Tom Watson (golfer)

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**Tom Watson**
Personal Information
Birth	September 4, 1949 (1949-09-04) (age 58) Kansas City, Missouri
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Stilwell, Kansas
College	Stanford University
Career
Turned Pro	1971
Tours	PGA Tour (joined 1972) Champions Tour (joined 1999)
Professional wins	64 (PGA Tour: 39, Other regular: 5 Champions Tour: 12, Other senior: 8)
Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 8
Masters	Won 1977, 1981
U.S. Open	Won 1982
British Open	Won 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983
PGA Championship	2nd: 1978
Awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1988
PGA Tour Money Winner	1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984
PGA Player of the Year	1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984
Vardon Trophy	1977, 1978, 1979
Old Tom Morris Award	1992

Thomas Sturges "Tom" Watson (born September 4, 1949) is an American golfer on the Champions Tour, who still occasionally competes in PGA Tour events. In the 1970s and 1980s he was one of the leading players in the world, winning eight major championships and heading the PGA Tour money list five times. He was the number one player in the world, according to McCormack's World Golf Rankings, from 1978 through 1982, and in both 1983 and 1984 was second in those rankings behind Seve Ballesteros by only the barest of margins. He spent 32 weeks in the top 10 of the successor Sony Rankings in their debut in 1986.^[1] Several of his major victories during this period came at the expense of Jack Nicklaus, the man he replaced as number one, but their continuing rivalry and friendship served to increase golf's popularity during the time.

1 Career outline
- 1.1 Champions Tour
2 Playing style
3 Distinctions and honors
4 Major Championships
5 PGA Tour wins (39)
6 Other wins (5)
7 Champions Tour wins (12)
8 Other senior wins (8)
9 Golf courses designed
10 See also
11 References
12 External links

[edit] Career outline

He was born in Kansas City, Missouri. A lifelong golfer, he was introduced to the game by his father Ray, a fine player. His early coach was Stan Thirsk at the Kansas City Country Club. He first gained local renown while on his high school team at The Pembroke-Country Day School in Kansas City. Watson won four straight Missouri State Amateur championships, from 1968-1971^[2]. He began his professional golf career in 1971, the same year he graduated from Stanford University, where he was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, with a degree in psychology, and played on the golf team.

Watson joined the PGA Tour in 1971 after a very good (but not standout) amateur career, and gradually improved. He got into contention in a major championship for the first time in the 1974 U.S. Open at the Winged Foot Golf Club, where he led after three rounds, but faded badly in the final round. Following this disappointment, Watson was approached by legendary player Byron Nelson, who offered assistance. With Nelson's guidance on swing mechanics and course management, Watson's game advanced quickly, and he won his first title shortly afterwards at the 1974 Western Open.

He has won eight major championships on the PGA Tour—two Masters (1977 and 1981), one U.S. Open (1982), and five British Opens (1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983).

His 1977 British Open victory, at Turnberry in Scotland, was especially memorable. After two rounds, he and Jack Nicklaus were one shot out of the lead and paired for the third round. Both shot 65, ending the third round three shots clear of the field. Watson and Nicklaus were again paired for the final round. On the last day, the two were tied after 16 holes. Nicklaus missed a makeable birdie putt on 17, losing his share of the lead to Watson, who birdied 17. On the 18th, Nicklaus drove into the rough, while Watson drove into the fairway. Watson's approach landed three feet from the flag, while Nicklaus, after a drive into deep rough, managed to get his approach 50 feet away. Nicklaus sank his birdie putt to finish with a 66, but Watson followed suit with his own birdie, finishing with a second straight 65 and his second Open, with a record score of 268. The two players finished well ahead of the other challengers. They shot the same score every day, except for Sunday.

Watson's U.S. Open win, in 1982 at Pebble Beach, was equally memorable. Nicklaus, playing two groups ahead of Watson in the final round, charged into a share of the lead with five consecutive birdies. When Watson reached the par-3 17th hole the two were still tied, but with Nicklaus safely in the clubhouse at 4 under par 284. Watson hit his tee shot on 17 into the rough just off the green. He faced an extremely difficult chip shot downhill on a very fast green that sloped toward the Pacific Ocean. While being interviewed on national television and fully aware of Watson's terrible predicament, Nicklaus appeared confident he was on his way to an unprecedented fifth U.S. Open championship. Watson's chip shot, amazingly, hit the flag stick and landed in the cup, giving him a miraculous birdie and setting the stage for yet another win over Nicklaus. Watson went on to birdie the 18th as well, for a final margin of two shots. The 17th hole chip-in is regarded as one of the greatest shots in golf history.

A memorable moment in Watson's career came at the 2003 U.S. Open, when, at age 53, he took the opening-round lead by shooting a 65 with his longtime caddy Bruce Edwards carrying his clubs. The latter would succumb to Lou Gehrig's disease on April 8, 2004 at the age of 49.

