Tom Watson (photo by Remjr)
The glorious play of 59-year-old Tom Watson at last week’s Open Championship defies time and meaning, and it will not leave my thoughts.
It was as if Bobby Jones or Harry Vardon came striding through a wrinkle in time and proclaimed, “I will show all of you that I can triumph over the field, but I will stop short of doing so. Winning the tournament trophy is the reward of your era, not mine. Capturing the memory of the feat is my domain.”
No one will soon forget Tom’s steady play last week. I also will not forget how, time and again, other players inexplicably slipped irrevocably away from Tom, leaving him perched atop the leaderboard. There must have been something in the air that could fill old lungs and clear old minds of age’s burdens.
Only Stewart Cink, the ultimate victor, was not affected. He was breathing enchanted air all his own. To sum his own words, he was totally calm all week, without a bit of nervousness, even as he sank his final long putt to ultimately secure his spot in the playoff. “I honestly didn’t care whether the ball went into the cup or not. I just hit it. Every tournament, it seems there is one player who remains calm and wins. This time it was me.” Such was his magic.
Before the 72nd hole was complete, Tom had already made his point to us all, as well as to himself. Though Cink trounced Tom in the four-hole playoff, it was less of a slaughter than a suicide. For as Tom strode off the tee box of the 73rd hole, it seemed as though the essence of the former Tom Watson slipped back through the wrinkle in time and disappeared.
The gleam faded, smile tightened, shoulders slumped, swing quickened, stride grew heavy, and the ball had no more purpose for Tom Watson, and vice-versa.
Now, when I look at the eternal bittersweet smile spread across Tom’s face, I will know a small part of what he is pondering. From the very beginning of the championship, Tom told us that there was something spiritual out there and he felt it but couldn’t quite describe it. Tom, it was you.
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