BEN CURTIS: I must admit I hadn’t thought about The Open at all. Even at the Western it hardly crossed my mind. It wasn’t until we had a weather delay – I was on the 16th green – that I first heard about it. I was about 15th in the tournament at the time, so the news made me think I’d better focus a little more on what I was doing.

I had my passport with me, but my wife Candice (then my girlfriend) did not. So we stayed in Chicago on the Sunday night and went to the office downtown on Monday morning. We met a guy who sorted it for us and by Wednesday morning she had a passport. We flew to London on Thursday, arriving Friday morning.

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PETER DAWSON (former R&A Chief Executive): Ben was the first guy to turn up at Royal St George’s that week. I actually walked a few holes with him and his girlfriend because he was the only person about. 

MARK ROE: I arrived at the Open on the back of a 65 at the Scottish Open. So I was playing well. I loved the start of an Open week and picking up my competitor’s badge. It was just special to know that I would be playing in golf’s greatest championship.

Not long before, my wife and I were in the Squire’s Garden Centre in East Horsley, near where we live. There was a magnificent house being built on the hill there. When we saw it I told her I’d win the Open and we’d buy that house. I had that in my mind the whole week at Sandwich. 

ANDY SUTTON (Curtis’ caddie): I was working for John Bickerton at the time. But he didn’t qualify for The Open. I was driving back home to Kent from the Scottish Open – where John had missed the cut – thinking the biggest event in the world was on my doorstep and I didn’t have a bag. So I made a few calls. The first was to Chubby Chandler. I left a message with him, then called Brendan Taylor at IMG in London.

I left another message. Five minutes later, Brendan called to say he had ‘this kid from Ohio’ coming over. This was on the Friday evening before the Open. I’d never heard of Ben Curtis of course, but Brendan said he’d get back to me. Another five minutes went by and he called again. We negotiated a deal and that was it.

After he hung up, I must admit I thought I had dived in a bit quick. I was thinking I maybe should have held out for a ‘better’ bag. I don’t exactly remember the deal we had other than it was 10 per cent for a win and my wage was £50 less than I was getting with John.

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BEN CURTIS: When we got to Sandwich on the Saturday there were a few guys already there. I remember seeing Craig Parry. We went to the pro’s shop and had a look at the course. My wife pulled the cart for me that day. I remember not knowing where I was going. When I walked out of the clubhouse, all I could see were mounds and high grass. I didn’t even know what I was looking at, to be honest.

After a few holes, we got a bit lost. They didn’t even have the signs up at that point, so we had no idea where we were going. I remember standing on the 9th tee and thinking I had to hit up what is the 10th fairway. So my first impression was like, ‘they play golf on this?’

ANDY SUTTON: Sunday came and I met Ben at 10 o’clock on the putting green. His girlfriend was there and we played 18 holes. I must admit my first impression was not favourable. Ben would be first to admit he doesn’t have the prettiest swing and he didn’t play that well.

I remember consoling myself with the thought that this was at least a week’s wages and that I was staying in my own bed at night. In fact, I’d already arranged to give my caddie pass to a mate for the weekend! At the end of the round Ben told me he and his wife were going sightseeing in London the next day. Which was fine with me – a day off.

BEN CURTIS: My wife and I went into London on the train. We saw Big Ben, Parliament and Buckingham Palace. We were there for three or four hours, had lunch, and came back. It was great fun. I really liked going on the underground. What do you guys call it? The tube!

On Tuesday and Wednesday I played only nine holes each day. On Wednesday Chris Smith and I were going to play with Joe Durant. He ended up bringing Stewart Cink along, so we played a fourball. It was so slow though. So we played only nine. Looking back, I played only 18 holes in the three days before the Open and 54 holes in total preparation. 

It was productive though. Andy was a big help. He had me practising all kinds of shots around the greens. He knew the pins weren’t going to be in the middle of the green during the tournament, so I was chipping a lot with my 8-iron.

By Wednesday I was hardly putting at all; I had the speed down pretty good. But I hit a lot of chips and bunker shots. I was happy enough with my long game. At that stage, of course, no one was paying me any attention, not even back home. Even my parents were just hoping I’d have a good time! 

