Global Golf Post: Amid What's Wrong, The Open Has It Right

By Art Spander
For GlobalGolfPost.com

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, ENGLAND -- Oh, woe is England. Pickpocketing and shoplifting are on the increase. "Shameful" -- that's what the headline said -- civil servants planned to strike Heathrow Airport as Olympic Games traffic reached a peak.

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Copyright 2012 Global Golf Post

Global Golf Post: In Us Vs. Them, Nobody Wins

By Art Spander
For GlobalGolfPost.com

SANDWICH, ENGLAND -- To the British, the Open Championship, that exercise in broken umbrellas and broken dreams – for verification, see Donald, Luke and Westwood, Lee – is less a golf tournament than a national treasure to be protected at all costs from Americans.

We are, as George Bernard Shaw pointed out, two nations separated by a common language. More than that, we are kept apart by different sporting philosophies.

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Copyright 2011 Global Golf Post

Newsday (N.Y.): Rain can't dampen Watson's spirit at Open

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANDWICH, England -- In the worst of the storm, Tom Watson was at his best.

Which is what you would expect of him. Watson has won five British Opens, from rain to shine. He knows how to handle a links golf course when the weather is beating down on him.

His five victories are second to the six of Harry Vardon, and two years ago, a few weeks before his 60th birthday, he almost had another, bogeying the 72nd hole at Turnberry and losing a playoff to Stewart Cink.

For a while in the third round of this 140th Open, on the links of Royal St. George's, Watson was the only golfer on the course under par for the day, 1 under on the front nine.

Eventually, he slipped to a 2-over 72. But he passed many players ahead of him -- moving up from 46th to a tie for 25th place, and at 4-over 214 is tied with Rory McIlroy, the U.S.  Open champion who was this event's betting favorite.

"Conditions were bothersome,'' said Watson, at 61 the oldest golfer among the 71 who made the cut. "You just try to keep your grips dry and your wits about you and go about your business to try and make pars out there.''

Watson has played in worse, although this was bad enough, umbrellas being torn from people's hands and being bent into pretzels by winds gusting to 30 mph.

"Muirfield was worse than this,'' Watson said about the third round of the '02 Open, the day Tiger Woods shot 81. "But the worst I've ever played was at Muirfield in '80, the  first round. [Lee] Trevino and I shot 68 and led the field by eight, or  something like that.''

Conditions improved in the afternoon Saturday, as often is the case at the Open. But there was no whining from Watson. He is old school. Find the ball and hit it. Then find it and hit it again.

"One of the things you learn,'' Watson said, "is there's a saying, 'Swing with ease into the breeze.' A lot of times, you see these young kids out there trying to hit it really hard into the wind. In my case, I'm 61 and can't hit hard.''

Watson said he was helped by his putting, the part of his game which often has frustrated him in recent years. He missed a couple of shorties Saturday, including on the 18th, but wasn't unhappy.

"Without the putter in my hands,'' Watson said, "it could have been four or five shots higher. My putter was spot-on today.''

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Global Golf Post: Watson To Be Honored At 2012 Memorial

By Art Spander
For GlobalGolfPost.com

DUBLIN, OHIO — Tom Watson was announced Sunday by the Captains Club as the honoree of the 2012 Memorial Tournament.

Watson won eight majors, including five British Opens, and is no less famous for losing a playoff in the British Open two years ago at age 59.

He follows Nancy Lopez, the 2011 honoree ...

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Copyright 2011 Global Golf Post

Newsday (N.Y.): Watson hopes to challenge again after near-miss in '09

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- For Tom Watson, the Open Championship inevitably evolves into the past, even if he doesn't want it to.

Either someone is asking about what might have been a year ago or that missed opportunity here on the hallowed golfing ground of the Old Course 26 years ago.

Strange how it is in sports. No matter how many championships you earn, and Watson has five Opens, only one fewer than the century-old record of Harry Vardon, the questions are always about the championships lost.

Such as the 2009 Open, when Watson, age 59, led for 71 holes at Turnberry before a bogey on 18 led to a tie and playoff loss to Stewart Cink.

Such as the 1984 Open here when Watson came to the 17th, the Road Hole, "the hardest hole in golf," tied with Seve Ballesteros and hit a 2-iron onto the road near a stone wall. The bogey dropped him to second.

It was a nostalgic but forward-looking Watson who showed up in the media tent Wednesday, 24 hours before the start of the 139th Open.

"St. Andrews is a hard course to understand," said Watson, when asked his chances. "You have to re-learn it every day."

This will be his seventh and most likely his last Open at St. Andrews, a course on which Jack Nicklaus said "all great Open champions must win," but a course where Watson has only one top-10 finish, that runnerup.

The disappointment of a year past, when Watson was a stroke from becoming the sports story of the year, has not lingered.

"It tore my guts out," said Watson of the final-hole failure at Turnberry, "but I've had my guts torn up before in this game. But it hasn't made any impact.

"People of our age come up to me and say they couldn't stop watching. They say. 'I'm 60 years old, and I've given up on the game or given up on something else, and you've given me hope.'"
The hope for Watson is in 2010 after an 18th place in the Masters and a 29th in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, "It would be a great triumvirate if I did well here at age 60."

Ballesteros is not doing well. He is home in Spain, after undergoing multiple surgeries for a brain tumor. At the Champions dinner, held only when the Open is at St. Andrews, Ballesteros sent a brief video.

"He said I wish I had energy to be there," Watson said. "It was sad to see him. But seeing him I remembered the cheer that went up before I tried to make my par putt at 17 [in '84]. I looked at 18, and there he was [indicating an arm pump.] I said. 'Uh, oh, I have to make it now.' But I didn't."

Watson and several others, including Arnold Palmer, received honorary doctorates from the University of St. Andrews.

"I told Arnold, 'You've always been my idol,'" Watson said. "When I grew up I was a member of Arnie's Army. Then Jack came along and beat Arnie, and I couldn't stand it. I told Arnie, 'The only reason I beat Nicklaus all those times is because he beat you.' He got a laugh out of that."

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