Can We Claim Tom Watson as Our Sam Snead?

Tom Watson is ageless.  Part of that has to do with a replacement hip that is 59 years younger than he is, but part of it has to do with his mental grit and physical stamina.  Watson may have faded on Sunday to finish T29 - and not exempt into next year's Open at Congo - but he again this week displayed an ability to compete with and beat players half or one-third his age.

In two majors this year, Watson has finished in the top 30 at the majors.  Combining the raw scores of both the Masters and the US Open, Watson is just shy of the top ten.  When the pressure has been on in golf's most important championships, Watson has been at his best. 

To say that Watson knows how to peak based upon his body and advanced stage in his career is an understatement.  In that regard - and the results subsequent to that kind of self-awareness - Watson truly is our generation's Sam Snead (or, if you'd prefer, Julius Boros).

Snead performed some incredible feats late in his golf life.  He was a contender for the famous 1960 US Open at Cherry Hills.  More phenomenal, Snead finished third in the 1974 PGA Championship at age 62.  Nine years prior, he won in Greensboro for the eighth time and became the oldest man to win a PGA Tour event in the process.  In 1979, he shot his age - 67 - or better in two rounds of the Quad Cities Open.

Compare that to Watson's record in the last eighteen months.  A runner-up (that should have been a win) at the Open.  He tied for eighth in the Dubai Desert Classic on a 7400 yard track.  He led the Masters for a time in the first round, finishing T18.  Watson was making a run in the third round on Saturday that inspired musings that he might get even closer than that at Pebble.

While he fell short in all of these instances, Watson has made it clear that he can compete with the best of them.  According to the Official World Golf Rankings, he is 120 in the world.  No way.  He's better than that, and as a part time player no less.

Soak it up while it lasts.  The exemptions won't flow forever to Mr. Watson.  Sunday was likely the last time Watson will compete in a US Open.  Perhaps he can carry on the spirit of Turnberry at the Home of Golf next month. 

All along the way, galleries have been serenading Watson in appreciation of this current run and his career, which grows in stature by the day.  When Watson disappears, though, he can take those cheers to Kansas City Country Club - the place he would rather play than anywhere else - and know that he left us wanting more.