the open championship 2009
British Open 2009 at Turnberry, wily Watson leads the pack
32 years after his British Open win at Turnberry over Jack Nicklaus in the famous "Duel in the Sun", Tom Watson –who will turn age 60 in September––topped the leaderboard on Thursday, the opening day of the 138th open Championship at Turnberry.
A smiling, sporty figure in his argyle sweater, showing off his legendary mastery of Scottish links to his playing partners, Sergio Garcia (age 29) and amateur Matteo Manassero (age 16), Watson kept the ball low and bounced it accurately onto the greens, playing bogey-free golf. "Old age and treachery beats youth and skill" was true also for 52-year-old Mark O'Meara, who won at Royal Birkdale in 1998, and shot a 67 yesterday. He is tied for 6th with 49-year-old Mark Calcavechia, a British Open champ 20 years ago.
What's happening here? why are the old guys leaving the youngsters in the dust, at least at the start? As Watson said in an interview for the New York Times, “Links golf allows me to play with the kids.
Quoted in the Telegraph, Watson said, "With the crosswinds and the velocity of the winds, that’s when the young players have a hard time, when they have not only to measure the movement of the ball with the crosswind, but also the movement of the ball on the ground. That’s the thing about the Open Championship. In American golf, yes, you play the wind, but usually the ball stops a lot quicker than it does in links golf, and that’s the crucial difference. And that’s the element that today’s young players may struggle with." Watson’s epic victory over Nicklaus at Turnberry came two years after his first Open victory at Carnoustie, and he went on to take the Open titles at Muirfield, Troon and Birkdale. He joins the PGA Tour only twice a year now, for the Masters and British Open.
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