The case of the missing clubs is solved

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- It was an emotional reunion. Heck, it nearly brought Zach Johnson to tears. That's the degree of attachment between Johnson and the clubs he used to win the Masters.

"Not that the clubs I was using were bad. They weren't. [But] I don't like to mess around," said the Masters champ, who received word as he played the fourth hole at Carnoustie Golf Links that his clubs had been located by the airlines. "I'm very, very, very, very happy that my clubs are here."

So were Justin Leonard, Pat Perez, and Lucas Glover, who had their clubs temporarily misplaced while changing planes in London. For Johnson, it was disconcerting, but Glover took it in stride.

"I wasn't going to play [ Monday upon arrival], so it was no big deal," Glover said.

By the time he went out for a practice round yesterday, Glover had his clubs, as did Leonard.

Joe Durant was not so fortunate. He has the honor of striking the first ball, at 6:30 a.m., when the 136th British Open commences tomorrow, but neither his luggage nor his clubs made his connecting flight. His clubs finally arrived late yesterday but not his clothes.

He was walking around in a long-sleeve white shirt, purchased from the Carnoustie GL pro shop, though he still had on the blue jeans he wore on the trip.

Lost luggage is not news, but there seemed to be a rash of it. It led Johnson to vow that "I'm definitely through with O'Hare [in Chicago] and Heathrow [in London] airports," though a colleague had to laugh.

"If I had won the Masters and another tournament, I'd be flying private," he said.

Told that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson rarely have problems with lost luggage, thanks to their private jets, Johnson shook his head.

"If someone gives me a plane much like those two," he said, "I can foresee that."

When the rain came down sideways in howling wind Monday, there were the usual clichés about Scottish weather at the media center, but an American journalist pointed out that Sunday had been beautiful. Without missing a beat, a Scotsman said, "Then it appears our summer was on a Sunday this year." The sun was out Monday afternoon and it was comfortable, and the good weather continued yesterday. The forecast remains fairly promising for the week. Going back to 2000, there's only been one bad day of competition at the British Open -- the third round at Muirfield in 2002 . . . How different was yesterday's wind from Monday's? Consider how Brett Quigley played the 499-yard, par-4 18th: driver, 2-iron, 9-iron into a gale Monday; 3-wood, 9-iron with the breeze at his back yesterday . . . Riding a roller-coaster year, Glover, an alternate, was awarded a last-minute spot in the 156-player field when Shingo Katayama withdrew. Glover has missed six cuts in 20 starts and has just three top-10 finishes. "I didn't earn my way here, so I'm kind of fortunate to be in," he said. Having been ranked 41st at the start of the year, Glover has fallen to 54th. At a British Open qualifier at Oakland Hills outside Detroit, he withdrew after nine holes.

One slice of the British Open experience for many American players is visiting other courses in Scotland. Jim Furyk played St. Andrews Saturday evening after doing a junior clinic there. "They tell me that the Saturday night before the Open [Championship] is the best night to play," said Furyk, who was joined by his caddie, Mike "Fluff" Cowan, as a player, that is. Furyk went birdie, eagle to finish his round . . . Tom Lehman and his son, Thomas Andrew, were at the Old Course Monday . . . Ernie Els is one modern player who has used persimmon clubs. In fact, he enjoyed it at St. Andrews one day when he went nine holes with the wooden stuff. Els liked the way he had to slow down his swing to let the clubface catch up, something you rarely have to do with graphite-shafted drivers. "That was a lot of fun. It would be nice to have a nine-hole tournament and see what the guys do," he said.

Eight years later, Paul Lawrie says he feels he has never been afforded the proper respect for winning the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie. "I would have liked to have seen a little more of 'By God, Paul Lawrie shot 67 to win the tournament by two shots,' " said the Scotsman, who stormed from 10 shots back to earn the claret jug. But his victory is overshadowed by Jean Van de Velde's collapse on the 72d hole, when he squandered a three-shot lead, made triple bogey, and lost in a playoff. "That's out of my hands," said Lawrie . . . As proof, consider American Boo Weekley, whose country-boy legend has grown during his first visit to Scotland. Paired with Lawrie at the Scottish Open last week, Weekley turned to his playing competitor and said, "How did you get in [to the British Open]? You qualify?" Lawrie advised Weekley he had won the championship and earned an exemption until he's 65. Told later that Lawrie had won when Van de Velde collapsed, the man from the Florida Panhandle offered a blank stare. No, he had never heard of the Frenchman. "What did he do?" Weekley asked . . . Only three players made it through regional and local qualifying, all from the UK -- David Coupland, Justin Kehoe, and Steve Parry . . . Coupland is one of six amateurs in the field. The others are American Drew Weaver, the British Amateur champ; US Amateur champ Richie Ramsay of Scotland; Welshman Llewellyn Matthews; Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland; and Paul Waring of England.