Golf: Charles delighted to have some company

Sir Bob Charles is delighted to finally have some company in golf's most exclusive club, but admits he never expected it to be Canadian Mike Weir.

Weir this week became just the second left-hander to win one of golf's four major tournaments when he was crowned the 67th Masters champion at Augusta National in Georgia.

Charles shared a practice round with Weir before the 2001 British Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes - the scene of Charles' British Open victory in 1963 - and confesses he saw little in Weir's game to suggest he was a potential major winner.

He always expected perennial Masters contender Phil Mickelson would be the next southpaw to follow him into the history books.

"To be honest I didn't think he [Weir] would be the one," said Charles, "but I'm delighted to have handed the baton on to someone else ... I've been carrying it for too long.

"He's only a little guy and I wouldn't say he has a classical golf swing. But it's a repeatable swing which works ... He gets the ball out there pretty good and has a good short game.

"What impressed me most about him was his dedication and desire. He knew what he wanted to do and was able to do it. He deserved to win."

Charles believes the fact that right-handers far outnumber left-handers on the main tours is the reason it took Weir 40 years to end the major championship drought for lefties.

He does not buy into the theory that southpaws are disadvantaged by a lack of left-handed equipment on the market.

"We didn't have as many choices in my early days, but that was probably a good thing.

"You got a set of clubs and used them until you wore them out ... Now there are too many clubs and it does tend to confuse things."

Charles is set to contest the US$2.25 million ($4.15 million) Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf seniors tournament in Savannah, Georgia, starting next Friday. The Champions Tour (formerly Seniors Tour) event will be Charles' first since he withdrew from the New Zealand Open in January because of an elbow injury.

He has managed only two rounds of golf since then. "I'm probably 80 per cent fit, but at least I'm at the point where I can play a round of golf," he said. "I've done everything gradually and it's getting better slowly."

- NZPA