Lam is living his dream in Carnoustie

Tiger Woods was three bays on his left while Vijay Singh was a short putt away on the practice range. Indeed, Lam Chih Bing is relishing being in the company of stars in his Major debut at the British Open.

The Asian Tour stalwart is in dreamland after becoming only the second Singaporean to qualify for the world’s oldest Major and he is aiming to provide some Asian sparkle at Carnoustie.

His trip to Scotland has been memorable so far. Last week, the 30-year-old warmed up at Turnberry and St Andrews and after pitching up in Carnoustie, he enjoyed rounds with double US Open champion Retief Goosen and world number five Adam Scott.

“It’s been awesome so far,” enthused Lam. “Being here in person is a totally different feeling than watching it on TV. Everywhere you turn, there’s somebody of stature. To be in their midst, it’s a dream.

“Adam and Retief were very friendly and forthcoming with their advice on how to play Carnoustie which hopefully will help me this week. This is definitely the best tournament in the world.”

Lam,who played in a practice round with last year's UBS Order of Merit champion Jeev Milkha Singh of India and Japanese star Toshi Izawa, hopes his adventure will last the entire week. His main goal will be to play all four rounds and with the set-up at Carnoustie being easier than in 1999, Lam is confident that he can stick round with the big boys.

“The course is playing very nicely. I was surprised that the rough is quite good considering how bad they said it was in 1999. I would be thrilled to make the weekend cut. Mardan (Mamat) didn’t manage to do it and that would be my goal,” he said.

“You can’t tell what scores will be. It depends on the weather. If it’s nice and calm, scores will be under par. It’ll be challenging as there are many ways to play the course. You can attack it by taking driver out on every hole but if you find a bunker, it’s an automatic bogey. But if you hit the fairway, it can be an easy course.

“I’ll need to use my imagination around the greens which is hard to negotiate but hopefully those rounds in Turnberry and St Andrews will help.”

With a first round tee time at 3.59pm, Lam said he would need to stay on an even keel to post a good number on Thursday.

“I’m a bit worried as I’ve got the whole morning to think about my first round in a Major and I need to find ways to kill time. I’m sure I’ll be so excited that I will get up first thing in the morning and it’s something which I’ll have to deal with.

“I plan to watch the Open on TV as I might be able to learn on a few things on how the course is playing, especially the breaks on the putting greens,” he said.

July 17, 2007

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