An old Watson column
Posted: July 18th, 2009 | Filed under: Other Sports | 13 Comments »
Brilliant reader Ron asked me to reprint this column I wrote in The Star on June 30, 2006. I had forgotten all about it, to be honest with you. But … yeah, it fits.
Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson were fishing in Canada a few days ago. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it? They started talking about the British Open, which will be played in three weeks. Watson and Nicklaus had won a combined eight British Open championships, so they knew a bit about the subject.
Watson at 56 will play in the British Open this year. Nicklaus at 66 will not.
“Why are you going?” Nicklaus asked.
“Why? I’m going to play in the British Open.”
Nicklaus heard the word “play” and shook his head. He looked into Watson’s eyes. And he said with plain disgust in his voice, “OK, Arnold.”
Now, if you know a bit about golf and the Jack Nicklaus-Arnold Palmer relationship, you would know that’s the punch line – “OK, Arnold.” If you get the joke, you may have realized, “Oh man, Nicklaus just ripped Watson.”
See here’s the thing: Arnold Palmer has been going to tournaments for almost 30 years while knowing he had no chance to win. None. The last few years, Palmer knew he wouldn’t even make the cut. He went anyway – to be seen, to give the fans a thrill, to be a part of the game he built into a big-money game. Arnold, one of the greatest sports stars of the 20th century, became what’s called a “ceremonial golfer.”
Nicklaus had no use for that ceremony stuff. Frankly, the ceremonial-golfer idea made him a bit sick inside. Nicklaus wasn’t about ceremony – the greatest golfer ever was about winning. He used to say to anyone who would listen that you wouldn’t catch him as an old man shooting 80 and waving to the crowd.
See, on the fishing trip, he was challenging Watson. “OK, Arnold,” he said.
And Watson said, “OK, OK, I’m going to WIN the British Open.”
This little exchange gets to the heart of how confusing it can be to be a great old golfer. George Brett at 53 has no illusions that he can go out there and smack three hits against Johan Santana. Well, check that, Brett may have all kinds of private illusions about hitting Santana – he may dream about it, for all we know. But that’s his business. Brett has no public illusions. He doesn’t have to live it.
Watson does live it. He will be very much in public again this week at the Greater Kansas City Golf Classic, as he tries to finally win a professional golf tournament in his hometown after some heartbreakers. He will be at the U.S. Senior Open next week in Hutchinson to try to win a championship in his home state. In those, he will be going against men more or less his own age. The leading Champions Tour golfer, Jay Haas, says when Watson is right and facing the 50-somethings, he’s still “the best guy out there.”
After that, though, Watson is off to Hoylake and the British Open, where he will face Tiger and Phil and Vijay and Ernie and all those other first names that dominate the PGA Tour now. Watson will try to make himself believe he can win even if the kids crack their drives 40 yards past his and hit towering 7-iron shots he can barely even follow with his eyes.
This is a tough sell because Watson is no dreamer. His game, his sporting life, has been built on being realistic. He tore up his golf swing when he realized it wasn’t good enough to make him the best. He toughened up to face the intense pressure of the final rounds. In essence, Watson broke himself down and very meticulously decided, “For me to be the best player in the world, I have to do this, this and this.” He did those things. And he won eight major championships.
Dreaming had nothing to do with it. Watson never had time for dreams.
“How often do you think at your age about beating the best young players?” I ask him.
“Twice a year,” he says quickly – he means once at the Masters and again at the British Open. But that’s just a knee-jerk answer. After he thinks about it, he says something else.
“Actually, I think about it more than twice a year,” he says. And: “I think I hit it a little straighter than (young players) do.” And then on the British Open: “I think I know how to play that kind of golf.”
Watson admits he can’t win at Augusta anymore because the course is simply too long now. But he says that he could win at the British Open if the rough is high enough and it doesn’t rain too much. Watson, once the best rain player in the world, said he can no longer compete in the mud.
“I don’t hit the ball as high as I once did,” he said.
But again he says, under the right conditions, on the right weekend, with the right wind and the right amount of luck and a good putting feeling
“Nicklaus got my mind straight,” Watson says. “I think I have a chance at the British Open.” Of course, he has a thousand other things on his mind. Just on Thursday, he announced a fun tournament for next year called the Watson Cup, which will be given to the best player in Kansas City. He wants to bring the city’s golf community together again. And, of course, he is involved with golf design and charities; he watches the Royals and plays around with the horses on his farm.
