NOTEBOOK

NOTEBOOK
From Royal St. George's
Who's Ben Curtis? The leaderboard at the British Open has a lot of star power. So what's Ben Curtis doing up there? The PGA Tour rookie -- he's a graduate of Kent State -- has made quite an impression in his first major, shooting a 1-under-par 70 Saturday that left him two strokes behind leader Thomas Bjorn after the third round. Now, he'll compete against the likes of Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry and Sergio Garcia, all within two strokes of Bjorn. Is the 26-year-old Curtis surprised by his performance? "Yes and no," he said. "I have been playing a lot better the last three weeks and this kind of golf suits me the best. It's not going to take 10, 15 or 20 under par to win. If you stay around par, you're going to be right in the hunt." Curtis has done just that, shooting 72 the first two days. He's 1 over after 54 holes at Royal St. George's. While most of the attention is sure to be focused elsewhere in the final round, Curtis won't rule out making a run at the claret jug. "Even if you are like two or three back going into the back nine, you never know what can happen," he said. "If I shoot like I did today, like 4 under, you never know. You get a couple of putts to go in and anything can happen." Curtis, who played the last two years on the Hooters Tour, qualified for the PGA Tour this year. He earned a spot in the British Open by tying for 13th at the Western Open two weeks ago -- the best showing of his young career. He might do even better this week. "There are a lot of heavy guys out there and I'll just do the best I can," he said. "It's a dream come true so far."
Who's Ben Curtis? The leaderboard at the British Open has a lot of star power. So what's Ben Curtis doing up there? The PGA Tour rookie -- he's a graduate of Kent State -- has made quite an impression in his first major, shooting a 1-under-par 70 Saturday that left him two strokes behind leader Thomas Bjorn after the third round. Now, he'll compete against the likes of Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry and Sergio Garcia, all within two strokes of Bjorn. Is the 26-year-old Curtis surprised by his performance? "Yes and no," he said. "I have been playing a lot better the last three weeks and this kind of golf suits me the best. It's not going to take 10, 15 or 20 under par to win. If you stay around par, you're going to be right in the hunt." Curtis has done just that, shooting 72 the first two days. He's 1 over after 54 holes at Royal St. George's. While most of the attention is sure to be focused elsewhere in the final round, Curtis won't rule out making a run at the claret jug. "Even if you are like two or three back going into the back nine, you never know what can happen," he said. "If I shoot like I did today, like 4 under, you never know. You get a couple of putts to go in and anything can happen." Curtis, who played the last two years on the Hooters Tour, qualified for the PGA Tour this year. He earned a spot in the British Open by tying for 13th at the Western Open two weeks ago -- the best showing of his young career. He might do even better this week. "There are a lot of heavy guys out there and I'll just do the best I can," he said. "It's a dream come true so far."
No phones: Someone forgot to turn off their cell phone, which may have cost Brian Davis a stroke at No. 16. The English golfer missed a putt to save par after someone's phone began ringing. "Maybe it was a little bit a lack of experience," the 28-year-old Davis said. "It wasn't necessarily the mobile phone, but all the people trying to shut the fellow up who had the phone. I should have backed off and I didn't. I regret it now." Davis made a par at No. 17, then took another bogey at the final hole. Still, he had one of the best rounds of the day, 68, and was just six strokes behind leader Thomas Bjorn going to the final round. On Friday, Davis needed to sink a 12-foot putt on 18 just to make the cut. He took advantage of the second chance with birdies on five of the first 10 holes Saturday.
-- Associated Press