"We tournament golfers are much overrated. We get paid to much." -- Tom Watson
Thomas Sturges Watson (born September 4, 1949) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and now mostly on the Champions Tour.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Watson was one of the leading players in the world, winning eight major championships and heading the PGA Tour money list five times. He was the number one player in the world according to McCormack's World Golf Rankings from 1978 through 1982; in both 1983 and 1984 he was ranked second behind Seve Ballesteros. He also spent 32 weeks in the top 10 of the successor Sony Rankings in their debut in 1986.
Watson is now also notable for defying age; at nearly 60 years and 26 years after his last major victory, he led much of the 2009 Open Championship but eventually lost in a four-hole playoff. With a chance to win the tournament with par on the 72nd hole, he missed an eight foot putt; then lost the playoff to Stewart Cink.
Several of Watson's major victories came at the expense of Jack Nicklaus, the man he replaced as number one, most notably the 1977 Open Championship and the 1982 U.S. Open. Though his rivalry with Nicklaus was intense, their friendly competitiveness served to increase golf's popularity during the time.
Watson's eight major championships included five Open Championship, two Masters titles, and one U.S. Open title. The only major that eluded him is the PGA Championship, which would have put him in an elite group of golfing "grand slam" winners that includes Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, and Tiger Woods. In all, Watson ranks 6th on the list of total major championship victories, behind only Hogan, Nicklaus, Player, Woods, and Walter Hagen.
Watson is also regarded as one of the greatest links players of all time, a claim backed up by his five Open Championship victories; and his 2nd place finish in the 2009 Open Championship, as well as his three Senior British Open Championship titles in his mid-50s (2003, 2005, and 2007).
"A lot of guys who have never choked have never been in the position to do so.""Confidence in golf means being able to concentrate on the problem at hand with no outside interference.""Golf will grow so long as it's fun.""I'd rather fight 100 structure fires than a wildfire. With a structure fire you know where your flames are, but in the woods it can move anywhere; it can come right up behind you.""If a course needs to be in great condition to be played effectively, then the design strategy is flawed.""Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is sign on as its accomplice.""No other game combines the wonder of nature with the discipline of sport in such carefully planned ways. A great golf course both frees and challenges a golfer's mind.""Sometimes thinking too much can destroy your momentum.""The person I fear most in the last two rounds is myself."
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Watson was introduced to the game by his father Ray. His early coach was Stan Thirsk at the Kansas City Country Club. Watson first gained local renown while on his high school team at The Pembroke-Country Day School in Kansas City. Watson won four straight Missouri State Amateur championships, from 1968—1971. Missouri Golf Association He attended Stanford University, playing on the golf team and graduating with a degree in psychology in 1971.
Watson joined the PGA Tour in 1971 after a very good amateur career, and gradually improved. He contended in a major championship for the first time in the 1974 U.S. Open at the Winged Foot Golf Club, but he faded badly in the final round after leading the first three. Following this disappointment, Watson was approached by legendary player Byron Nelson, who offered assistance. With Nelson's guidance on swing mechanics and course management, Watson's game advanced quickly and he shortly won his first title at the 1974 Western Open.
Watson's 1977 Open Championship victory, at Turnberry in Scotland, was especially memorable, and is considered by many to be the finest tournament played in the second half of the 20th century. After two rounds, he and Jack Nicklaus were one shot out of the lead and paired for the third round. Both shot 65, ending the third round three shots clear of the field. Watson and Nicklaus were again paired for the final round. On the last day, the two were tied after 16 holes. Nicklaus missed a makeable birdie putt on 17, losing his share of the lead to Watson, who birdied 17. On the 18th, Nicklaus drove into the rough, while Watson drove the fairway. Watson's approach landed two feet from the flag, while Nicklaus, after a drive into deep rough and near a gorse plant, managed to get his approach 40 feet away. Nicklaus sank his birdie putt to finish with a 66, but Watson followed suit with his own birdie, finishing with a second straight 65 and his second Open, with a record score of 268 (12 under par). The two players finished well ahead of the other challengers (Hubert Green in third place was ten strokes behind Nicklaus, at 279), and shot the same score every round except for the final day, which was then played on Saturday.
Watson's U.S. Open win, in 1982 at Pebble Beach, was equally memorable. Playing two groups ahead of Watson in the final round, Nicklaus charged into a share of the lead with five consecutive birdies. When Watson reached the par-3 17th hole the two were still tied, but with Nicklaus safely in the clubhouse at 4 under par 284. Watson hit his tee shot on 17 into the rough just off the green, leaving an extremely difficult chip shot downhill on a very fast green that sloped toward the Pacific Ocean. While being interviewed on national television and fully aware of Watson's terrible predicament, Nicklaus appeared confident he was on his way to an unprecedented fifth U.S. Open championship. Watson's chip shot, amazingly, hit the flag stick and fell into the cup, giving him a miraculous birdie and setting the stage for yet another win over Nicklaus. Watson went on to birdie the 18th as well, for a final margin of two shots. His 17th hole chip-in was named the greatest shot in golf history by ESPN. The U.S. Open was the major he most wanted to win, and thus victory in the 1982 U.S. Open allowed Watson to realize his dream, though it would be the only U.S. Open title of his career.
