Open 2009: Watson playing with spirit of old Tom

OLD Tom Morris's whiskers will be fairly twitching up there in the golfing gods. He's watching. Don't doubt it. Watching and cheering. You don't believe it? Fair enough. It's a fanciful tale to be sure. Mystic nonsense. OK.

So come up with another reason for what's been going on at Turnberry this week. Explain the mysteries of Tom Watson taking a one-shot lead into the final round of the Open championship at the age of 59. Tell us about the huge putts he holed, the fortunate bounces, the feeling in the air around him.

Golf history tells us that what we saw yesterday, and for the two days that preceded it, was just not possible. Nobody his age has ever led a major – any major – after three rounds. Was it all about Watson's craft, his instinctive understanding of links golf, his unrivalled mastery of the nuances of Turnberry? Maybe. And maybe it was about something else. He's been using the word "spiritual" a lot. Maybe it was just that. It sure felt like that. Spiritual. Does such a thing exist in golf? Does it?

For more than a century the silver beard of St Andrews has held the honour of the oldest man ever to win the Open but Watson will destroy that mark by 13 years should he take his sixth – yes, his sixth – Claret Jug this afternoon. From Old Tom of Fife to Old Tom of Kansas – we are possibly talking about the greatest story in the history of the game here.

We are talking history on an unimaginable scale. Not just Old Tom Morris but Harry Vardon, too. Vardon is the only man who has ever won six Open championships.

Watson's spirit is indomitable. On Friday, he started his second round with a blitz of dropped shots, but recovered brilliantly. Yesterday he gave up three strokes to the field between the 9th and the 15th holes and then birdied the 16th and 17th, the former with a 40-foot bomb, the latter with the aid of a bounce off a mound that made you wonder about things like fate and destiny.

He shot 71; unremarkable when viewed as a mere number on a page but utterly breathtaking in every other sense. The course was tough yesterday. The wind was blowing crossways on most holes. "It was probably the hardest wind you can possibly play in," said Ross Fisher, who managed the elements quite wonderfully and is just a shot behind Watson on 3 under.

Adding to the heartache was the fact that the pins were hidden away again, some of them virtually impossible to get close to, hence the lack of a charge. Of the top 20 only five shot sub 70.

It was day for hanging on and protecting your score, which Watson did to the delirium of the crowd.

This is his crowd. His playing partner, Steve Marino, joked with him on the way round: "You could probably BE the king of Scotland! These people love you!" Today and forever, Tom Watson is a Scotsman.

"It's Turnberry and magical things happen to me here," said Watson, who came down the 18th with tears in his eyes. He was thinking of his old caddie and friend, the late Bruce Edwards. "Today was probably the most serene I've ever been on a golf course. It was a delightful walk, and I hope I'll take that serenity into the next 18 holes."

There is such an interesting pack giving chase. A dangerous pack, full of quality. Those who refuse to believe in fairytales could pick up to a dozen players who can still win this.

And some of their stories are gripping also. Fisher birdied two of the last three holes to shoot 70, and he is level with Tasmania's Matty Goggin at 3 under, just a single shot behind Watson.

Fisher and his pregnant wife, Jo, are a soap opera all on their own. Jo could go into labour any minute now. Hers is the most talked about bump in Europe. Her husband says he will walk off the course if he hears it's action stations at home in Surrey.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that because Fisher is playing with a controlled brilliance right now. He fired it closer to the pins than anybody else all day but just couldn't take advantage with the putter in his hand.

Fisher is playing with a Watsonesque cool, which is remarkable given the story at home.

"No news at the moment," he said of the baby. "So, as I say, no news is good news. We'll just have to wait and see. Fingers crossed she won't get too excited watching me and she'll be able to hang on for another day and hopefully I can hang on for another day."

Watson, Fisher and Goggin. But that's just scratching the surface of the contenders. Lee Westwood is 2 under. So is Retief Goosen, whose eagle on 17 arrested a decline that saw him drop four shots in eight holes either side of the turn. Goosen isn't convinced about the strength of his own game at the moment but he is an ominous presence on the leaderboard all the same.

The American pair, Jim Furyk and Stewart Cink, are 1 under. Barely a peep has been heard from either of them, but they demand respect, Furyk especially.

Angel Cabrera is five behind Watson and is not quite out of it. Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Graeme McDowell are six back and will not be giving up the ghost either. They will all be praying that the pin positions aren't as penal in the final round as they were yesterday.

They've probably left themselves too much to do. That's what the leaders will be thinking anyway.

