The Royal Birkdale golf course, hard by Liverpool Bay, is a 6,844-yd. string of narrow fairways that twist like green ribbons over the landscape. Under good conditions it is not much of a challenge. Last week, as 108 qualifiers vied for the 101st British Open, conditions were nightmarish. Fierce winds and rain lashed the course for the first two days, washed out play on the third. Workmen bailed water from the course with buckets, blotted the sopping greens with blankets.
"If necessary," said Arnold Palmer, 31, the 5-2 favorite to win the ancient, prestige-laden...
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