J
u
l
y
Remember this? British Open
1
5
–
1
Make no mistake about it. Tom Watson is one tough
8
guy. You don’t face down Jack Nicklaus in major
championships if you aren’t made of the right stuff.
But at the end of last year’s British Open at Turnberry,
as he watched the Claret Jug that has his name
O
pinions tend to vary among
B
players as to which of the four
r
i
t
modern major championships is
i
s
h
engraved in five places presented to Stewart Cink after the most prestigious or important.
O
their four-hole playoff, Watson shed a tear—perhaps
Americans tend to vote for the U.S.
p
with millions of people around the world who hoped
e
desperately for a fairytale ending. An ending that
Open, which is certainly understandable
n
would have seen the 59-year-old Watson tie Harry
since it is our national championship (in
Vardon for the most victories in the British Open and,
in the process, become the oldest winner of a major
fact, many of us still refer to it as the
championship.
National Open).
In the end Watson, who shot rounds of 66-72-71-69
The Masters gets the nod among
over the course where he had dueled Nicklaus and won
in 1977, saw an eight-foot par putt on the 72nd hole
sentimentalists, who go into a swoon at
as all that stood between him and victory. Ironically, the very thought of Magnolia Lane.
the man who had been so brilliant on and around the
greens throughout his TOUR career, missed and the
The PGA Championship has its boosters
playoff was on. because it was the first championship
Alas, it wasn’t even close. In the cumulative playoff,
owned and operated by their parent
Cink went 4-3-4-3. Watson stumbled badly, 5-3-7-5.
organization, the PGA of America.
Cink, who made a 12-footer for birdie on the last hole Tom Watson came close to
And then there is the British Open, or
of regulation play, was gracious in victory, his first in a
equalling Harry Vardon’s
record six victories at the
major championship.
British Open but lost to simply the Open Championship as it is
Stewart Cink in a playoff.
“I don’t even know what to say,” said Cink. “My hat’s
known in Mother England and among
off to him. He turned back the clock. Just did a great
her Scottish, Irish and Welsh neighbors.
job. I speak for all the rest of the people here, too.”
For most golfers, it is regarded as the
“It’s been a surreal experience for me,” Cink added.
“Not only playing one of my favorite courses and a
unofficial world championship.
wonderful tournament but playing against Tom Watson. Another reason the British Open is held
This stuff doesn’t happen. I grew up watching him
on TV, hoping to follow in his footsteps, not playing
in such esteem is that it is the game’s
against him.”
oldest championship, dating back to
And, of course, Watson was equally gracious in defeat.
1860.
“It was almost,” Watson said. “The dream almost
The early years of the championship
came true.”
were essentially rather intimate affairs
between neighboring Scots, who
T
gathered at Prestwick for the first 12 H
championships. For all its quirky charms,
E
Y
A
G
E
S
I
M Prestwick fell off the rota in 1925 but if
E
A
you find yourself in the neighborhood, R
Stewart Cink took
check it out.
A
C
A
N
N
O
N
/
G
E
T
T
Y
victory over five-time
H
British Open winner
The early years of the championship
E
Tom Watson. were dominated by Willie Park, Old and
A
D
F
R
A
N
K
L
I
N
,
D
A
V
I
D
Young Tom Morris, Jamie Anderson
A
R
T
2
S
T
U
0
©
and Robert Ferguson. In the late 1800s 1
0
and early 1900s, Britain’s finest—Harry
www.pgatour.com
PGA TOUR OFFICIAL ANNUAL 2010 147
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