Sure, there have been surprises in golf tournaments-- see just last year's Open Championship and Greg Norman, but Tom Watson didn't fallback after 36 holes, or even after 54. He was tied for the lead after 72 holes of golf on a course where he won 32 years ago! You read that correctly-- 32 years. Tom Watson had won 3 British Opens before ThisGuy was even born and won a fourth just a couple months after my birthday. And after 72 holes of golf he stood atop the leaderboard looking for his record-tieing 6th Open Championship title and first victory on the PGA tour in 11 years.
Most of you know how it ended. Maybe it was his 59 year old body, or maybe it was destined to be an eight foot putt that would take him down--heck, maybe it was just supposed to be Stewart Cink's year. None of that matters, because all weekend long Tom Watson was once again the best player in the world.
I don't care that he lost. I'm not sure I've ever been nervous to watch golf on TV. My heart was pounding when he put his 8-iron over the green...as he pounded the putt 8 feet by the hole...as he hit his penultimate putt like I've done so many times. It was his consistent display of skills that brought back the magic to the game.
There was no Phil. Tiger was gone early. The early leaders faded away, but Mr. Watson stayed there. Hitting drive after drive straight down the middle of the fairway. He was consistent, he was accurate, he was simply good.
But what I liked the most was that you couldn't tell if he had just hit the shot of his life, or if he'd shanked one off the toe of his club. Compare his reactions on the playoff (where he couldn't make a shot to save his life) to those of Tiger the two days he actually played. Some are saying Tiger is the greatest golfer ever, I say he has a lot of growing up to do. The great thing is, all he has to do is study Tom Watson.
Watson might not have lifted the claret jug for the 6th time, but he reminded us all why golf is such a great game, and we should all say thank you.
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