PETER MALIK: Ben was having dinner at the IMG house on the eve of The Open and Mike Weir sat down beside him. Mike, who had won the Masters three months previously, asked Ben what he was doing in England. Ben said he was playing in the tournament. Mike had no idea who he was. But he still talks about watching the kid he met at dinner winning the Open! 

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MARK ROE: Strange things were happening. I was incredibly calm, which is unusual for me. On the putting green during the practice days I remember liking the way they had cut the holes. They looked very inviting. And I was holing everything. 

I played OK the first day. The course was running, hard and fast, and required a lot of imagination and shotmaking. I love that type of golf. On the second day I set off 3-3-3-3-3-3 and had a six-footer for another at the seventh. I was thinking course records and all sorts. So, of course, I missed, having let my mind wander. But I made the cut comfortably. I was happy.

BILLY FOSTER (Thomas Bjorn’s caddie): I’ve been to every Open since 1975 and I’ve caddied in the last 29. It’s the dream of every caddie – especially the British guys – to win one. I’m still hoping! And 2003 was the one that really got away for me.

I had been with Thomas for about three months at that time. He was playing really well. And he carried that on during the event. It was a travesty what happened to him. What people forget – apart from me and Thomas – is that on the first day he left a shot in a bunker then smacked the sand in frustration.

When he did get it out he said to me, ‘can you believe I did that?’ As in, can you believe I left that in the bunker? And I said, ‘what I can’t believe is that you hit the sand and gave yourself a two-shot penalty.’ He hadn’t realised until I told him. But Tom Lehman, who was playing with us, confirmed it. He ended up making eight.

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THOMAS BJORN: That cost me two shots. But that was just one of those things, even if people still remind me of it to this day. I always say that’s what happens when the mind blocks out a little bit. So, when people say that is where I lost The Open, I’m not sure I agree. You can say that, but maybe I wouldn’t have played myself into the position I was in if I’d been two shots better off.

When one thing changes, everything else changes. A golf tournament builds over four days; it doesn’t stand and fall on what happens on the opening two days. What really matters is what happens on Sunday. 

ANDY SUTTON: Ben asked a lot of questions during the practice rounds. He wanted to know whom I’d caddied for. And whom I’d won with. It slowly dawned on me that he was actually thinking he could win, in a sneaky 497th in the world kind of way.

I helped him with the chipping around the greens. We spent a lot of time hitting chip-and-runs with the 8-iron rather than lob wedges. I told him it was inevitable he was going to have a lot of six-footers for par, so we spent time on them, too. He chipped and putted great all week.

After the first round Ben was lying 13th. After two rounds he was tied fourth. After three rounds he was tied third. And after 10 holes of the last round he was leading by three. So he didn’t come from nowhere; he was up there all week. But no one was paying him any attention.  

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MARK ROE: On the Saturday I played and putted really well. I was at peace. Then I holed my second shot from 118 yards at the 12th. When I looked up at the leaderboard, my name was at the top. And I wasn’t fazed by it. I shot 67, which was the best round of the week. The world was good. 

I played with Jesper Parnevik. He was shocking and shot 81. And beat me on one hole, which turned out to be important. When I holed out on the last I looked up at the cameras and blew three kisses to my wife and my daughters. Then it was off to see the scorers.

I checked my card over-diligently. I was always that way; no way was I going to make a mistake with my card. I read it through three times. I even had the lady scorer who walked with us read my scores off to me. I checked them over and over. I knew the card was correct when I handed it over. The scorer checked it and did the addition. I remember his words. I’ll remember them forever actually. He said: “35-32 Mister Roe. Congratulations. That’s a great round of golf. You’re free to go.” That’s what he said.

BEN CURTIS: The big day was Saturday. I was starting to fall back a bit, one or two over for the day at the turn. Then I shot three or four under. By Saturday night I was starting to think I could win.

My short game had been great all week, especially my chipping. I was putting good, but my chipping was saving me. It seemed like every time I missed a green I got it up and in. I liked the firmer and faster conditions.

We went to dinner at the IMG house on the Saturday night. My wife asked me how I was feeling. She was nervous. I told her I was going to win. She just looked at me all funny. But I was serious. She didn’t say a word to me the rest of the night! Or the next morning. She was so nervous. But I think she was just shocked that I actually believed I could win. 

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MARK ROE: I was approached by David Peper of the R&A, who asked me to come back to the scorer’s hut. The second he said it, I knew I hadn’t made a mistake with my card. I checked it three times. I actually thought I’d made a mistake on Jesper’s card. I could have done that given he shot 81. 

