With Nothing Left to Prove, Tom Watson Proved Everything

"Well, it would have been one hell of a story.  Wouldn't it have it?"

That was what Tom Watson first said to assembled media after the playoff at the 138th Open Championship in which he lost to Stewart Cink.  Despite not winning, it is still one hell of a story.

Could anyone have imagined that Tom Watson would walk up to the green of the 72nd hole of a major championship with a lead and a legitimate chance to win?  The oddsmakers in Great Britain did not.  They pegged Watson as a 1000 to 1 shot before the championship began.  Assuredly, they would have happily paid out to those odds to see Tom Watson hold the Claret Jug for a sixth time - tying Harry Vardon's mark for the most Open Championship titles.

Watson may not have won, but it sure seems like he did.  Frankly, would you have felt much different had he made the putt at 18 to win?  The feeling that Watson provided to the millions watching him was not a single moment in time.  It was a weekend full of thrills.  There were highs and lows.  Each shot was simultaneously excruciating and exciting all at once. 

This Championship - and Watson's journey - was the antithesis of the way majors have been defined in the Tiger Woods era.  Woods tends to win with ease, going away, and stepping on the throats of his competition.  He doesn't talk to his opponents.  He rarely cracks a smile.

That is not Watson.  It never has been and never will be.  Watson played like the legendary champion that he is and carried himself like a legendary gentleman.  He was polite, honest, and he even seemed to be enjoying himself throughout the entire experience.  Despite the unfortunate end to the story, Watson still had fun.  He said that he proved to himself he can still do it.  What a great respite this was from the almost inevitable journey of Woods to nineteen major championships.

As Paul Azinger aptly put it, Watson having won would not have changed his life.  It certainly would have been the biggest of exclamation points in sporting history, but the storybook will still end with joy.  This was the Open Championship that 59 years, 10 months old Tom Watson almost won!  We should be glad about it!  I get choked up just writing that - what a wonderful day it was for golf. 

For his part, Stewart Cink is no fluke champion.  He is one hell of a golfer and a great man.  If anyone had to ruin the storybook ending, at least it was him.

The fact that so many people thought that Watson would actually pull it off today is a testament to his talent and how beloved he is in the golfing world.  Last year, Greg Norman's rise to the 54 hole lead - and subsequent loss to the amazing Padraig Harrington - was not thought of in the same way.  Onlookers assumed that Norman would fail and that his emergence in the final group on Sunday was the culmination of his journey.

No one believed that about Watson.  He should have won.  An eight iron that landed a yard or two shorter may well have been the difference between a win and a loss.  Still, that small distance will never take away from the legend that will be written about what Watson achieved.

This story will be remembered forever.  It may be remembered more than what Jack Nicklaus achieved in 1986.  It could even be bigger than the Tiger Slam.  Or Jones' 1930.  Sometimes, the stories that cause the most heartbreak are the best to tell. 

The story of Watson and Turnberry is a love story.  He referenced a spiritual feeling he has with both the course and this Championship.  He authored another chapter of that love story with his performance this week.  Perhaps an aging Watson and the Claret Jug were star-crossed today, but a new generation of golfing fans had a chance to fall in love with the humble Missouri native today.

Thank you, Tom Watson.  Thanks for the new memories and rehashing the old ones.  You told one hell of a story.