ST. ANDREWS, Scotland
On the eve of the 144th British Open, Peter Thomson picked his fellow Australian Adam Scott to win the tournament. Scott could not have received a more divine benediction if the dark clouds above the Old Course had parted like parlor curtains and Old Tom Morris had swooped down to bless Scott with his homemade club.
Thomson, 85, won the tournament five times, including the 1955 edition at the Old Course, the home of golf in the hometown of Morris, a four-time Open champion. On Wednesday, Thomson participated in the four-hole Champion Golfers’ Challenge, featuring former winners, and Ernie Els said Thomson had told him he could feel he was “running out of time.