Tom Watson Given the All Clear at the Open Until He's 65

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 16, 2009 11:43 AM EST

When Tom Watson was on the verge of winning the Open Championship at age 59 this summer, a lot of side chatter opened up about the R&A's decision to bring down the age ceiling for past champions. Watson (along with Greg Norman) would be exempt until age 60 under the current rules, making Watson's appearance next year at St. Andrew's into his farewell. That seemed like a massive injustice against perhaps the greatest links player of our lifetimes.

The R&A reversed course today and announced a new exemption criteria, guaranteeing Watson two more appearances at St. Andrew's and an exemption through 2015. The wording of the exemption is kind of peculiar because it exemptions any former champion that has finished in the top 10 in the previous five Opens to get a five year exemption added onto their current exemption.

Here's Peter Dawson on the exemption:

"We rightly reduced the age of exemption for past champions from 65 to 60 two years ago and our intention was never to remove players still at the top of their game from competing in the Open."

Sounds good to me.

Effectively, the exemption is for Watson. It'll impact Greg Norman if he has a top 10 after his 56th birthday, but it's really for Watson. If you'd like, you could draw some kind of parallel between this exemption and the one granted to Michelle Wie so that she could compete in the LPGA Championship as an amateur. The difference is that Norman and Watson earned their way into this based on their career performance and age-defying runs. Wie was given the exemption on the basis of potential - finally realized four-plus years later this Sunday.

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let me get this in before CG does

We were all wondering is someone could take a story about the R&A, the Open Championship, Tom Watson and Greg Norman and turn it into a Michelle Wie story. Well done, Ryan!

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Nov 16, 2009 11:54 AM EST reply actions

I added that in just for court :)

Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 16, 2009 12:00 PM EST up reply actions

Michelle who ? (lol)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 16, 2009 12:23 PM EST up reply actions

I think you’re reading too much into this. It does affect Watson and maybe Norman (if they make it retroactive), but Watson is already exempt into the Open in 2010 from this year’s finish. I think the R&A is smart enough to know that the likelihood of Watson repeating his performance from this year at any point over the next 5 is remote at best. If he makes the cut, it will be an accomplishment. (and if he starts missing the cut by a long way – I wouldn’t be surprised to see Watson turn down the exemption so he doesn’t embarrass himself) If they were just wanting to keep Watson in the mix, they would just raise the age limit to 65 again. This is still mostly going to affect the younger players.

Geez D – you seem a little paranoid today. ;-)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 16, 2009 11:59 AM EST reply actions

Yeah, this is mostly for younger players, I agree, but it was created in the short term to help Watson.

Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 16, 2009 12:01 PM EST up reply actions

in the long run – Watson isn’t important to the decision. They won’t be selling more tickets to the Open – they already sell out.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 16, 2009 12:23 PM EST up reply actions

not at all paranoid

But I do think it’s silly to turn an Open Championship exemption for those over 60 story into one about someone who just turned 20. Sorry, Ryan.

I applaud the R&A’s decision to make the exemption performance-based. Whether they have the perfect formula, or whether it will need tweaking over time, remains to be seen. It’s a good first step.

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Nov 16, 2009 12:32 PM EST up reply actions

I can’t help myself from doing something that will rile everyone up on occasion :)

Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 16, 2009 12:55 PM EST up reply actions

LOL

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 16, 2009 1:39 PM EST up reply actions

Quick poll:

How many Open Championships will Michelle Wie win?

My best guess is 25 Women’s Open Championships and 7 Men’s Open Championships.

by MattSpence on Nov 16, 2009 12:57 PM EST reply actions

you mean next year or in the next 10 years since she says she’s quitting at age 30 to become a “global citizen” and study at the feet of Obama and Gore. :-)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 16, 2009 1:40 PM EST up reply actions

Very good point from Geoff Shackleford’s site – Norman was only 53 in ’08. He is already exempt until he turns 60 as a past champion.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 16, 2009 2:26 PM EST reply actions

Yeah, Jason Sobel and I talked about it a bit – that’s why I modified the original post. This doesn’t help Norman until he’s 56.

Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 16, 2009 3:04 PM EST up reply actions

assuming he WANTS help. He wasn’t all that excited about getting another chance to play in The Masters. And now he doesn’t have Chrissy Evert around to boost his competitive spirit. :-)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 16, 2009 3:29 PM EST up reply actions