'Duel in the Sun' a timely reminder of Open classic

Published on Sunday 12 July 2009 23:01

WHEN the irresistible force of Tom Watson met the immovable object that was Jack Nicklaus on the bonnie links at Turnberry during the scorching summer of 1977, the collision between the best players in the oldest major delivered the most exhilarating golf of modern times and perhaps the greatest-ever staging of the Open championship.

Under a shimmering, setting sun, not to mention a cloud of dust which lent the arena an unforgettably magical ambience, it was Watson who won by a stroke, though he needed to post what was then the lowest 72-hole total in Open history to fend off Nicklaus. While both men only had eyes for victory, the beauty of the championship for the thousands of spectators who swarmed over the Ailsa for the first time and the millions watching on TV around the world lay in the utter perfection of the competition. "It was spiritual," Watson remembers.

After racing a birdie putt into the cup from off the green on the 15th to stand toe-to-toe with Nicklaus for 69 holes, Watson turned to the older man on the 16th tee and murmured: "This is what it's all about, isn't it ?" If Nicklaus could have been forgiven at that moment for failing to endorse the poetry of the occasion after hitting the better shot on the short hole and only leaving with a par, the game's supreme champion also understood he too was part of something special. "You bet it is," he replied.

The contest, which became known as the 'Duel in the Sun', was, of course, the exception rather than the rule of major golf since it pitched the most gifted champions against one another in a head-to-head confrontation over 36 holes in which the participants separated themselves from the rest of the field with the most sublime shot-making imaginable. If it's par for the course at every major for the media to concentrate on the form horses and the thoroughbreds in the build-up to each championship, once play gets underway there's no preventing the journeymen and the game's unsung heroes from commanding centre-stage.

At Bethpage in the US Open last month, for example, all the discussion in advance of the championship focused on Tiger Woods' straight driving and the world No1's regal return to form after injury. There was also an emotional sub-plot surrounding Phil Mickelson, the world No2, whose wife, Amy, had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

If the casual reader might have formed the impression the other 154 competitors were wasting their time making the trip to Long Island while Tiger took on Phil, students of the game would have urged caution. And, as it turned out, the winner, Lucas Glover, came straight from left field, serving another reminder about the reality of the game at the highest level: namely, that the great champions hardly ever look each other in the eye on the back nine of the final round.

The 106th Open, the first to be staged at Turnberry, was different. In a field where up and coming European prodigies such as Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo were learning their trade and giants of the links such as Arnold Palmer, who finished seventh, and Peter Thomson,13th, were still competitive, Nicklaus was the bookmakers' favourite at 6-1 with Watson a close second at 7-1.

The Scotsman carried a story that week revealing how big money bets had been placed on the 27-year-old from Kansas. It wasn't difficult to work out why. The champion at Carnoustie on his debut in 1975, Watson already knew how to inscribe his name on the Claret Jug. Moreover, he was the season's form player, having already got the better of Nicklaus at Augusta when he won the Masters in April.

On the other hand, betting against Nicklaus in the majors was like losing faith with Tiger today. True, at 37, the Golden Bear was ten years older than his compatriot and not quite as physically powerful as he'd been a decade earlier. In a long driving competition, Watson would hit it further more often. Nicklaus, though, had mastered the art of competing in the championships which mean the most.

Blessed with unmatched patience and a presence which continued to intimidate most of his opponents, the game's greatest player enjoyed an unrivalled gift for holing putts and executing the right shots under the most intense pressure.

Looking back on one of the most remarkable weeks of his career, Watson remembers how he arrived at Turnberry feeling unusually upbeat about his chances. "That week was a very special week for me," he said.

"Wasn't quite as special for Jack but it was very special for me. I was coming into the tournament playing very well. I had a very good feeling. I had just won the Western Open, and before the Open I went over to Barcelona and shot 61 there in the final round to win by ten shots.

"I think it was the tournament where I was playing the best. There's not a question about that. The other championships, I went in with mixed emotions about my chances of winning, and what separates Turnberry from the other four (Opens] is the fact I just mentioned, I really felt confident about my chances of winning."

Watson and Nicklaus both carded identical scores over the opening 54 holes of 68, 70 and 65. After four holes of the final round, Nicklaus was three strokes clear of Watson. By the eighth, Watson had reeled off three birdies and the pair were level.

On the ninth, the excitement among the galleries reached fever pitch and play was interrupted for 15 minutes when Nicklaus asked the stewards to restore order.

He was a shot to the good when the pair reached the 15th. Nicklaus found the green of the par 3 with a towering iron shot while Watson's ball missed the short grass and lay 50 feet from the pin in an area now filled by a bunker.

A betting man would have tipped Nicklaus to increase his lead. Instead, Watson holed out for 2 and Nicklaus missed from 15 feet.

When Watson birdied the par-5 17th and seized the lead for the first time, the outcome of the duel was effectively settled after Nicklaus misread a five-foot putt.

Although Nicklaus, who pushed the drive, played an astonishing recovery shot from clinging rough and holed from 35 feet for birdie on the last and 66, Watson only needed to tap in from two and a half feet for 65 and glory after executing a searing 7 iron.

Apart from the unforgettable 2 iron which set up victory on the 18th at Birkdale, it was the best shot Watson ever struck on the final hole of a championship. As the roars echoed around Ailsa Craig, Nicklaus put his arm around Watson's shoulder and told him: "I gave it my best shot, but it wasn't good enough." It was typical of such a giant of the game, of course, that, in the end, his sportsmanship should match such a formidable talent.

"There's been a lot made over that golf tournament, and I think I'm glad to be part of it," says Nicklaus. "I didn't want to be on the side I was on, but that's all right. You're not going to win everything. Tom played better than I did that week and deserved to win."

For Watson, it was the moment when he felt the game's warm embrace.

"To understand that you had just won against the best player who had ever played the game, that was when I fell in love with golf," he said. "I was grateful to be part of it."

And for the Ailsa, it was an astonishing debut. Although Watson and Nicklaus tore the links apart, only one other golfer, Hubert Green, broke par.

"I won my golf tournament," said Green. "I don't know what game those other two guys were playing…"