On the way to the hut I was rehearsing what I was going to say, ‘sorry Jesper.’ That was bad enough, but with his score it wasn’t going to be the end of the world. So I walked in and Jesper was there. It was very quiet. Jesper’s face was grey, not its normal colour. I asked him if I’d made a mistake with his card. ‘It’s worse than that,’ he said.

I looked at the table and the two cards were lying there. I looked and looked and then I saw it. ‘That’s impossible,’ I said. ‘We’re on the wrong cards.’ As I was taking it in, I remembered going to the first tee. I was there early and Jesper wasn’t. Ivor was looking for him. And he turned up with a minute to go. So we did everything quickly and scuttled off. I was handed my card. Jesper got his, which is how it is done on the European Tour, too. So it was up to us to swap.

Ivor did nothing wrong. We just forgot to swap. Anyway, the end result is that I have Jesper’s 81 on my card. Everyone was amazed at how calmly I took it. I actually said to David Peper ‘I’m disqualified, aren’t I?’ He told me they had looked at every possible way out but they had no choice. I looked at Jesper. He was very upset. ‘This is bull,’ he said. He was devastated.

PETER DAWSON: I heard about it very soon after the mistake had been discovered. It is one of the things you pray will never happen. It was one of the great tragedies of modern golf. Mark was doing so well and had just shot the lowest score of the week.

As I walked over to see Steve Ryder at the BBC I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. But what happened did cause the rules committee to change the rule and now that situation is regarded as an administrative error rather than a player error. So it wouldn’t happen again today.

MARK ROE: Once I’d done all the interviews I went back to the hotel, packed my bags and drove home. I drove very quickly. I didn’t cry. I stopped at the off-licence in our village and bought two bottles of champagne. When I got home, Julie didn’t know what to say. All she said was, ‘I’m sorry.’ I picked up Emily, my daughter who was nearly three at the time, and said ‘this is my Open trophy here.’ Okay, I’m a sentimental old fool. But that’s what I said.

Later, I sat in the front room and drank myself to sleep in the beanbag. I woke up in the middle of the night and went to bed. 

The next day I went with Julie and the girls to the health club. We went swimming and had what would have been a normal family Sunday. I got a lot of texts and calls as you can imagine. But I felt pretty numb, to be honest. We went home to watch the last few holes. I saw Thomas play the 16th. And I saw Ben win.

When it was finished I went upstairs and bawled my eyes out. For a good half an hour. I don’t know why. I had it bottled up, I guess. I’d have played with Tiger Woods on that Sunday. To have played with him in the last round of an Open with a chance to win – whether I did or not – would have been a career highlight. 

ANDY SUTTON: On the last day, I remember going to get a bucket of balls on the range. Thomas Bjorn was in the last group and Billy Foster was caddying for him. As I passed Billy we exchanged a few words. I remember saying, ‘you never know, stranger things have happened.’ And we laughed. To be honest, I was still waiting for Ben to shoot 79.

On the range I was writing the pin positions in my yardage book. I found a pencil on the ground. I still have it. It had French writing on it: ‘Les triumphant.’ I thought that had to be a good omen. 

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BEN CURTIS: I was playing with Philip Price, which helped me. I wasn’t with Davis Love or Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh. I wasn’t drawn with any huge names all week. That helped. Anyway, I was happy to be with Philip, someone I hadn’t really heard of. But he’s a lovely guy and was doing really well at that time.

Walking to the 12th tee we had to wait and I looked at the leaderboard. It was like, ‘what the heck am I doing?’ kinda deal. It almost woke me up in a sense. I was more nervous because I was in the hunt. I wasn’t worried about losing, or not winning, or winning and holding the trophy. It was just where I was. I was having a hard time believing it was all happening. And I was going along so good at first, it was always going to be harder once that run was over.

ANDY SUTTON: On the 14th tee the wind was howling left-to-right towards the out-of-bounds fence. It was very scary. But he got up there, aimed 20 yards left of the fairway and smoked it. The ball finished right in the middle of the fairway. It was a world-class shot. You could lose your ball in the rough left and right was tee it up again. Then he pull-hooked a 4-iron into the rubbish. I was shocked after the drive he had just hit. So he took six, a bad bogey.

