32 Years Removed, Tom Watson Shines in the Turnberry Sun Again

Tom Watson is 59 years old and living life - much less playing professional golf - on a replacement hip that he received last fall.  This week, he returned to the site of the 1977 Duel in the Sun between he and Jack Nicklaus in which he emerged victorious for his second Open Championship.  Perhaps borrowing upon that experience and drawing inspiration from Greg Norman's Herculean (then Sisyphean) feat at Birkdale, Watson fired 65 on Thursday to take the first round lead at the Open.

In great scoring conditions, Watson was perfect.  Five birdies and no bogeys in his round got him to the top of the leaderboard.  He started strong - with birdies on one and three.  Four of his birdies came on par 4s.  Then Watson was able to cash in for birdie at 17, which is one of just two par 5s on the golf course.  The golf was surgical.  Watson hit twelve of fourteen fairways and fifteen greens in regulation (GIR).  He one-putt eight greens, with no three putts.

If Watson's score stands up to the afternoon wave of players, then he would become the oldest player - by far - to lead a major championship after day one.  The interesting thing is that Watson actually extended his lead in claim to this golfing record.  In 2003's US Open at Olympia Fields, Watson also fired 65 to take the first round lead - then at 53 years of age - in what was clearly a tribute tournament to his now-befallen caddy Bruce Edwards, who was dying of ALS.

(I was there and shed a few tears after that round, and again as they walked up to the 72nd hole on Sunday.)

After the round that day, Watson asked reporters with a smile, "'Who would have thought? Who would have expected I would have shot a round like that today?''

This round may not have been as unexpected given the sentimentality in golf with the 1977 Open and this course.  Maybe even Watson himself was none too surprised by today's performance.

Watson finished that 2003 US Open at 284 - 12 shots out of the final winning total by Jim Furyk.  Who knows what will happen this time, but hopefully Watson will be able to stay in the Turnberry sunlight a lot longer than just today.