Notes from Saturday

Stewart wants knee-high weeds away from 2000 Open at St. Andrews

U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart hopes to save the 2000 British Open at St. Andrews from the knee-high weeds that have overgrown Carnoustie.

"We'll have to wait and see how they (Royal and Ancient) set St. Andrews up." said Stewart, who shot 74 Saturday to trail leader Jean Van de Velde by 13.

"If they do this to St. Andrews, it's not going to be any fun at all. ... Maybe they've learned a lesson this week, I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. You would like to think they (R and A) didn't want this, but they got it. Carnoustie doesn't need this."

Through three rounds, only 10 players have broken par 71 on the 7,361-yard course. Stewart campaigned off the 18th green and asked reporters not to let it happen again.

"It's up to you guys to write and everybody else to get the R and A to listen."

"My attitude hasn't changed on the Open," he added. ``I am disappointed in the course set up, but my view of the British Open hasn't changed. I love the tournament and I think it is the foremost golf tournament in the world. ... "It would really complete my career if I could win one."

FRENCH GOLF?: Jean Van de Velde leads the British Open by five strokes and France is finally going to find out about it. The French sports daily L'Equipe -- in an unprecedented move -- is running Van de Velde's photo on Sunday across its entire first page. A 1,200-word story Saturday was buried a dozen pages into the paper behind the Tour de France and Davis Cup.

"If he wins Sunday, I'll get a full page and 2,500 words," said Pierre Michel Bonnot, the L'Equipe golf writer. He said a golfer's photo on page one "is surely a first."

Golf is not a big sport in France, where there are few youth programs and shallow roots. A building boom in the mid-1980s slumped in the early 1990s with many courses closing. The country of 60 million has about 250,000 golfers and 500 courses. Scotland has almost that many courses with one-tenth the population.

The last Frenchman to lead the Open was Jean Garaialde in 1964 when he was tied for the lead after the first round with a 71. He eventually tied for 13th behind winner Tony Lema. The last French winner was Arnaud Massy in 1907.

MONTY'S WORLD: This is Colin Montgomerie's 33rd major and it seems likely he's going to be 0-for-33. The moody Scot had a 1-over 72 Saturday, leaving him nine strokes behind leader Van de Velde. When he slipped to seven behind after the second round, he said all was lost. Now he's saying he still has a shot.

"If I score 67, I'll be 5 over and I reckon I can win," he said. Asked how a 67 would compare with the course-record 64 he holds at Carnoustie, Montgomerie replied. "If I score 67, it will be the best round of my life."

HOME SWEET HOME: Spanish golf prodigy Sergio Garcia, humiliated with rounds of 89-83 to miss the cut and finish last in a field of 156, has called a news conference on Monday in his Mediterranean home in Castellon to explain what happened.

The 19-year old, who won the Irish Open last month in only his sixth professional event, was overwhelmed by the wind and weeds at Carnoustie and lashed out at the difficult course.

"This was impossible to enjoy," he said.

Asked if it was his worst experience in golf, he replied: "Probably so. It wasn't a good experience. ... I can't remember when I last shot an 89."

A headline in Madrid's daily El Mundo on Saturday questioned Garcia's future: "Is El Nino in danger?" The sports daily Marca was more positive: "Sergio takes the blow with style."

WEATHER: Weather for Sunday's final day will be mostly sunny with a risk of light showers. But the winds are going to shift after three days of coming from the west and southwest. They're expected to be out of the south and southeast at about 10-15 mph. Winds on Saturday gusted up to 30 mph from the southwest.

ODDS AND ENDS: The '97 Open champion Justin Leonard, five strokes behind Van de Velde, says the course is getting easier. "I think guys have gotten used to the conditions and how the course is playing." ... The 20-year-old woman who raced onto the 18th green Thursday in a black bra and panties and kissed Tiger Woods was arrested after the incident. She works as a dancer in a bar in Aberdeen. ... Young Englishman Zane Scotland celebrated his 17th birthday on Saturday. Unfortunately, the young English amateur missed the cut (82-81-163). ... Asked if he'd ever played in such difficult conditions, Ernie Els snapped, "I'm getting tired of that question."

AP