The 15th is such a hard drive, but he killed it again – dead centre. Then he pull-hooked a 7-iron way left and made another bogey. He was getting a bit quick. I was thinking about how, even if we made bogey on every hole we’d still be in the top-four! I had stopped thinking about winning.  

BEN CURTIS: I thought I’d lost it when I bogeyed 15. Thomas Bjorn was playing so well behind me. Standing on the 16th tee, it did look like he was going to win. I thought he’d get a par there. And even if he dropped one at 17, he’d still be two ahead. 

ANDY SUTTON: On the 18th tee, I meant to say something to him. He was two behind and I was thinking he must be deflated. So after he drove I said, ‘whatever happens, it’s been a f****** good week.’ That was all I had. But he thought it wasn’t over. ‘Let’s just play this hole,’ he said. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when he said that. He hadn’t given up.

He hit a 6-iron through the green. Which was fine. And he chipped down to 12 feet. Which was a bit clumsy. But he holed it for one-under par. I still didn’t think he was going to win, of course. The enormity of the thing had gone a bit for me. I thought he’d be no worse than third when the ball went in. It was down to Vijay and Bjorn who would win.

THOMAS BJORN: I really was playing extremely well and I maintained that all the way to the 14th. The one thing that threw me was hitting a good tee-shot off the 15th tee and watching it kick left into the bunker. All of a sudden I was making a bogey from nowhere and that became the story for the rest of the round. 

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BILLY FOSTER: I’ve been a caddie for 29 years and I still cannot explain the feeling I had on the 15th tee that day. I’ve never had it before and I’ve never had it since. When I leant on the bag, we had a choice: we could hit a driver past the bunkers, or we could lay back with a 3-iron, which would leave maybe a 4-iron to the green.

All I could think was that he’d hit driver the first three days and he was hitting the ball great. And he’s just hit his best two drives of the week so far. So it should have been easy: be positive, take the driver. But this feeling came over me, just before he hit. A voice was telling me: hit the fairway and you win the Open. That’s all I could think. I was sick to the pit of my stomach. ‘Please hit the fairway,’ I was thinking. He tugged it just a little, it kicked left and finished in the bunker. My only thought was, ‘these bloody things never come easy.’ So he chopped it out and hit a nice 7-iron onto the green.

As we walked up the scoreboard changed. Ben Curtis had made bogey at the 17th and Tiger was dropping shots. So was Singh. We were still looking good, leading by three, and Thomas had maybe 20 feet for par. But he missed.

THOMAS BJORN: On the way to the 16th tee I was chatting to Billy. We knew what we had to do. Billy was adamant that the line was the ‘Open’ sign on the grandstand behind the green. I hit a 6-iron and pushed it slightly. It was one of them that was very close to being perfect, but it just trickled off the hill and into the bunker.

I’m a good bunker player, but when I got there it was hard to imagine a worse shot to have. I had an uphill lie and there was loads of sand under the ball. And the flag was just at the top of a slope on the green. 

The first shot I hit was just… the bunkers that week were just so unlike those we usually see on a links. There was a lot more sand than normal. Anyone who plays a lot of links golf knows that maybe an inch of sand is enough. When that is the case, the ball comes out very well. But this one came out soft. It was a tricky shot though.

If I had taken the safe route and just pitched it past the flag I would have had maybe 40 feet coming back to the hole. So I tried to hit the right shot, one that obviously didn’t come off. And, just to rub that fact in, the ball rolled back into my footprints. I was facing trouble. And the same thing happened the second time. To be honest, that I got it up and down the third time was a miracle in itself. I could have been there all day the way things were going.

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BILLY FOSTER: So we get to the 16th tee. I’d been out there that morning early and scouted out the best place to be. It was a no-brainer. The pin was cut five feet from a slope that would take the ball into the bunker, so 20 feet left was the shot. Plus, that bunker was different from any other on the course. There was so much sand in it. Anyway, the warning signs were there.

I had an X on my yardage book. MOG – middle of green, nowhere else. In other words, 30 foot left was the play. Arguably, it was the easiest hole on the course that day. We had half of Kent to the left. All he had to do was stay away from the bunker. 

It was a perfect 6-iron yardage. My last words to him were, ‘at the TV tower, middle of the green, nowhere else.’ All we wanted was to make three and move on. 

