His last visit to Royal Birkdale was a sad and much-misunderstood moment, but Sandy Lyle is going about putting things right at the Senior Open this week.
The 55-year-old former Open champion was widely slated for walking off in the midst of the first-day storm in the 2008 Open, with some even believing the act was ultimately responsible for him not being considered as a possible captain of the European Ryder Cup team.
The truth was that a problem with his right hand at the time was badly affected in the wind, rain and cold that morning, but Lyle refused to make it an excuse for retiring at eleven-over after ten holes, and it became open season on the Scot.
In sunnier climate and mood on Thursday’s opening day, only a couple of late mistakes cost Sandy a place among the leaders.
With the old guys forced to play Birkdale at Open Championship length, it was a real grind for the 144-strong field with Gene Sauers’ 67 leading the way from four players on two-under, including 2010 champion Bernhard Langer.
Lyle was tucked in two behind but what happened in 2008 still rankles with him.
“There were others that day (who walked off) who got no coverage at all,” he recalled. “I made what I thought at the time was a good decision because my hand was not good at the time.
“I said to Hazel (Irvine, the BBC interviewer) when I came off the problem was my hand, but nobody seemed to notice that.”
Compared to the reaction to Rory McIlroy’s walk-off during the Honda Classic earlier this year, when the young Irishman switched stories from his “head being in the wrong place” to chronic wisdom tooth pain, Sandy was crucified in the media.
“Personally, I think it’s better to be upfront about things rather than make excuses. I can sleep at night, which is the main thing,” he added.
Lyle was most pleased yesterday by his long game and strategy, but still struggles with the putter, despite switching to an orthodox weapon from his now infamous “Black Swan” long putter, which resembles a particularly nasty branding iron but was consigned to the car boot after the Open.
“I still like the Black Swan it gets you lined up properly,” mused Sandy. “But I didn’t miss a short putt today until the 17th, so I’ll stick with the short one for now.”
That short miss from three feet was for birdie, and would have meant he recovered the two shots lost at the 13th after having to come out of the bunker sideways. Instead, his second to the last was a touch short and he couldn’t get up and down for a par, finishing with a 70, just behind playing partners Bernhard Langer and Corey Pavin.
“It was the best I’ve been in a long time in terms of positional play,” continued Lyle. “All the drives worked well, I thought I did pretty well to keep up with those guys, the way they’ve been playing.”
Sauers is a Seniors rookie, coming back into the game having recovered from a rare and potentially deadly skin ailment which caused him to have skin grafts on his back and arms.
“I had seven weeks in hospital,” he said. “I told my wife after a month, I don’t know if I’m going to get out of here or not.
“The treatment was worse pain. They had me under (operated on) seven times. It was torture. If I’d got an infection, I could have been gone. I didn’t touch a club for five years, but I’ve been blessed that the Lord gave me another chance, and I’m so glad to be here.”
It’s Sauers only third time on links, but he took to it nicely.
Langer played an arch-Langer round, perfect for Birkdale, biding his time through the difficult front nine and cashing in at the end, birdieing both par fives and the last to finish two-under.
South Africa’s David Frost, Australia Peter Senior and Frankie Minoza from the Philippines are the others sharing second on two-under.