Curtis out to show 2003 win was no fluke

Ben Curtis stunned the sporting world last year by clinching the Open in his first tournament on a links course -- now he has taken off his L-plates he wants to prove it was no fluke.

The 300-1 outsider from Ohio was the first of the 156-strong field to practise at St George's on the Saturday before the 2003 Open, his initial experience of the game on a seaside layout.

He then proceeded to confound all predictions by edging out Thomas Bjorn by a stroke on a baking hot Sunday afternoon to earn the famous Claret Jug and complete one of the biggest shocks in the tournament's 143-year history.

With many shaking their heads at the beginner's luck on the viciously tough south-eastern English links in leaving Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Davis Love III in his wake, Curtis is now determined to follow with a solid defence at Royal Troon.

He was certainly in bullish mood at Wednesday's news conference on the eve of the tournament's first round.

"Anybody who defends their title should be a threat -- especially in a major. Because I've won this before, I certainly feel like I can do it again," he told reporters.

Curtis, who briefly visited Troon in May this year, said he had not repeated his preparation of 2003. "This time I just took Saturday off and then came out here on Sunday and played a full 18 holes," he said.

"Last year, I was just learning how to play links golf because I didn't know what it would be like. Now I'm just trying to learn this course instead of learning how to play a links course."

The 27-year-old, who was in his rookie year on the PGA tour in the U.S. at the time of his Open victory, said the hullaballoo of his success upset his subsequent form.

"I think it hurt me a little because there's so much outside of golf that I had to do -- my wedding was televised, I got on the David Letterman show, that kind of thing. But this whole year, I've been focused."

It has yet to translate into solid results on the U.S. circuit in 2004. So far, his best finish is tied eighth at the Memorial Tournament and he has missed the halfway cut six times in 13 PGA Tour events including his last, the Western Open.

He also failed to qualify for the weekend's play at the Scottish Open last week after rounds of 73 and 72, three over par overall.

"I'm still on a learning curve, I guess," he said.

"All I'm still trying to do is just learn and get better each week so I can go out there and get myself in contention," he said. "I think you learn every time you get there in the shakeup."

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