Curtis keeps his head and steals the crown

No one from the county of Kent qualified to play on home turf in the 132nd Open Championship but a Kentish golfer did prevail. Ben Curtis was not a name known in the Garden of England a few days ago. His was not a name known anywhere in England, anywhere in Europe or much anywhere apart from Kent, Ohio, where Curtis was a fine college golfer and where he now lives.

Everyone now knows Ben Curtis as the champion golfer of the year. Curtis, ranked 396th in the world at the start of the week, became the most surprising winner of a major championship since John Daly won the USPGA 12 years ago. Perhaps even better, for Daly had played in two majors before his triumph, which was two more than Curtis before he arrived in Sandwich last weekend.

Only two weeks ago, the 26-year-old Curtis, who is in his rookie season on the USPGA Tour, had the best finish of his career at the Western Open, a tie for 13th place, which earned him an exemption for the Open. His only previous victory came in Myrtle Beach last year on what is known as the Hooters Tour, a circuit below the circuit below the main American tour.

Before going to bed on Saturday evening, Curtis told his fiancée, Candace, that he was going to win. "You have to believe that," he said. "I've won before, just not at this level." He did so against some of the most familiar names in golf, and in the case of Tiger Woods, in all sport.

Of those who filled the four spots below Curtis, three were previous major winners while the fourth was Thomas Bjorn, an experienced Ryder Cup player. Curtis surged into the lead with some brilliant play. He slipped back with a run of bogeys but when Bjorn suffered in a bunker at the 16th, the greatest prize in golf suddenly became a remarkable early wedding present for the young American.

Throughout a dramatic final day at Royal St George's, and whatever happened to him, Curtis remained amazingly calm. He holed an eight-footer for a par on the 18th green, for a 69 to finish at one under par. "I didn't know how important it was," he said. "I didn't know about Bjorn on 16 but I knew I had to make it to give myself a chance."

Before long he was the only player left under par. Bjorn and Vijay Singh were a shot behind, with Woods and Davis Love a further stroke back. Even when he stood up to make his winner's speech, Curtis appeared composed far beyond his years and experience. "I'm from Kent, Ohio," he told the packed grandstands. "You made me feel right at home." He broke down when he came to thanking his family but soon got a check on his emotions. Bill Rodgers was a similarly likeable young American when he won at St George's in 1981 but even Rodgers had more pedigree on the professional stage.

Curtis, the first winner of the Open at the first attempt since Tom Watson in 1975, said: "I'll wake up tomorrow a different man. Unbelievable. This is the grandest tournament of them all. I am very fortunate to follow winners like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Bobby Jones. I know people will say I don't belong but I know I do."

Having qualified in Chicago, he flew to England and had three-and-a-half practice rounds, soon learning with the help of his English caddie, Andy Sutton, to avoid the fairway pot bunkers and how to chip along the ground with an eight-iron. "You have to be patient," he said. "I set out to take whatever bounces I got and to take whatever the course gave me. I feel my game is suited to majors because you don't have to be 20 under par. I knew something around level par would do."

An experienced winner appeared guaranteed as the leaderboard stood with a round to play. Woods made his move with three birdies in four holes from the fourth but after a bogey at the eighth, he slipped back on the second nine. Singh had three birdies in a row from the fifth but was also stymied at the eighth.

Love, in the final pairing with Bjorn, started poorly but came back into the picture later. Curtis, who began two behind the Dane, birdied the first, then the two par-fives, the fourth and the seventh. But it was the three in a row he birdied at the ninth, 10th and 11th that put him into the lead by two strokes at five under.

Immediately the retreat began. He bogeyed the 12th, almost went out of bounds at the 14th and took a six, bogeyed the 15th and the 17th. He was now back to one under. Bjorn, apparently set to become the first Dane to win a major and the first European for four years, progressed by steady accumulation, going to the turn in 34 and then pitching beautifully at the 14th to set up a birdie four and move to four under.

But for a man who spends his winters amid the desert in Dubai, Bjorn's chance became lost in the sand. He was penalised two strokes on the opening day for swishing the sand after he left a recovery in a bunker. Now, at the 15th, he drove into sand for a bogey. He was still two ahead but his tee shot at the short 16th ran long into more sand. Twice his attempts at escaping rolled back into the sand and he holed a brave putt for a double-bogey.

He needed a birdie over the last two holes to win but his approach at 17 was short and he took three to get down. While Woods and Love had to hole their seconds at the 18th to tie, Bjorn, like Singh, needed a birdie for a play-off. Singh bunkered his approach but Bjorn had a birdie opportunity from long range that just missed.

Curtis is a home-grown product, learning the game on his grandparents' public course and refusing even now to take a coach. "I believe in my system," he said. "I stick with it and it worked this week." But golf is not his whole life. In the moment of his triumph, he said: "I can't think of anything better than getting married and starting a family. Away from the game, I don't think about golf. I hang out with my family, go to the movies. I'm a normal guy with a lot of talent." Last Monday, three days before the start of his first major, Curtis and Candace went sightseeing in London. His favourite attraction? "It had to be Big Ben."