That’s it settled. We’re moving to Hawaii. “I’m 66 now but I don’t feel it, especially over here where it's 70 degrees and that’s at 5.30 in the morning,” said Tom Watson down the telephone line to a gathering of shivering, chittering, tousled golf writers at the other end in wind-ravaged St Andrews.
He may have been revelling in the soothing climes of the pacific paradise but there's still no place like the home of golf for Watson. The decorated Kansas veteran had an emotional swansong in the Open Championship over the Old Course last July but the show is not quite over. All being well, the five-time Claret Jug winner will be back in the cradle of the game in 2018 for another last hurrah after it was announced that the ancient links will host golf’s golden oldies in the Senior Open Championship for the very first time.
A year ago, Watson’s farewell procession became something of a race against time after the second round was delayed by the kind of ferocious downpours that the term ‘biblical’ was invented for. By the time he got to the 18th tee, it was nearly dark. You almost envisaged the ridiculous scenario whereby Tom got to the middle of the Swilcan Brig’, the klaxon sounded to suspend play and Watson had to mark his goodbye wave and come back in the morning to finish it off.
As it turned out, the great man completed the hole and brought the curtain down on a shimmering Open career as the clock ticked towards 10pm. You can’t turn back those hands of time, of course, but Watson is delighted to get the chance of an encore and make amends for something that still niggles away at this redoubtable competitor. “The one thing I hope I can rectify is that I left my competitive Open history with a shank and a three-putt so hopefully I can do better in my next appearance," chuckled Watson of a weary finale to that second round 80 last July. “I said to my son on the 18th tee that evening, ‘no tears, just joy. Let’s walk and enjoy the moment’. There is always a time for things to end in life. Flashing through my mind that night went the story of Bobby Jones playing in his friendly game long after he’d retired, when the whole town came out to see him. I’m not putting myself in his shoes but the thought flashed through my mind with those people there.”
Watson’s Caledonian connections are well documented. He won four of his five Claret Jugs in Scotland while his hat-trick of Senior Open wins have all been achieved in this neck of the woods, at Turnberry in 2003, Royal Aberdeen in 2005 and Muirfield in 2008.
Now in his 45th year as a touring professional, there is still plenty of golfing life left in this wily, old dog yet. Just a couple of weeks ago, Watson shot a sparkling 65 on Champions Tour duty in Hawaii. “You don’t know how big a thrill it is for a 66-year-old to shoot 65,” he said. “Longevity comes from genes. Not blue jeans but mom and dad’s genes. I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t had any injuries, I keep myself in shape and I work out with a trainer who keeps me going. Most importantly I still enjoy the competition. It still thrills me to be under pressure and to be able to hit the shots under that pressure.”
It may have hosted 29 Open Championships down the seasons, but the over-50s equivalent will be something new for the Old Course. “I had mentioned to the organisers that there was a missing hole in Senior Open history in that it hadn’t been played at the Old Course before,” noted Watson, of an informal blether with the top brass. They clearly listened.
When Watson tees-off in the 2018 championship it will mark 40 years since he first made the pilgrimage to St Andrews in 1978. “That feeling of history here is always there,” he said.
The Auld Grey Toun will welcome this auld yin back with open arms.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here