ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Mark Calcavecchia said so long to The Old Course on his terms.
So what that he shot 83-82 to miss the cut by a mile. The 1989 Champion Golfer of the Year hit the opening tee shot of Friday’s second round at 6:35 a.m. local time, and strode across the Swilcan Bridge one last time. Making his 31st appearance in the world’s oldest championship, he conceded the moment got the better of him.
“I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I felt it. I felt the emotions,” Calcavecchia said. “Got a little mildly choked up.”
Calcavecchia, who won 13 times on the PGA Tour and four more times on the Champions Tour, was supposed to have had his swan song at The Open in 2020 at Royal St. George’s but it was canceled due to the global pandemic. In 2021, he had back surgery and was unable to play. So, he wrote the Open committee a letter asking them to give him one final start at the 150th Open at age 62.
“They got right back to me and said, ‘Let me bring it up to the championship committee.’ And not even a few weeks later, I got an email back. The decision by the 25 committee members was unanimous. ‘We’d love to have you play your last Open at St. Andrews. We love to take care of our past champions,’ ” Calcavecchia told PGA Tour.com earlier this year.
So, he brought his wife, son, daughter and son-in-law, the latter three making their first trip to the Home of Golf. His golf clubs? They didn’t arrive until Wednesday, so he played in the Celebration of Champions out of the bag of Ian Baker-Finch. Calcavecchia soaked it all in, especially the warm send-off from the fans.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if I shot a pair of 75s or a pair of 85s, which I nearly did. It was about playing one more, my last one here at the home of golf, which is really cool to be able to end it here,” he said.
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