Watson's stellar play on the PGA Tour faded in the late 1980s when he began to have problems putting even though his tee-to-green game seemed to improve. In 1994 when The Open Championship returned to Turnberry, the site of his 1977 victory, Watson commented, "Sometimes you lose your desire through the years. Any golfer goes through that. When you play golf for a living, like anything in your life, you are never going to be constant, at the top". He finished tied for 11th at the Open Championship that year, but he had a revival in the late 1990s and the last of his 39 wins on the PGA Tour came at the 1998 MasterCard Colonial when he was 48 years old. He also demonstrated remarkable consistency by making at least one PGA Tour cut per year from 1971—2007, a streak of 37 years.
In the 2003 U.S. Open, at age 53, he took the opening-round lead by shooting a 65 with his long-time caddy Bruce Edwards carrying his clubs and giving advice. Edwards had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease earlier in the year, and Watson contributed significant time and money that year with Bruce to raise money for motor neuron disease. Edwards died on April 8, 2004.
Later in 2003, Watson revisited his 1977 Open Championship win at Turnberry with another win there in the 2003 Senior British Open. He also won the Senior British Open tournament in 2005 and 2007.
Watson missed the cut for the 2007 Masters by one stroke, seemingly not knowing he would do so when he missed a short putt on the 18th green.
In the first round of the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, Watson shot a first-round 5-under 65, one stroke behind the leader Miguel Ángel Jiménez. In the second round, he tied for the lead after making a huge putt on the 18th green. His score for the round was 70, 38 out and 32 back. This made Watson - at 59 years of age - the oldest man to have the lead after any round of a major. In addition, with a relatively low-scoring third round, one-over par 71, he kept the lead outright by one shot, so also became the oldest player to lead a major going into the last round. He acknowledged after that 3rd round he was thinking of Bruce Edwards as he walked the 18th fairway.
Watson finished regulation 72-hole play in the Open tied for the lead with Stewart Cink, with a cumulative score of -2. He needed a par on the 72nd hole to capture a sixth career Open Championship title, but his second shot on the 72nd hole went over the green. Then, from several yards behind the 18th green, Watson first putted up the slope and past the hole, then missed a second 8-foot putt by about 6 inches to the right of the cup. His bogey led to a four-hole playoff with Cink, running through the 5th, 6th, 17th, and 18th holes. With several errant shots not typical of the previous 72 holes, he lost the playoff by six strokes.
The following April, Watson competed in the 2010 Masters Tournament. Watson shot an opening-round 67, one shot off the first-round lead held by fellow Champions Tour player Fred Couples. Watson subsequently posted rounds of 74, 73, and 73. His 72-hole, one-under par total of 287 gave Watson a share of eighteenth place. Watson thus became only the second player in history, after Sam Snead, to post a top twenty finish in at least one major championship in five different decades.
Due to his performance in 2009 and early 2010, along with his 1982 U.S. Open victory at Pebble Beach, the USGA awarded Watson a special exemption to the 2010 U.S. Open. He finished the tournament tied for 29th. Watson is the only golfer to participate in all major professional championships contested at Pebble Beach: 1972, 1982, 1992, 2000, and 2010 U.S. Opens, and the 1977 PGA Championship.
Watson joined the Champions Tour in 1999, the same year he earned an honorary membership of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland. He has 13 wins on the Champions Tour, including five senior majors, while playing a limited schedule of events. Watson shares with Gary Player three victories each in the Senior British Open.
Watson was one of two players to play with Jack Nicklaus in the final two rounds of golf in Nicklaus' career, which ended at the 2005 Open Championship on the Old Course at St Andrews. Englishman Luke Donald was the third member of the group.
After residing for many years in Mission Hills, Kansas, Watson now lives in Stilwell, Kansas with his wife, two children, and three stepchildren. He designed the National Golf Club of Kansas City golf course.
Watson has been one of the most complete players ever to play golf, as evidenced by his competitiveness in the 2009 Open Championship at the age of 59. Standing 5 ft 9 in and weighing 160 pounds during his PGA Tour years, he achieved abundant length with accuracy, played aggressively, developed a superlative short game, and in his prime was a very skilled and confident putter. Watson is renowned as an exceptional bad-weather golfer, having displayed this gritty talent best in the difficult and sundry conditions of The Open Championship.
Named PGA Player of the Year 6 times, 1977—1980, 1982 and 1984, and trails only Tiger Woods, who has been named Player of the Year 9 times.
Won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average three straight years: 1977, 1978, and 1979.
Played on four Ryder Cup teams: 1977, 1981, 1983, and 1989 and captained the victorious 1993 team.
Voted the Bob Jones Award in 1987, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1988.
Inducted into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame
Won 1992 GCSAA Old Tom Morris Award
Resigned from the Kansas City Country Club in 1991 in protest to its exclusion of people of Jewish ethnicity. He subsequently rejoined after the club's acceptance of Jewish and minority members.
Became involved with golf course design in the early 1990s.
Author or co-authored several books, including Tom Watson's Strategic Golf.
Has written a golf instruction column in Golf Digest magazine since the mid-1970s.
Was ranked as the 10th greatest golfer of all time in the 2000 Golf Digest magazine list.
Is after Sam Snead, only the second Golf Professional Emeritus at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Is the oldest player to hold the lead after 54 holes at a major championship (2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, Scotland)
Is the oldest player to lead after any completed round at a major championship (2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, Scotland)
