When Tom Watson failed to chop his second shot out of the impossibly long fescue of Turnberry’s 17th hole, it all was over.
The 59-year-old legend would not win his ninth major championship. He would not win his sixth British Open. And he would not become the oldest golfer — by a decade — to win a major.
Stuart Cink, 36, drained a three-foot putt on at the 18th to seal the victory in the four-hour playoff and win the 2009 Open Championship. But the tournament was decided in the long grass on 17.
Commentators struggled over the last hole-and-a-half to remind viewers that Cink, too, was a worthy champion. Cink birdied 18 to drop to -2 and force the playoff, then finished six shots ahead of the struggling Watson who never recovered from missing a potential Open-winning putt on the final hole of regulation.
History was made Sunday at Turnberry—it was Cink’s first major. But not the history everyone was hoping for. Watson was at the top of the leaderboard for much of the weekend. And he was definitely the biggest story. Watson could have put his name in the record books as the oldest champion of the oldest major championship, at 59 and 149 years, respectively.
But even though Watson lost the playoff by a landslide, it was certainly one for the ages.
It was one of those rare moments in sports where athletes from different generations compete head-to-head.
It’s the type of treat sports fan get every time 46-year-old Jamie Moyer faces a rookie who hadn’t been born when Moyer made his Major League debut in 23 years ago. But seldom does such a showdown happen on such a grand stage.
45-year-old George Forman shocked the boxing world when he knocked out 26-year-old Michael Moorer to win the IBF and WBA Heavyweight Championships. But as any teenager trying to buy beer with a fake ID will tell you, there’s a difference between 19 and 23.
And there’s certainly a difference between 45 and 59. Even in a less physically -demanding sport like golf, Watson walking up the 18th fairway with a chance to turn 60 as Open Champion was historic. Watson has literally been winning the British open since Cink was in diapers.
It’s impossible to say if fatigue had anything to do with Watson’s eventual collapse in the playoff. 76 holes is a lot of golf for anyone. But Watson’s performance will be remembered for ages and ages.
