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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- Clearly, the American player-development pipeline is flawed.
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Forget sending your kids out on the junior-golf circuit, to expensive boarding-school academies in Florida or to four years of college. The Argentine method is clearly the better path.
For the second time in as many majors, a humble and hardscrabble player from the caddie yards of Argentina created thunderclaps, with unsung Andres Romero coming within a shot of becoming an international sensation at the 136th British Open after a rollicking, closing 67 that left BCC broadcasters grasping for words.
Seemingly rising from nowhere, the skinny 27-year-old started the final round a whopping seven strokes off the lead -- a margin he erased by the time he played the 11th hole.
It took a seatbelt and a Dramamine tablet to follow his wild ride to the clubhouse. Utterly unknown on the worldwide stage, Romero made Carnoustie Golf Links look like 18 flagsticks stuck in the Pampas plains back home, roasting the fabled course with a staggering 10 birdies to move into the outright lead at one point on the back nine.
But every time he gained control, he gave it right back in spectacular fashion, including an incredible double bogey on No. 17 and a bogey on the 18th that, as it turned out, ultimately cost him a spot in the playoff with Sergio Garcia and eventual winner Padraig Harrington, who finished regulation a shot better at 7 under.
Romero, like reigning U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera, grew up poor and working for pennies as a caddie. Unlike Cabrera, however, he has virtually no professional pedigree of note. His lone victory outside South America came on the European Tour's developmental circuit.
So, seemingly poised to pull off one of the greatest upsets in golf, Romero saw it all go down the drink on the 17th, where after a drive into the rough, his gung-ho attitude cost him dearly.
He tried to reach the green with a 2-iron from a sketchy, grass-choked lie, and the ball dived into the Barry Burn, caromed off the dastardly creek's rock-lined wall and sailed out of bounds. It conjured up images of Frenchman Jean Van de Velde's meltdown on the final hole at Carnoustie eight years ago.
"There's one advantage, I did it on 17, not 18," Romero said, his sense of humor intact. "But I could be put into that category by some."
A long hitter despite his 5-foot-10, 150-pound build, this kid likes to go for broke, perhaps because he is one of eight children, so those who are not aggressive tend to get left behind. Romero knew he was leading when he played the 17th, but was taking a rip at the green no matter what.
"I never considered playing it safe," he said.
Romero was hardly a broken man with his third-place finish afterward. Far from it. He gave everybody a thrill, to be sure.
No regrets, no refunds.
"I am happy, when the best players in the world are here and I played the tournament I played," he said.
