What's the story with the 80 at the Open, Rory?

"The first time I played the Masters, I was so nervous I drank a bottle of rum before I teed off. I shot the happiest 83 of my life."So said colourful Puerto Rican professional golfer, Chi Chi Rodriquez, about his playing of the so-called 19th hole before starting the previous 18 (if you'll pardon the contradiction). I'm certain that the prodigious young star from Holywood (the golf club, as distinct from the film studio), Rory McIlroy stuck to orange juice last Friday morning in St. Andrews, but his astonishing score of 80 that day effectively cost him what would been the record of becoming the youngest British Open champion in 117 years.While his other three rounds were all in the 60s (including Thursday's fantastic 63), meaning that he has never hit a round in the 70s on the famous Scottish course, McIlroy's second-day implosion seems sure to have merely delayed his crowning as Open champion, unlike Jan Van de Velde (1999) and Doug Sanders (1970). Indeed, when I was asked in Cusack Park last Sunday evening at around 5.45 pm as to whether Louis Oosthuizen had "held on" to win the 2010 championship, I replied that "unless he did a Van de Velde, or a Sanders, or worse again a Harry Worth, he certainly did," the latter being a bumbling English comedian of 1960s fame, one of whose memorable sketches involved some eight-putting escapades.When queried on local radio after Meath's grand larceny on Sunday week against Louth, compared with Brian Morley's score that wasn't six years ago for Westmeath against Offaly, I made the point (no pun intended) that the Faithful County had ample time to get that 'point' back, whereas Peter Fitzpatrick's troops had to endure the agonising sound of Martin Sludden's final whistle moments after Joe Sheridan's late try, sorry, goal. (Could Louth still appeal on a technicality that Cian Ward was not given the opportunity to convert the try?) Similarly, the heartbreak experienced by Jean Van de Velde in Carnoustie 11 years ago and Doug Sanders in St Andrews 29 years earlier realistically brought a finality to the chances of the Frenchman and American respectively lifting the famous Claret Jug, despite both having play-off opportunities in the aftermath of their 72nd-hole disasters. In Rory's case, it seems like a matter of when, not if, he joins Fred Daly and Padraig Harrington as an Irish winner of golf's most prestigious event.In 1999, Van de Velde took defeat in his stride after tossing away a seemingly insurmountable lead and losing out in the play-off to Briton's unheralded Paul Lawrie, who has never come close to replicating a Major win. "It's a game and there are worse things in life. We all read the newspapers and terrible things happen to people," he said. The experts had been predicting Van de Velde's collapse since the Friday afternoon but they had to wait until the 72nd hole to see it. And even the most doubtful of observers must have thought they had got it wrong when the Frenchman lined up on the 18th on the Sunday knowing he could afford a double bogey and still win the British Open. However, the infamous sight of the affable Frenchman, minus his shoes and socks, seemingly contemplating hacking the ball out of the water, is an enduring one.In 1970, the very dapper Sanders lost the Open by missing the short putt that was supposed to crown his triumph. At the time, he was dubbed "the best golfer never to win a Major" and, instead of embracing the Claret Jug, Sanders had to wrestle with the torment of letting the ultimate prize slip through his fingers. "Do I ever think about the putt?" Sanders, now in his mid-70s, said a few years ago from his home outside Houston, Texas. "Only once every four or five minutes! The Royal and Ancient Golf Club bring Jack Nicklaus back because he's a winner at St Andrews, but I've been asked because I missed a putt. Even if I had gone on to make a tenth of what Jack did, I would have been a multimillionaire. I would have been able to design golf courses and name them after me. That's what winning the Open does for people. However, that's life and you have to move on and I have enjoyed a good one." Ironically, the caddie who helped Louis Oosthuizen plot his shock seven-shot Open win had been set for the sack just days beforehand. Zack Rasego, from Soweto, had already been told he was going to be released at the end of the week in St Andrews. Together, the pair had missed three successive cuts in the run-up to the tournament. Talks had reportedly even opened between Oosthuizen and Mike Kerr, the Durban-based caddie of Nick Dougherty. Exact details of Rasego's pay are unclear but most caddies are handed a significant percentage of their partner's winnings, which would mean Rasego picking up enough for a couple of Cadillacs perhaps? And excuse the truly dreadful pun, but sometimes a caddie lacks the necessary expertise to drive his boss over the line, prompting one failed pro to state: "My game is so bad that I gotta hire three caddies - one to walk the left rough, one for the right rough and one for down the middle. The one in the middle doesn't have much to do!"Rory McIlroy has described this year's Open as "the one I let get away." However, unlike Monsieur Van de Velde and Mr Saunders, Master McIlroy's Major win has merely been postponed.