Stat profiles for 1500 golfers
Just like the previous two majors, only more so, the British Open had no respect for story lines
Golf can be a cruel game. Tom Watson had a one-stroke lead going to the final hole of the British Open and hit two perfectly-struck shots to the par four. The second, unfortunately, flew just a little bit too far. Then it rolled just a little bit too far after coming tantalizingly close to stopping on the back of the green, from which point the 59-year-old Watson could have two-putted for a victory that would have been one of the greatest moments--maybe the greatest moment--in the history of the game.
Then the ball trickled down the slope, and Watson's hopes trickled away with it. His 59-year-old nerves weren't quite up to the task of a difficult up and down, especially not on the eight-foot putt for the title.
Then his 59-year-old body wasn't up to the task of heading back out for a four-hole playoff. With a bunch of tired swings leading to hacks out of the long rough, Watson couldn't stay with Stewart Cink, who played beautifully in touring the four playoff holes in 2-under.
So close, and yet so far. And so ironic that after most observers were saying all week that at least Watson wouldn't lose it on a mental mistake, he did just that.
After the round, Watson said that he had considered hitting a 9-iron on his approach to the 72nd green, but decided to hit the 8-iron. And proceeded, unfortunately, to hit it just the way he wanted.
And so major championship golf continued in its complete and utter disdain for story lines in 2009. At the Masters, 48-year-old Kenny Perry was cruising toward a victory that would have made him the oldest player to win a major. More importantly, it would have represented the first major title for one of the game's nicest guys and one of the game's hottest players over the previous 12 months. Instead, he bogeyed the last two holes and lost to Angel Cabrera in a playoff.
At the U.S. Open, you had Phil Mickelson playing in his last event before taking a break from the Tour to be with his wife Amy during her surgery and treatment for breast cancer. He was playing in front of New York crowds who adore him and trying to make up for past near misses at the U.S. Open. Or, you had David Duval, who had tumbled all the way from No. 1 in the world out of the top 800, but was staging a resurrection right before our eyes.
With about a half-hour of play remaining, that duo was tied for the lead with Lucas Glover. Then Mickelson and Duval both bogeyed the 17th, and Glover won.
Of course, Glover made a key birdie on the 16th hole and held it together on the last two. Just like Cink won it thanks to a birdie on the 72nd hole and some great play in the playoff. Both are good players and, by all accounts, great guys. It just isn't what the script writers had in mind.
Oh, sure, at some point in the future the game will produce a Hollywood ending at a major.
But it will be too late for Tom Watson. This was his last chance. And this would have been a classic Hollywood ending to top all others, with the hero riding off off into the sunset at the end.
What did we get instead? Realistic cinema, where 59-year-old golfers don't win majors.
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