Daily Zoot - 7/20/09 - The Zoot that Got Away

The Daily Zoot is all the news you needed to know yesterday, soon

-When I wrote last week about how good the British Open was going to be this past weekend, it turns out I severely under-estimated it. I anticipated another; Tiger leads after 54 holes, three or four guys have a good front nine on Sunday, but then fade only to see Tiger win as we had seen so many times. That movie wasn't playing in Scotland this weekend. As a matter of fact, Tiger didn't even play well enough to make the weekend. But left the door open for a story nobody could see coming, or had ever seen before.

59-year-old Tom Watson was supposed to be little more than a statue at Turnberry. He was supposed to be a memory, someone that the fans would watch that could bring them back. In fact his arguably greatest moment came at Turnberry back in 1977, when he won the Open in a shootout with Jack Nicklaus. That was 32 years ago, and a lot of the players in this years Open field might not have even been alive to see it. 

That didn't stop Tom from making a run of his own at the Jug. Watson was at least within ear-shot of the lead after each of the first three rounds. Nobody had ever seen a player his age play so well, and be in contention at a major championship. Merely being on the leader board was one of the biggest storied golf had seen in a while. Then Sunday rolled around and no one had any idea what to expect from him. He could hold his slim lead, or he could fade and let a field of mediocre players pass him by.

Watson held strong all day through the tough cross-breezes. Then on the 72nd hole, Watson needed only par to win. He left himself a makable par putt, but didn't put a good enough swing on the ball to make it. He knew he missed it as soon as he hit it, and his face showed that he had let one get away.

He played poorly in the 4-hole playoff, and lost to Stewart Cink, which is too bad for everybody. There was not a single person who didn't want to see Watson win, including Cink from what it sounded like in his post round presser. And for Stewart, he won his first career major in a tournament that nobody will remember for who won.