Westwood was the overnight favourite with the bookmakers and it was easy to see why. His accuracy off the tee has been the foundation of his challenge and his iron-play has been deeply impressive. He's played himself into this sort of position before in majors, of course, and he's never won. He's rarely even done himself justice on the final day. But Westwood has looked a different animal this week.

"The more experiences you have, the more equipped you become to handle most situations and deal with the things that come at you," he said. "I would suggest I've experienced more in golf than most people out there playing. So I'm just going to plot my way around and try not to make too many mistakes."

Turnberry's essence, its dangers and its possibilities, was strikingly evident on Marino's score-card. Marino was in the last group out yesterday. He covered the first five holes in 5 over par, then eagled the 7th, double-bogeyed the 14th and took triple on the 15th. He's sitting on 1 over. Teflon Steve lives on.

But they're all chasing the old man. Bagger Vance's grandad leads the Open – and he is revelling in it.

LEADERBOARD

(GB & Ire unless stated)

-4 Tom Watson (USA) 65 70 71

-3 Mathew Goggin (Aus) 66 72 69

-3 Ross Fisher 69 68 70

-2 Retief Goosen ((SA)) 67 70 71

-2 Lee Westwood 68 70 70

-1 Jim Furyk (USA) 67 72 70

-1 Stewart Cink (USA) 66 72 71

E Bryce Molder (USA) 70 73 67

E Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 72 69

+1 Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 72 69

+1 Boo Weekley (USA) 67 72 72

+1 Angel Cabrera (Arg) 69 70 72

+1 Steve Marino (USA) 67 68 76

+2 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 70 71

+2 Chris Wood 70 70 72

+2 Thomas Aiken ((SA)) 71 72 69

+2 James Kingston ((SA)) 67 71 74

+2 Graeme McDowell 68 73 71

+2 Branden Grace ((SA)) 67 72 73

+2 Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 65 72 75

+2 John Daly (USA) 68 72 72

+2 Vijay Singh (Fij) 67 70 75

+2 Justin Rose 69 72 71

+2 Camilo Villegas (Col) 66 73 73

+2 Paul McGinley 71 71 70

+2 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 71 70 71

+3 Steve Stricker (USA) 66 77 70

+3 David Howell 68 73 72

+3 Oliver Wilson 72 70 71

+3 Nick Dougherty 70 70 73

+3 Metteo Manassero (Ita) 71 70 72

+3 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 70 74

+3 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 71 72

+3 J.B. Holmes (USA) 68 70 75

+3 Justin Leonard (USA) 70 70 73

+3 Miguel A Jimenez (Spa) 64 73 76

+3 Ernie Els ((SA)) 69 72 72

+3 Luke Donald 71 72 70

+3 Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 67 69 77

+4 Nick Watney (USA) 71 72 71

+4 Soren Hansen (Den) 68 72 74

+4 G Fdez-Castano (Spa) 69 72 73

+5 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 76 71

+5 Jeff Overton (USA) 70 69 76

+5 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 69 76

+5 Davis Love III (USA) 69 73 73

+5 Billy Mayfair (USA) 69 73 73

+5 Kevin Sutherland (USA) 69 73 73

+5 Anthony Wall 68 72 75

+5 Andres Romero (Arg) 68 74 73

+5 Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 73 71

+5 Richard Sterne ((SA)) 67 73 75

+6 Tom Lehman (USA) 68 74 74

+6 Paul Broadhurst 70 72 74

+6 Johan Edfors (Swe) 71 73 72

+7 David Drysdale 69 73 75

+7 Rory McIlroy 69 74 74

+7 Robert Allenby (Aus) 70 74 73

+8 Kenny Perry (USA) 71 72 75

+8 Zach Johnson (USA) 70 71 77

+8 Sean O'Hair (USA) 68 75 75

+8 Paul Casey 68 76 74

+8 Graeme Storm 72 72 74

+9 Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 70 72 77

+9 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 70 78

+9 Padraig Harrington 69 74 76

+9 Stuart Appleby (Aus) 71 72 76

+10 Paul Lawrie 71 73 76

+10 Darren Clarke 71 71 78

+11 Paul Goydos (USA) 72 72 77

+11 Mark O'Meara (USA) 67 77 77

+12 Daniel Gaunt (Aus) 76 67 79

+12 Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 74 69 79

TEE TIMES

(GB & Ire unless stated)

1320 Thomas Aiken (SA) & Steve Marino (USA)

1330 Angel Cabrera (Arg) & Boo Weekley (USA)

1340 Richard S Johnson (Swe) & Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)

1350 Bryce Molder (USA) & Stewart Cink (USA)

1400 Jim Furyk (USA) & Retief Goosen (SA)

1410 Lee Westwood &Ross Fisher

1420 Mathew Goggin (Aus) & Tom Watson (USA)