Curtis playing in the comfort zone

HE may have upgraded from a tiny apartment to a luxury home but for Ben Curtis the objectives at this week’s British Open are exactly the same as when he last played, and won, at Royal St George’s.

Back in 2003, Curtis was a 26-year-old pro embarking on his first major, keeping costs down in modest digs and hiring local caddie Andy Sutton to help him around the Kent links.

To the surprise of everybody the American, ranked 396 in the world, from Kent, Ohio, ended up lifting the Claret Jug thanks in part to Thomas Bjorn’s last-round collapse.

“I was just coming over to have fun,” Curtis recalled yesterday of his mindset eight years ago. “I wasn’t really worrying about the golf. I had great form coming in, playing well in events leading up to it.

“We got here Friday, my caddie, Andy, was out on Sunday for the first time and we walked around, played 18 and then Monday I just went into London with (then-girlfriend, now wife) Candace and saw a few sights.

“As far as expectations, really the only real goal I had was to play four days and to see what it was like to play. It was my first major, just to see what it was like and enjoy it.

“I never thought coming in here... I said, ‘this is the last time I might play in it’. I didn’t know it was one of 30 more to come.”

Eight years on and Curtis is happy for the lengthy exemption his 03 victory earned him. He has won twice more on the PGA Tour, both in 2006, and was third behind Pádraig Harrington at the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, going on to help Paul Azinger’s USA team reclaim the Ryder Cup at Valhalla a month later.

Yet now Curtis is back among the rank and file of golf’s touring professionals, the rank currently being 194 and his form showing consecutive missed cuts in the United States before he he journeyed back to Sandwich this week.

Which explains the familiar ring to his expectations for this week.

“Obviously you want to win,” Curtis said, “But I just want to play good for four days.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit the last few months and just want to play good golf and try to make as many birdies as I can and keep the ball in play and out of those bunkers, try to hit as many greens as I can, hit the middle of the green and let the short game take care of itself.”

The difference this time around will be the American’s circumstances — he now has two young children in tow, and their accommodations are little more upmarket than they were in 2003.

“We’re in the same area, we just kind of upgraded this time. Last time we were in an apartment no bigger than this patio that we’re sitting on up here,” Curtis said, referring to the modest dais in the press conference room.

“My wife could tell you how many pounds we paid for it but we went from the outhouse to the mansion.”

Another difference will be his caddie, Curtis and Sutton having stayed together for seven years following their meeting of minds at Royal St George’s.

“He actually surprised me at the house last night,” Curtis said of Sutton. “I mean, I’ve seen him, he’s caddied in the US some this year. Last night I was grilling chicken l and here he comes walking out with one of the kids in his arms. I didn’t know he was coming but he’s a good friend of mine and we still talk regularly.”

They might talk even more this week than even they expected — Sutton’s new boss, the Australian Aaron Baddeley, was yesterday drawn in the same group as his old one for the first two rounds.