For three rounds at Lytham he was 14 under for the first 16 holes and nine over for the

For three rounds at Lytham, he was 14 under for the first 16 holes, and nine over for the last two.Still, at least he is playing golf. Mason bogeyed the hole on Thursday, and then took a couple of sevens on Friday and Saturday "Obviously, it's not my favourite hole," he said "I really can't tell you what I'd like to do to it. I have been playing really well and I've never had an experience like it."Mason seems to have caught a nasty dose of finishing hole-itis. It affected him at Carnoustie during the Scottish Open, powering to the top of the leaderboard and then dropping away swiftly, usually right on the first- edition newspaper deadlines. It has been the 17th that has cost him.The 467-yard hole dog-legs to the left and is lined by 20-odd bunkers, a few bushes and some of the more punitive rough on the course. At the first, he started in Lehman mode (Saturday version) by rolling in a big putt That was his 19th birdie of the week But the debit side showed six bogeys and two triple-bogeys. In order to play in his 16th Open, Mason had to pre-qualify at St Annes Old Links a week ago.

He squeezed in a shot above a playoff and celebrated at The Tap in Lytham along with the usual suspects. Notable among them was Richard Boxall, who won the same section and whose view on qualifying is that he wished he could get himself exempt.Mason has similar views and if starting 10 shots behind Tom Lehman prohibited thoughts of the ultimate glory, remaining in the top 15 to earn a ticket for Royal Troon a year from now was the target. To think his first impressions of England are staying in Blackpool and that the sun never stops shining. Having won twice on his home circuit, Tanaka, whose caddie wears the plus-fours in their partnership, gained an exemption for the Open from the Japanese money list. Mason is 43, the son of the pro at Goring and Streetly, and is the sort of man that the term "veteran tour player" was invented to describe His Hogan cap has presided over a career of 23 years. Tanaka is a stylish 25-year-old from Hiroshima, who had not left Japan until he visited America earlier this year. Daly, who was five under par after 10 holes of his first round, started the final day on one under following rounds of 70, 73 and 69. He lost his way over the opening holes, dropping five shots in the first four, and wrapped up the round with a second double-bogey six at the 18th. That completed a year's reign in which his best finish was fifth in the Heineken Classic in Australia in February..

They would have made an odd couple down at the golf club, but the pairing of Carl Mason and Hidemichi Tanaka emphasised the point that this is the world's Open. John Daly, who said he wanted to go out in style yesterday, ended his unsuccessful defence of the Open title with his worst round of the week - a six-over-par 77 that left him on a five-over-par total of 289. After 21 years with ABC Television in the US, the BBC snapped up Marr four years ago What they get for their money is streetwise sass. When the rest of golf's shifting circus were searching for a way of describing Jack Nicklaus's 66 on Friday, a Texan on the BBC's commentary team was not lost for words "Jack's a hard dog to keep under the porch. He's an old dog and should be out there sitting quietly, instead he's out there barking with the young pups." Dave Marr's Texan drawl alongside the clubhouse classicism of Wing Commander Peter Allis is probably the best double act in television's attempt to convey the inner-sanctum drama of the Royal and Ancient game. "He sure was a gentleman out there and it was a pleasure to play with him," he said.

"It's pretty easy to see why he has won so many championships when you watch him playing golf."Such observations may come more easily in victory, but there is a real sense that Lehman is a good guy made good for the first time in a major He takes home with him a claret jug, Faldo a brain drained.. That, at one stage, looked to be heading for another Couples "I had a bad run at five, six and seven," Faldo said. "That made it tough to get my confidence up."It took until the 13th for Lehman even to get the honour, but the way he did so, a 15-foot putt for a birdie, stabilised his confidence and deterred challengers, and was considered the turning point of the round However, Faldo would argue that the hinge came much earlier. "Yesterday [when Lehman shot a 64] was the key to this Open," he said.Lehman admitted to being intimidated by his playing partner, although it was more by Faldo's power golf than any mental trickery. He sends out the signal that there is hope for us all.If Tom's was the before physique, then Faldo possessed the after. The tournament's profile book told us he is two years older than Lehman, which immediately prompted recourse to the tome's erratum section.Faldo missed short putts from the fifth to the seventh (twice from six feet and once from two) as Lehman struggled and it appeared, for a moment, as if this couple's encounter might not even produce the champion.

The man from Minnesota is 37, has returned to the haircut he was born with and shows evidence of hearty breakfasts and TV suppers around his waistline. It was the sort of shape a dog makes when introduced to a lamppost.The Briton was applauded so generously throughout, it appeared to be a clapping contest in the crowd. Just over these swollen galleries there were clouds of dust, the sort of haze that follows wildebeest across the savannah.For the occasional golfer in the throng there may have been a secretive pleasure in watching Lehman. It was the original fast food - in China at any rate - but the traditional stir-fry is giving way to something altogether less healthy. The world's most populous nation is starting to grow fat on a diet of cheese-burgers and doughnuts Government officials in Peking are not amused. Chinese authorities at the weekend launched a campaign to get their people to revert to Chinese food when in search of a fast fill. An increase in levels of obesity - as much as 10 per cent of the population of Shanghai is now overweight - has led Communist Party officials to pledge that comparable standards of speed and hygiene would be introduced into indigenous catering outlets in an attempt to fight off the foreign invader. How wise they are Consumer goods are the vanguard of the forces of capitalism Fast food outlets are its shock troops.