Royal Birkdale Open Champions, 1954 – 2017
“A great golf course both frees and challenges a golfer’s mind.” – Tom Watson
Royal Birkdale occupies a special place in Tom Watson’s heart. Here, in 1983, he won his fifth Open Championship, the eighth and final of his major championship titles. It was not an easy victory.
For starters, England wanted an English champion again and Nick Faldo carried the weight of the nation on his shoulders as he teed off, opening his first round with a pair of double bogeys. But Faldo fought back against whatever demons had accompanied him to the tee and finished his first round at 3-under par. Watson, Bill Rogers, and Bernhard Langer were marching in tandem at 4-under and Craig Stadler set the pace at 7-under.
Stadler held the lead but Watson and Trevino closed in on him during the second round with Faldo and Hale Irwin close behind them. Then with some brilliant putting Watson pulled into the lead in the third round and increased his edge over the following pack, finishing at 9-under and one shot clear of Andy Bean and Hale Irwin when the last putt dropped.
It was a sweet success for Tom Watson, who had failed to win the U.S. Open earlier in the summer. When he hoisted the Claret Jug Watson was one major title shy of matching Ben Hogan and Gary Player, who both held nine major championship titles, and that’s the way it stayed for Watson.