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Watson’s famous gap-toothed grin testifies to his feelings about winning his second Western Open in 1977. S WAT NS’ WinningWays He notched his first PGA Tour victory in the Chicago District at the 1974 Western Open and was a perennial contender at Westerns well into the 1990s. Always a fan favorite in these parts, with his ready smile and friendly wave, Tom Watson at the age of 53 became THE story of the 2003 U.S.O Open at Olympia Fields, firing an opening-round 65 and winning the galleries, if not the tournament. BY TIM CRONIN lashback to June 2003. Tom unasked question is obvious. In the Chicago Watson, hardly doddering at age area alone, Watson made a considerable impact. 53 but certainly removed from his He broke into the professional winner’s circle youth, was sitting in the press tent here, in the first Western Open played at Butler at the U.S. Open at Olympia National Golf Club. He continued to play FFields, recalling with a wistful smile his first a major role in the outcome of the Western appearance on the North Course. plus boosted the box office for more than Just 35 years before, Watson had traipsed two decades. around Olympia for four days en route to low He nearly won the U.S. Open here, back at amateur status in the 1968 Western Open. That Medinah in 1975. earned him not only a pat on the back and a And last year, with the health of his caddie gold medal from the Western Golf Association, and dear friend, Bruce Edwards, failing because but a place in the awards ceremony with Chick of the ravages of ALS, he won hearts at Olympia Evans and Jack Nicklaus. Fields with a dramatic opening round that Watson? Few knew then who the kid was. focused attention on the disease and the hope Nice swing, to be sure. Finished tied for 51st, a for a cure. decent showing for an amateur in his first big- Against the odds of a senior competing suc- time pro event. cessfully with the kids, Watson went out and Still, with Nicklaus repeating as the shot 5-under-par 65, his best score in an Open— Western’s champ, Watson garnered little atten- indeed, his best score in Chicago—to tie for the tion. Nobody wondered whether or not he’d lead after 18 holes and steal the headlines. make an impact on the game. “I relied on a lot of past memories on this PHOTO COURTESY WESTERN GOLF ASSOCIATION All these years later, the answer to the golf course,” Watson recalled. “Past memories 12 CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLFER 13 being 35 years ago. I made the cut here; The layout bared its teeth for the first sixth leaving Watson just three back. 1975 U.S. Open: Snatching Defeat from that was my goal, to make the cut. I round. A star-studded field averaged Weiskopf pushed the lead to four with the Jaws of Victory at Medinah remember being presented the trophy by 77.049, the highest average for any a birdie on the uphill par-4 ninth, but Watson didn’t know then how often Chick Evans. It was a pretty special day. Western round in 21 years. Before the then the wheels came off. He bogeyed victory would arrive, though not always It’s run full circle, I guess you might say.” sun set on Friday, 11 players withdrew, three of the next four holes, while gift-wrapped. Some 50 weeks later, six were disqualified and three simply Watson went birdie-par-bogey-par, then Watson was back in Chicago, only this 1974: How the Western Was Won didn’t turn in their scorecards. birdied the 14th by sinking a 15-footer to time at Medinah Country Club, which It’s been quite a run. Watson played in Watson? He smoothed his way to an pull into a tie for the lead. was hosting the U.S. Open for the first 25 Western Opens in all, just off the opening 1-over 72, then added a 71 on Watson was in the group ahead of time since 1949. record of 26 held by Doug Ford. Nine Friday and was two strokes back of Weiskopf, and thus had the opportunity Watson, one of the favorites, lived the times, he finished in the top 10. Three Tom Weiskopf. to post a score and let Weiskopf try to part for 36 holes. While heat, humidity times, he won. All was less well on Saturday, when match or surpass it. Watson did that— and the Open’s intrinsic pressure were tak- Watson was hardly a favorite coming Watson scored 4-over 75 and found him- and Weiskopf didn’t. ing a predictable toll on the field, Watson in. He had contended on the Tour but self a half-dozen strokes behind Weiskopf Butler National’s last holes are like Joe was having his way with Course No. 3. hadn’t won, and was best known for what with 18 holes left. The good news was, Frazier in his prime. They keep coming at He opened with a 4-under 67 and fol- had happened a fortnight before at only J.C. Snead stood between him and you, relentlessly. Watson found that out lowed it up with a 68, for a total of 7- Winged Foot Golf Club. Watson, 24, led Weiskopf. Watson wouldn’t have to elbow on the par-4 16th, where he failed to save under 135 at the halfway point. That’s far the U.S. Open by a stroke going into through half the field to make a charge. par from a greenside bunker, and found from standard procedure. In 1975, it tied Sunday but fell back to a tie for fifth place, But charge on Butler National, which himself stuck at 3-over-par 287 after pars the Open 36-hole record, set by Mike five strokes behind winner Hale Irwin. was yielding sub-par rounds the way the on the final two holes. Souchak at Cherry Hills in Denver in That wasn’t going to be good enough 1960 and first matched by Bert Yancey at to win, not with Weiskopf at 2-over Oak Hill in 1968. Watson was cruising. through 16. But what Watson didn’t “I’m in more control of myself than know as he was playing 18 with a big last year,” he said, thinking of Winged drive, a nifty 9-iron and a pair of putts, Foot. “I definitely can handle the pres- was that Weiskopf was in a world of sure this time if I’m in the same position.” Watson played trouble on the 17th, where Watson had He’d even won a round from P.J. salvaged par. Weiskopf had hit a big Boatwright, then the USGA’s executive in 25 Western drive—too big—on the dogleg par 4. It director, on Friday afternoon, when he bounded through the corner of the dog- spotted lightning too close for comfort Opens in all, leg and against a pumphouse for a man- and headed off the course. Golf associa- made pond. He received relief from that, tions, the USGA included, were much just off the but was short on his approach, long on a slower to halt play in that era, Boatwright PHOTO COURTESY WESTERN GOLF ASSOCIATION chip, and two-putted from the back of and Rules boss Harry Easterly chased record of 26. the green. Bogey, and a tie with Watson, Watson to the clubhouse, believing him An exuberant 24-year-old Watson revels in his first Western Open title, recorded in Nine times, he who was finishing on the 18th. too quick to exit, then stayed there when 1974 at Butler National Golf Club. Now Weiskopf needed a good tee a bolt flashed across the sky. When condi- finished in the shot to find the landing area on the nar- tions cleared, Watson went out and card- “I thought they were being very deroga- in the final group, with Weiskopf finish- row double-dogleg 18th hole. A 1-iron ed a 68 for a three-stroke lead on the field. tory,” Watson said of the catcallers, adding, ing in the threesome immediately ahead. top 10. Three would be the right club. It was, but the “I just want to play my own game and “I just couldn’t keep the ball in play.” And they started the final round in a tie, swing was wrong, and the tee shot sailed not look back until the last hole on joined by Wally Armstrong, at 1-over-par times, he won. to the right, into an arm of Salt Creek. Sunday,” he said. 1977: Another Year, Another Western 214, Butler’s par having been boosted to “I just hit a bad shot,” Weiskopf said By then, though, he would look back The following week, Watson notched a 72 by 1977. before storming out of the clubhouse. on the ruins of two rounds. Saturday 12th-place finish in the Western at Butler, The tie didn’t last long. Weiskopf It led to a double-bogey 6, a 6-over 77, started with three putts from 20 feet for then jetted to Scotland to win the first of birdied the first hole and eagled the par- PHOTO COURTESY WESTERN GOLF ASSOCIATION and a total of 5-over 287, matching bogey on the first hole and got worse five British Open crowns. After a forget- 5 second to move to 5-under. That might J.C.