Bullish Evans brushes past golfing immortality

Gary Evans was all too aware of the history of the Open, the history of Muirfield. The role of honour at the thoroughbred links included Walter Hagen, Henry Cotton, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Nick Faldo and for a time yesterday the European tour journeyman, who has never won a tournament as a professional, was on the brink of joining that distinguished company. It was, of course, the most unnerving experience of his life.

Evans, who once scratched a living by stacking cans of beans in a Sussex supermarket when he was a promising amateur in the 1980s, led the Open yesterday and provided brilliant entertainment in the process. There was a touch of Jean Van de Velde déjà vu via Carnoustie as the name of Evans appeared at the top of the leaderboard.

"I just couldn't believe it,'' he said. "My heart... I cannot tell you how my heart was thumping. It was just frightening. I will probably go and buy the video to this Open just to see where I hit it."

He hit it beautifully for 16 holes, but on the par-five 17th produced the worst swing of his round, dislodging a large divot as the ball flew into the heavy rough. It was a Titleist 2 and he never saw it again. After retracing his steps and replaying the shot under a one-stroke penalty, he managed to sink a huge putt to save par.

"The putter head was moving like you cannot believe when I was standing over that putt,'' Evans revealed. "I thought 'Please God let me hole it'.'' Having done so, he shoved his face into the heart of a television camera and yelled: "That was for you mum.'' His mother, Betty Evans, was watching the drama unfold on television at home.

At the 18th he hit a two-iron into the rough on the right from where he hooked a nine-iron so far left it cleared the fairway, the rough and bounced into the grandstand, forcing spectators to take evasive action. He got a free drop in the long grass, but was finally forced to concede a stroke at the last with a bogey five. He had started with a bogey five at the first and in between made eight birdies in a 65 which put him a five under par for the championship, and this after changing his driver and his putter after the third round.

The 33-year-old Evans, who is attached to the Mill Ride golf club in Ascot, missed the play-off by one stroke. He will forever rue the lost ball on the penultimate hole. "I thought at that point it was pretty much over,'' he said. "I couldn't believe I had hit it into a crowd of about 150 people and no one saw it, no one heard it. There were just so many people there I couldn't see my own shadow.''

During the five-minute search for his ball, four were found, including a Titleist 2 but it was not Evans's.

After holing the long putt on the 17th to save par, Evans ran around the green exchanging high fives with his caddie before issuing his personal message to his mother. "I knew she would have been nearly in tears,'' Evans said.

Asked whether his extraordinary putt on the 17th measured about 35 feet, Evans replied: "I have no idea. I didn't even know what I scored when I came in.

"The first time I played in the Open was as an amateur in 1989 and I couldn't get my left hand on the golf club because I was so nervous. And that was in a practice round. Every kid wants to play in the Open. It means so much just to qualify and it's pretty tough as human golfers to get in.

"My bank manager's wife gave me a trigger line to try and focus. She told me to be strong like a bull. So as I was walking around the course I said to myself, 'Be strong like a bull.' I know this sounds like absolute nonsense. It probably sounds like bullshit. I hate to think what the papers are going to say.

"I don't know how the top guys cope. This was a different world to me. I'm just delighted that it's over.''

Evans, whose career was rudely interrupted by a broken wrist in 1992, once shot 62 in the German Open and bought a 1962 VW Beetle with the number plate GAZ 62. He can now afford a more expensive model: GAZ 65 would do nicely.