But, even at this age, Watson is a golfer. It’s a funny thing about this game. There are plenty of ex-baseball players and ex-football players – they’re everywhere. But there are no ex-golfers. There’s something about this game. It doesn’t let you go.
“I could win the British Open again,” Watson says. “It’s not that far fetched.”
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[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBrilliant reader Ron asked me to reprint this column I wrote in The Star on June 30, 2006. I had forgotten all about it, to be honest with you. But … yeah, it fits. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson were fishing in Canada a few days ago. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it? They started talking about the British Open, which will be played in three weeks. Watson and Nicklaus had won a combined eight British Open championships, so they knew a bit about the subject. Watson at 56 wil [...]
[...] Random Feed wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBrilliant reader Ron asked me to reprint this column I wrote in The Star on June 30, 2006. I had forgotten all about it, to be honest with you. But … yeah, it fits. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson were fishing in Canada a few days ago. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it? They started talking about the British Open, which will be played in three weeks. Watson and Nicklaus had won a combined eight British Open championships, so they knew a bit about the subject. Watson at 56 wil [...]
[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBrilliant reader Ron asked me to reprint this column I wrote in The Star on June 30, 2006. I had forgotten all about it, to be honest with you. But … yeah, it fits. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson were fishing in Canada a few days ago. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it? They started talking about the British Open, which will be played in three weeks. Watson and Nicklaus had won a combined eight British Open championships, so they knew a bit about the subject. Watson at 56 wil [...]
Watson’s attitude and current success at Turnberry illustrates perfectly where golf differs from all other sports . . . certain courses suit certain players and weather plays a huge part.
Tennis may have its different surfaces, but the dimensions of the court are always constant; baseball may have hitters’ parks and pitchers’ parks, but the differences are minimal; home ground advantage in all sports is emotional rather than physical. And so on and so on.
But take an individual sport, give a guy what he wants – in Watson’s case, a links course with long rough and the wind blowing – and a no-hoper becomes a contender.
While I’m originally from Ohio, graduated from Ohio State and in my late 50s, I never was a huge fan of Jack Nicklaus. There was always something about the guy that kept me from embracing his legacy. Now, I finally get it about Nicklaus – after he’s long since retired. His quick quip to Watson about being Arnie (the ceremonial golfer) helped me to crystallize my changing views of Nicklaus.
So, when Tiger angrily beats his club into the turf after a poorly executed shot or uses a club to beat on the side of his bag I find myself hoping that Tiger never catches Jack in the 18 major tourney count. Perhaps tomorrow in Scotland Mr. Watson will in fact be another type of ceremonial golfer that Nicklaus and all of the golfing world will approve.
Go Tom – play your plan as you visualized it yesterday. Easier said than done but there was a certain calmmess about Watson today that was so enjoyable to witness. Watson seems like the great kind of fellow who would have been agreeable even if the marketing person had asked him to rate six different types of Brussel sprouts.
Oh, I should have included above the thought that “TW” was the strong, overwhelming choice to win this tournament. Sort of still is…
This may be the most heartbreaking sporting event I’ve ever witnessed. Joe, I borrowed a line from your SI piece on Cleveland when Tommy missed that putt on 18: “This is soooo Kansas City.”
But then, watching him in tears on that final playoff hole, I mean.. I just… Why? How could the world possibly be this cruel to the nice man that still tipped me $5 when I was 14 for bagging his groceries after I nervously dropped his bottle of Perrier and it shattered and spilled everywhere?
I’ve seen golf make my Mom cry twice.
The first was the massive gallery following of Tiger down 18 in ‘97.
The second was today.
Poor Stewart Cink. Good-to-very good golfer, never heard a bad word about his personality, gets his biggest win due to an uber-clutch putt on 18, erases his choke at the 2001 US Open…..and exactly zero people outside of his close friends and family wanted him to win.
I have to say, I got choked up at Mike Tirico’s line “Thank you, Tom Watson. We’ll never forget this.” Pretty much sums it up, I think.
Tom Watson was at his peak when I was in Jr High and high school. He’s always been my favorite golfer. I can’t decide if I should be sad, or thankful today. He gave us 4 great days of golf and entertainment. I think I should be thankful and happy, but I still have this bitter sweet feeling I can’t shake.
Not that this has anything to do with anything. But born in the same month: Tom Watson and Bruce Springsteen.
“There are plenty of ex-baseball players and ex-football players – they’re everywhere. But there are no ex-golfers.”
Golf’s a great game, a really great game, no disrespect at all meant by the following deep thought:
There’s just something about golf that allows you to keep playing it later in life that football just doesn’t have… I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.