Thank You Tom Watson

As the British Open (or Open Championship….whichever you prefer) came to a close today, all I could think to myself was “I don’t want this to end.”

Not because Stewart Cink wasn’t a deserving champion. And not that the tournament hadn’t lived up to expectations.

But simply because I didn’t want the moment to end for Tom Watson.

Sure, Watson butchered the putt on 18 that would have won him the tournament, and made him one of the greatest stories in golf history. But that’s besides the point, and most golf fans could care less about that now.

Watson put on an amazing show from beginning to end before running out of gas in the playoff. Eyes all over the world were glued to the television. Were we really seeing an old man whip the boys at the British Open? Could this really happen?

We were all in it for the unbelievable story. Not just the story, but for the man that has gave so much to the game of golf. A 59 year-old legend with a shot to win golf’s most treasured prize….yet again. It felt highly unlikely after day one. We still weren’t believers after round two. Even after round three, the wonder and doubt was still there. Could this really happen?

As the final round progressed, with each passing hole, we began to believe Watson had a chance. Others kept falling by the waist side, except for the legend himself. It was everything a golf fan could have asked for, especially with Tiger Woods watching on television somewhere, just as all of us were.

Try to find me one person that wasn’t rooting for Watson down the home stretch of the tournament…aside from Stewart Cink’s immediate family.

It was simply a sight we may never see again in the game of golf. Sure, Greg Norman did it last year at the British Open, and we all said “that will never happen again!”

But Watson proved us all wrong this week at Turnberry, and then some. He not only matched Norman’s output over the first three days of the championship, but had the putt to win it and shock the world.

No, he didn’t make the putt. But he did make believers out of golfers all over the world in that all you need is four days of good golf to give you a shot at history.

Will it ever happen again? Not just from Watson, but from someone else? Player? Nicklaus? Probably not.

But we’d be crazy not to believe that it’s possible. Just ask Watson.