Watson's stellar play on the PGA Tour faded in the late 1980s when he began to have problems with putting although his tee to green game seemed to actually improve. In 1994 when the British Open returned to Turnberry, the site of his 1977 victory, Watson commented, "Sometimes you lose your desire through the years. Any golfer goes through that. When you play golf for a living, like anything in your life, you are never going to be constant, at the top."^[3] He finished tied for 11th at the British that year, but he had a revival in the late 1990s and the last of his 39 wins on the PGA Tour came at the 1998 MasterCard Colonial when he was forty eight years old. However, he has demonstrated remarkable consistency by making at least one PGA Tour cut per year since 1971, a streak of 37 years.

Watson also missed a two foot putt on the 18th green at the 2007 Masters. He later learned that he missed the cut by only one stroke.

[edit] Champions Tour

Watson joined the Champions Tour in 1999, the same year he earned an honorary membership of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland. Ironically, St. Andrews is one of the few Open venues where Watson did not claim victory. He has 12 wins on the Champions Tour, including five senior majors. Watson was one of two players to play with Jack Nicklaus in the final two rounds of golf in Nicklaus' career, which ended at the 2005 The Open Championship on the Old Course at St Andrews. Englishman Luke Donald was the third member of the group.

Having resided for many years in Mission Hills, Kansas, Watson currently resides in Stilwell, Kansas with his wife, two children, and three stepchildren. He also designed the National Golf Club of Kansas City golf course.

[edit] Playing style

During his prime, Watson may have been the most complete golfer ever to play the game. For a man of average size (5 ft 9 in, 160 pounds), he had abundant length coupled with sufficient accuracy, played aggressively, developed a superlative short game, and was a skilled and confident putter. Watson was renowned as the best bad-weather golfer of his era, and displayed much of this gritty talent in the difficult, changeable conditions of the British Open.

[edit] Distinctions and honors

Watson was named PGA Player of the Year 6 times, 1977-1980, 1982 and 1984, and trails only Tiger Woods who was named 9 times.
He won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average three straight years: 1977, 1978, and 1979.
He played on four Ryder Cup teams: 1977, 1981, 1983, and 1989 and captained the victorious 1993 team.
In 1987, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
Watson was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1988.
1992 GCSAA Old Tom Morris Award
In 1991, Watson resigned from the Kansas City Country Club in protest to its exclusion of people of Jewish ethnicity. He subsequently rejoined after the club's acceptance of Jewish and minority members.^[4]
He became involved with golf course design in the early 1990s.
Watson is the author or co-author of a number of books, including Tom Watson's Strategic Golf.
He has written a golf instruction column in Golf Digest magazine since the mid-1970s.
Watson was ranked at the 10th greatest golfer of all time in the 2000 Golf Digest magazine list.^[5]
Watson is only the second Golf Professional Emeritus at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The only other golfer to hold that position was Sam Snead.

[edit] Major Championships

[edit] Wins (8)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runners Up
1975	The Open Championship	3 shot deficit	-9 (71-67-69-72=279)	Playoff ¹	Jack Newton
1977	The Masters	Tied for lead	-12 (70-69-70-67=276)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
1977	The Open Championship (2)	Tied for lead	-12 (68-70-65-65=268)	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus
1980	The Open Championship (3)	4 shot lead	-13 (68-70-64-69=271)	4 strokes	Lee Trevino
1981	The Masters (2)	1 shot lead	-8 (71-68-70-71=280)	2 strokes	Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus
1982	U.S. Open	Tied for lead	-6 (72-72-68-70=282)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
1982	The Open Championship (4)	3 shot deficit	-4 (69-71-74-70=284)	1 stroke	Peter Oosterhuis, Nick Price
1983	The Open Championship (5)	1 shot lead	-9 (67-68-70-70=275)	1 stroke	Andy Bean, Hale Irwin

¹ Defeated Jack Newton in 18-hole playoff - Watson (71), Newton (72)

[edit] Results timeline

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Masters	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T8	T33	1	T2	T2
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	T29	CUT	T5	T9	7	T7	T6	CUT
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	1	CUT	1	T14	T26
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	T12	T11	9	T15	T6	2	T12

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	T12	1	T5	T4	2	T10	T6	T7	T9	T14
U.S. Open	T3	T23	1	2	T11	CUT	T24	2	T36	T46
The Open Championship	1	T23	1	1	T2	T47	T35	7	T28	4
PGA Championship	T10	CUT	T9	T47	T39	T6	T16	T14	T31	T9

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	T7	T3	T48	T45	13	T14	CUT	4	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	CUT	T16	CUT	T5	T6	T56	T13	64	CUT	T57
The Open Championship	CUT	T26	CUT	CUT	T11	T31	DNP	T10	CUT	CUT
PGA Championship	T19	CUT	T62	5	T9	T58	T17	CUT	CUT	CUT

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
The Masters	CUT	CUT	T40	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Open	T27	DNP	DNP	T28	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	T55	CUT	CUT	T18	DNP	T41	T48	DNP
PGA Championship	T9	T66	T48	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP