Tom Watson walked down the same beautiful fairway at Turnberry where he became a legend in 1977, outlasting Jack Nicklaus in an epic display of golf dubbed the “Duel in the Sun.”
On a late Sunday evening in Scotland, emotional applause again carried Watson to the 18th green, where a ninth major championship — and a record-tying sixth British Open — improbably waited. At 59 years old — a 1,000-to-1 shot to win the tournament — it would have been a sports story for the ages. Instead, Watson’s eight-foot putt for the title was struck poorly. Bogey was the score at 18 and instead of cradling the Claret Jug, a four-hole playoff loomed.
Recommended Stories
That proved too much as Stewart Cink won by an easy six strokes. The crowd was left deflated, polite applause greeting the winner, but heartache lingering over what could have been.
Every once in a while, though, second place finds a way to trump first. For 71 holes, at least, Watson was better than players half his age — young men in their prime who can drive off the tee further, stroke the ball surer and have the endurance to push through the grind of a major tournament. For 71 holes none of their physical advantages mattered.
Watson’s body has faltered with time, of course. But the champion who stared down Nicklaus at four different majors — at Turnberry in 1977, at Augusta that same year and once more in 1981, and finally at Pebble Beach for the 1982 U.S. Open title — still lurks within that aging shell. For a fleeting few days, a man who will turn 60 in September gave hope to every weekend golfer who thinks they still have one more best round left in them — even as the knees ache or the hips sting or the back balks. In the end, Tom Watson’s memorable performance at Turnberry this week, 32 years after his greatest triumph, gave everyone watching a jolt of hope. Our best days may be past, but they don’t have to be gone forever.