There was a bit of delay. Then he hit the shot. He got a little bit ahead of it and it started off right at the flag. The ball wasn’t off the end of the tee before I was shouting, ‘no.’ I knew where it was going, even when it had 150 yards to go. It pitched and kicked right. People were actually clapping. But the slope took over and it trickled into the sand.

He hit a great bunker shot. It was a foot short of being stiff. But it stopped and trickled slowly back. I was over the other side of the green with the bag. I went over to talk to him, give him some reassurance. But as I did so, he was already over the shot. So I stopped. And the same thing happens.

I made it across there this time. As I looked into the bunker, the ball is six inches underground in one of his footprints. I just wanted to be sick. He could have made 10. But he played one of the greatest shots I’ve ever seen to get the ball out and it rolled to four feet. He made that for double bogey. I walked to the next tee feeling sick.

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ANDY SUTTON: When I was handing the bib to the caddie master, he told me Bjorn had just doubled the 16th. That made him one-under par with two to play and we were already in on that number. So I was confident we would beat him. Ben was doing interviews after signing his card. I said to his agent we had better go to the range. It was a cart ride away. So we did. By the time we got there, Bjorn had dropped a shot at 17. There was a TV in one of the cabins and we stood close to that. Ben was hitting pitch shots. 

BEN CURTIS: Standing on the last tee I was thinking, ‘Oh well, at least I gave it a good run’. But when I hit my second just through the green, I was thinking if I made the chip who knows what could happen. But I missed. So the putt became vital. Over it was probably the most focused I was all day. I just wanted to make a good stroke. The line was left edge and it went right in the middle. I felt good, but didn’t think I was going to win. That made the putt easier.

If I’d known I had to hole to win, it would have been harder. I was still nervous but it wasn’t quite the same. To be honest, I was thinking that, if I made it, I’d probably keep my PGA Tour card. I figured if I was second or third that would be enough.

The crowd didn’t really stand up. But I got a hard clap. And I remember one guy yelling out, just as I made the putt, ‘hey, you’re now tied for the lead.’ I didn’t really believe him at the time. Thomas was three ahead, I thought.

I hugged my wife on the way to the scorer’s hut. She couldn’t believe it. I walked into the trailer and the TV was on. Someone in there said, ‘can you believe what Thomas just did on 16?’ I wasn’t really looking though. I just wanted to make sure the card was right, especially after what happened the day before. I signed it, stood up and saw my name on top of the leaderboard. The guy in there said ‘you might want to prepare for a play-off.’

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PHILIP PRICE: I didn’t realise Ben had won. I thought he was just going to have a nice finish. But just after we signed our cards we heard that the guys behind were unravelling. I signed my card, looked up and someone said, ‘this guy is going to win The Open.’ I couldn’t believe it. 

THOMAS BJORN: At the end there wasn’t much anyone could say. My parents were there and so was my wife. It was a moment for reflecting on what could have been. But I moved on quite quickly. I went home knowing I had to keep away from the papers and the television for a few days. I just wanted to move on. Which is almost impossible. No one will let you move on, at least at first.

I went to Ireland and lost in a play-off the week after – that didn’t help that much either, now that I think about it! – but I was able to perform. I’ve had other lows, where dramatic things have happened to me, and that has always been my reaction: let’s move on. Having said that, I think losing the Open was still affecting me a year later. I was feeling drained. 

BILLY FOSTER: That day was my worst experience in golf. It was like a knife through the heart. I thought about it every day for six months. Every day. That’s how much it hurt. I was devastated for Thomas. It will always be with me, until the day I die.

BEN CURTIS: It was crazy. I had no idea what to do. So they whisked me off to the range. I wasn’t concentrating on what I was doing. All I did was flip a few balls maybe 30-40 yards. Andy was off watching a television in a nearby trailer. He yelled something like, ‘Hey Ben, you’re the Open champion.’ It was surreal. There were no reporters there, just cameras. That was it. No fans either. So it was odd. I’d rather have won on the 18th green as part of the last group.

One last thing… On the Sunday before the championship, when we walked to the 18th tee, the Rolex clock showed 5.05pm. Someone said if we were on that tee at the same time a week later, we’d be doing OK. I have a picture of me hitting off that tee in the last round and the clock shows… 5.05pm! Amazing.

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