Rich Beem was thrilled to prolong the latest chapter of his father and son road trip on UK soil as he produced a crowd-pleasing birdie on the 18th green to ensure he made the cut at The Senior Open Presented by Rolex.
The American, who held off Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship in 2002, has forged a career as a golf analyst and is this week making his third appearance in Europe’s Senior Major Championship.
Having worked at both the Genesis Scottish Open and The 151st Open, Beem has swapped the microphone for his clubs and is making it a family affair with his son Michael caddying for him at Royal Porthcawl.
Needing a par to be sure of progressing through to the weekend in Wales, the 52-year-old made a birdie from the off the green before enjoying a warm embrace with his son as applause rang out from the grandstand.
“It means the world to me [to have Michael on the bag],” he said.
“I've been with him all month over here and it's been probably one of the most extraordinary months I've had since I've been doing the job that you and I have commentating, just to get a chance to spend time with him.
“Played a lot of golf early in the trip with him but to have him on the bag this week, he's been a tremendous support and read great putts, and just been a massive bonus this week to have him on the bag.”
Reflecting on his birdie putt, he added: “Michael has been a great reader of putts all week and we just kind of figured, you know what, looks like pretty straight and been begging me, begging me, hit it hard enough to get in the hole and finally I hit one hard enough to go in the hole.
“Yeah, that was a blast. That was obviously a surprise. But I was fighting hard out there to make the cut. It wasn't easy.”
Beem was four over through his opening four holes in the first round as he carded a 74 but is proud with the resolve he has shown as he mixed an eagle, two birdies and four bogeys for a level-par 71 on Friday.
“The first four holes, they punch you right in the jaw,” he said.
“You just get out there and it's just one of those things where it's blowing, a little chilly and you're just trying to survive.
“To be fair, I didn't hit too many bad shots. I just didn't get the ball in the hole quick enough. Standing on the 5th tee, I'm like, finally, we're going downwind for a change. Let's see if we can't have a little bit more fun now.
“Again, as you and I know, it's more about hanging tough and just trying to grind out a round, so just to get it in the house yesterday plus four, I was awfully happy about that.
“Then today, I had a really good warmup session and I was hitting the ball solid all day. One of those things where I made just one or two mistakes, got a bad break and that's the way golf goals but to stick around for 36 more holes, woo-hoo.”
