Watson keeps Open pain in perspective

Published on Tuesday 21 July 2009 22:59

TOM Watson says messages of support from American troops he visited in Iraq have helped him put his Open disappointment into perspective.

Watson admits his feelings "are still bitter-sweet" after his heroics at Turnberry.

The 59-year-old American has had two days to dwell on his play-off defeat to Stewart Cink, but insists he has no regrets.

Watson revealed that a visit to US troops in Iraq back in 2007 has helped him get back in the right frame of mind to compete at this week's Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard, a tournament he has won three times in the past.

"The last two days my computer now no longer has enough memory to operate with all the emails I've received," he revealed. "There is still quite a vacuum in the stomach. I'm not crying but I've been affected by it to a certain degree. But this, too, shall pass. Honestly it's not the most important thing in life.

"These people I met at Walter Reed hospital, Bethesda hospital and all over Iraq, and many of them have contacted me and said, 'Congratulations. Oh by the way – when you're in a neck-high bunker and you have a four-footer, just remember – it's just a game'. I give them credit for keeping me on the straight and level here and not letting me get too disappointed.

"The joy of it has been some of the tears from my son and my friends, being able to kind of soothe them to a certain degree and say I did what I was trying to do, and it just didn't work out.

"There was one particular message from a young man by the name of Leroy Petry, who is up for the Congressional Medal of Honour, who saved a bunch of lives by taking a pretty direct hit from a grenade he was trying to throw, and it went right off in his hand. That's perspective."

Nevertheless, Watson said he had a near sleepless night on Sunday and also had to console his "distraught" 26-year-old son Michael. Needing a par at the last to win the Open and become the oldest Major winner in history on Sunday.

Watson's eight-iron second shot landed on the green but rolled off the putting surface and the five-time Open winner could not get down in two from the fringe to equal Harry Vardon's record of six Open Championship titles.

That bogey led to a play-off with compatriot Cink where Watson was thoroughly outplayed, but the eight-time major winner will be looking to redress the balance at Sunningdale this week and says he does not regret his approach at the final hole.

"You look back in perspective of the rounds and how they went, that eight-iron at 18 will always live with me. And you know what – I hit the shot I wanted to hit, I really did," said Watson. "And I asked my friend, Andy North, exactly where that ball landed on the green. He said it landed one foot on to the surface, over the knob, one foot on the surface. It had the whole length of the green to stop, and that's where I was trying to hit it. I was trying to hit it 164 yards, right there. It just didn't stop.

"There's no self-recrimination, there can't be. I tried my best with every shot, and sometimes you make the right judgments and sometimes you don't. If I hit a 9 iron on the last hole, I may hit it three inches fat and come up 20 yards short, who knows? I hit the shot I wanted to and, when it was in the air, I thought: 'This may be mine.'

"I look at that shot, I hit it perfectly, and didn't get the break."

"I've lived my life out here on the tour. After the disappointment it's onwards to the next week – forget what you did in the past except to where it may help you play better golf."

Watson's performance has inspired his fellow competitors at Sunningdale this week, including Scotland's Sam Torrance.

Torrance, who captained Europe to Ryder Cup glory at the Belfry in 2002, said: "To me, it's right up there with the greatest sporting achievements of all time.

"It's unfortunate he didn't win it – then it would have been the greatest sporting achievement of all time. To get into that position and tie for the Open at 59, it's extraordinary."

But Watson was quick to downplay such high praise. "It's overblown. I was just trying to win a golf tournament that I thought I could win," he added. "You may think that 59-year-olds shouldn't be there, but Sam Snead could play great golf when he was in his 70s."

If Watson had held on and won the Open, he would have received an exemption to carry on playing in that championship for another 10 years. But with the Open organisers having an age cap of 60, next year's event at St Andrews is likely to be his last, although moves are afoot already to re-assess the age limit to allow older players to continue if they can demonstrate – like Watson has done – that they remain competitive. Watson said he spoke to Royal and Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson about the current age limitation and agrees with the policy.

"It's sensible, you have to give the young kids a chance to play, and that's the whole reason behind it," he said. "Get the old fogeys out of there, and give the young kids a chance to get in there and shine."

Now he partners two more former Open champions, Greg Norman and Sandy Lyle, as he sets out to win the Senior title he captured in 2003, 2005 and 2007 – aiming to keep up his streak of winning every other year.

Meanwhile, Alastair Webster and Bill McColl will get the chance to rub shoulders with Watson after qualifying for the Senior British Open.

Edzell pro Webster, the British Club Professionals' champion in 1990, posted a two-under 70 at the Mill Ride club to grab one of just nine spots on offer there.

Essex-based McColl, who followed in Webster's footsteps by landing the British Club pros title in 1991, shot a level-par 70 at Camberley Heath to secure one of 12 qualifying places available.

Webster and McColl will form part of six-strong Scottish contingent for the 23rd staging of the over-50s major.

Lyle, Torrance, Bill Longmuir and four-time Scottish PGA champion Ross Drummond are also in a stellar field which includes the likes of Sir Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Mark O'Meara, Tom Lehman and Gary Player.