ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Tom Watson and Nick Faldo had their sentimental final farewells with walks over the iconic Swilcan Bridge on Friday at St. Andrews.
Ivor Robson will leave much more quietly and with zero fanfare when this 144th Open Championship is completed Monday, one day after its scheduled Sunday finish as a result of hours of high-wind weather delays.
Robson, with his distinctive high-pitched voice and unique style — “Now on the tee …” — has been the British Open’s official starter, announcing the groups on the first tee, since 1975 at Carnoustie.
Though he never hit a shot, Robson has been as much a fabric of the game’s oldest major championship as the players he has introduced.
He is to the British Open what Bob Sheppard was to Yankee Stadium and what Vin Scully has been to Dodgers fans: a treasured familiar voice you figured you would be listening to forever.
Robson, who will be 75 in the fall, never has missed a tee time in 41 British Opens mostly because he never needs a pee time.
As a habit, he doesn’t eat or drink anything after 7 p.m. the night before the four rounds of the tournament so he doesn’t need a bathroom break. He estimates he loses about 14 pounds every British Open week.
To illustrate how long the day is, the first-round tee times began at 6:32 a.m. on Thursday and the last one was at 4:32 p.m.
His last introduction from his perch at the first tee will take place sometime Monday afternoon and “will be an emotional occasion,’’ Robson conceded.
“I feel you can’t go on forever and if you’re going to step off, there’s no better place to do it than here,’’ Robson said. “They’re all different, you know. I’ve had some nice ones, but this is special, St. Andrews.’’
Peter Dawson, the retiring chief executive of the Royal & Ancient, was asked earlier this week how the R & A will replace such an icon as Robson.
“I don’t know,’’ Dawson said. “That’s why I’m retiring.’’
Robson, a former club pro from Scotland, said his “style has never changed.’’
“I’ve always kept it simple,’’ he said. “The public knows more about the player than you do. Always treat the public with the respect they deserve, because they are knowledgeable, so don’t try to be clever. Just keep it simple: the game number, ‘on the tee,’ where he is from and their name. That is all they need to know.
“I suppose ‘On the tee’ has become my trademark. At the start, there was no one else to tell me how to do it. So I just had to get on with it.”
For 41 years, it’s been Robson’s calling card — until Monday’s final call.
“Ivor started his announcing at the 1975 Open Championship, which was my first Open too,” Watson said. “So we came in together and we are going out together. He is iconic and he has been a big part of the Open Championship.”
Robson called the Open “a massive part of my life,’’ adding, “I don’t know how I will feel when I watch the Open next year. When I’m at home watching the Open on television next year, of course I will miss it. But you can’t go on forever, you have to stop at some point, and this is the right time for me.
“St. Andrews is a perfect place for me to bow out. It’s time to go.’’