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Watson turns back clock; Tiger misses opportunity
"I think there was some spirituality out there," said Watson after an age-defying five-under-par round of 65 left him one shot off the first-round lead on a course he's won at twice.
"Just the serenity of it was pretty neat."
The beauty of golf is that it allows those in their advancing years to remain competitive and, if even in a small way, hold onto the memory of the athletes they once were.
And that's never more true than when golf's played on these hard and fast British links, where youth and power and athleticism just aren't as valuable as guile and experience and wisdom.
"The older guys have an advantage," Watson said of his success and that of past champions Mark O'Meara and Mark Calcavecchia, who also turned back the clock with matching 67s.
"We've played under these conditions and we kind of get a feel for it and that feel is worth its weight in gold when you're playing.
"Experience wins."
138th Open Championship
Bjorn Borg may never be able to take six games from Roger Federer, much less beat him, just as Wayne Gretzky couldn't lay a glove on Sidney Crosby but, on a gorgeously placid opening day of the 138th Open Championship, there was Old Tom Watson besting Tiger Woods by six strokes.
"If Watson plays the way he played today, he can beat Tiger Woods and everyone else," said Sergio Garcia, who marveled while playing alongside Watson.
Woods, it must be said, helped the storyline along with his indifferent play. As he did at Bethpage Black last month, he finds himself well behind the eight ball after the first round.
"I certainly made a few mistakes out there today," he admitted after a one-over-par 71 which could've been much worse if not for his celestial powers of recovery.
"I hit a couple of shots to the right today, and three-ripped a hole from about 15 feet and I didn't take advantage of (the par 5) 17, so there you have it."
Not quite all of it.
It has to be said that Woods hasn't been the same player in majors this year as he was during his three Tour wins.
While he's been relaxed and calm and confident at Tour events, he was perpetually grumpy at Augusta — perhaps understandably given his mediocre ball-striking — and wore a frown at the U.S. Open, too.
Maybe it was the miserable weather and the fact that he'd gotten the short end of the stick by being on the wrong side of the draw, but what was his excuse Thursday?
He was hitting the ball beautifully in his practice rounds at Turnberry, but on the range before his morning tee time began losing shots to the right.
This is an old pestilence — born from fast-twitch hips outracing the arms in the downswing — which has plagued his golf swing for years.
But where was it at the Memorial or at the AT&T National?
Could it be that the majors — now that he's within four of equalling the Nicklaus record — have become so important to Woods that he presses too much?
It certainly seemed that way Thursday, as he wasted a great opportunity on the most benign of days; there was not a breath of wind.
The old girl was "defenseless," said Watson.
Woods retreated immediately to the range after his round to try and find a solution in time for Friday's second round, before it's too late.
He was not joined by swing coach Hank Haney because Haney's not in Scotland. Woods has decided that he needs his head clear of swing technicalities at majors and so, for the first time, Haney hasn't traveled with him to a major.
Haney did go to Bethpage but left after the practice rounds.
But maybe Woods is right: he doesn't need a swing doctor as much as he needs to get out of his own way and just be Tiger Woods.
And he could take a page out of Watson's book.
"I feel inspired playing here," Watson said of the venue where he also won the Senior British Championship six years ago.
It's been 32 years since Watson downed Jack Nicklaus in the famous Duel in the Sun on these links at Turnberry's first British Open.
"It doesn't feel a whole lot out of the ordinary from 32 years ago except that I don't have the confidence in my putting as I had 32 years ago. But, again, a few of them might go in."
Last year, it was Greg Norman who sipped from the fountain of youth, taking a one-shot lead into the back nine on Sunday at windswept Birkdale before ultimately succumbing to Padraig Harrington.
Now, Watson will be looking to author the greatest story in golf history. No one, needless to say, has ever won a major a few months short of their 60th birthday.
"Will I be able to handle the pressure? I don't know," said Watson, "I don't know."
But for one day, at the very least, he found the fellow he used to be.
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