Fresh Off Victory, Watson Concerned

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Kettering, Ohio – A blow to the midsection would have felt better.

Tom Watson, 55, didn't sound like a guy who had won a major a couple days ago. In fact, he sounded glum. But there was a reason for that. Only moments ago he had studied his 460d driver – "the best driver I've ever had in my life" – and saw he had a crack in it after hitting a few balls. The news couldn't have come at a more inopportune time as he embarks on a quest for his first Senior Open victory this week. Or should it be called the elusive national championship?

A five-time British Open champion (1975, '77, '80, '82 and '83) and two-time Senior British Open winner, but with just one victory in the U.S. Open in 1982, Watson's career on the Champions Tour has mirrored that of his PGA Tour record in terms of success in majors overseas versus on the homeland. Explaining why has been boiled down to this nugget.

"You know, [the media] asked me, why do you play such good links golf? And I said, ‘Well, I was a good wind putter," said Watson.

High praise has always been bestowed upon him for his cunning ability to win on links-style courses. If majors could be won based on respect, Watson would be a slam-dunk choice among the field this week.

"I'd certainly make him a favorite," said 1986 U.S. Open champion Raymond Floyd. "There's a guy, look at his major titles on both tours. I think he's a guy coming in here licking his chops."

Defending champion Peter Jacobsen likewise marveled over Watson's European success: "Is there a better American golfer who can tackle the European golf courses better than Tom Watson? I don't think there is. I don't think Tiger [Woods], I don't think [Jack] Nicklaus. I think Tom would be the guy to throw out there on a match against a European on a links course."

That's all well and good, but it doesn't mean a hill of beans when the national title is the one he craves most, the one he desperately would like to win.

He's come close, twice finishing runner-up. In 2002 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Baltimore, Md., he erased Don Pooley's three-shot deficit in the final round to force a five-hole playoff. He came agonizingly close, losing on the final playoff hole when, in shades of his 17^th-hole chip to win the '82 Open, he needed to hole out a shot of some 12 feet from the back collar of the green. There was no magic this time.

The next year at Inverness Watson tried to catch a leaky Bruce Lietzke, the eventual champion, on the final day but his putter wouldn't cooperate. He missed six putts of 10 feet or less for birdie; he absorbed 33 putts in all for the day.

Therein is a microcosm of why he's won just three times on the Champions Tour in the last two and a half years. Putting woes. His remarkable buoyant attitude this week had already been working overtime because of this until the driver catastrophe. Spotty putting has long been an albatross, even on the PGA Tour, but when it's off, so too is his confidence.

Even when he has what to amounts to a tap-in. Last week, amid blustery conditions, he said his guess was as good as anyone else's in predicting where his ball was going to go.

"Last week," said Watson, "blowing 30 miles an hour on those greens, and you have to play the wind on a two-footer, and you don't trust your stroke and it's a little testy, let's put it that way."

The problem isn't so much the long bombs, it has more to do with those from 10 feet and in. His putting hasn't devolved to, say, the same troubling level as Seve Ballesteros has experienced in recent years, but he's missed enough to at least be able to identify the issue. And that is?

"When I have a short putt the stroke doesn't go straight back and straight through; it goes right off line and then I have to manipulate the putter to get the ball to go on-line. It's always a guess," he said.

All he said he could do was to keep working at it, to erase the stroke that goes longer to the inside and keep his concentration. For now, though, his first thought was with his driver. He's not sure what he'll do yet, but he knows it's imperative to stay straight and long on a USGA setup. He even went so far as to suggest that it his accuracy off the tee covers up for unsightly stabs on the green.

Before the championship has begun, however, he's resigned to the thought that it could make for a long week if a new security blanket can't be found.

"But momentum," said Watson, "if that didn't happen, I'd have some momentum. I'm simply worried about that."

Floyd Remembers

It's been 36 years since Floyd won his first major, the PGA Championship, at NCR Country Club at 26 years of age. It was also the last time he's been here.

"Somebody in the gallery said, ‘When was the last time you played here?'" said Floyd about his practice round Tuesday. "And I said, ‘Well, the Sunday of the PGA in '69.'"

Raymond Floyd explains what he can remember about 1969 on Tuesday at NCR Country Club. (John Mummert/USGA)

Floyd remembered some thing, like the presentation ceremony on the 18^th green but was fuzzy on everything else except for a couple of items.

It was the last time that a player on the PGA Tour received a lifetime exemption for winning the PGA Championship. In 1970, two years after the tour players split from the PGA of America to form the PGA Tour, the lifetime exemption policy was eliminated.

The other standout incident had little to do with winning. It had more to do with Jack Nicklaus while Floyd watched a hole back on the 10^th green. Nicklaus had been in a group ahead with Gary Player.

"Gary was with Jack, and I remember a guy running onto the green from under the rope. And I'll never forget it, Jack had his putter in his hand and Jack took his putter back like, ‘I'm going to nail you if you keep coming.' And the guy tried to stop, and you know how slopey that green is. When he tried to stop, his feet went out from under him and there were two security guards on him before he stopped sliding."

Arnold Palmer also played, briefly, in that championship before withdrawing due to back pain in the first round. He had no recollections of the course because of the short stay.

"As I say, I wasn't here long enough to really get acquainted with the golf course," said Palmer Tuesday.

Palmer Still Here

Palmer obviously has legendary status wherever he goes. It has been no different at NCR. He realizes he's more of an ambassador these days, even if he will make his 25^th Senior Open start this week, than a competitive player. If that's the case, it suits him fine.

"Of course, I probably have no more business being here this week than the man in the moon up there," said the 75-year-old Palmer. "Lord knows when I started I didn't think I'd live this long."

Player Withdrawals

Last Thursday Bob Murphy and Larry Webb withdrew, one citing a conflict with television work and the other (Webb) pulling out because of an undisclosed leg injury.

Murphy will be replaced by Alan Tapie, 56, of San Clemente, Calif. Tapie shot a 71 in sectional qualifying at Vista Valley Country Club. This will be his second Senior Open. Tom Schultz of Trinidad, Colo., takes Webb's spot after carding a 71 at Santa Ana Golf Club. Schultz, an amateur, will be playing in his first Open.

On Tuesday, 1996 Senior Open champion Dave Stockton also pulled out because of family commitments.

Alternate Chuck Milne of Vancouver, Wash., who shot 71 in sectional qualifying on July 13 at the Oregon Golf Association Course in Woodburn, Ore., will take his place.

The 57-year-old Milne will be playing in his fourth Senior Open. His best finish is T53 in 1999.