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.''