Watson’s famous gap-toothed grin testifies to his feelings about winning his second in 1977. S WAT NS’ WinningWays

He notched his first PGA Tour victory in the 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, 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 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 gold medal from the , 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 . 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- 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 ,” 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 . 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 , 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 , 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. Snead. from there. table 32nd-place finish in the 1976 have forced the others to take chances, He had played decently over the IRS hands out tax rebates? Not likely. Watson was in a much more chipper “Remember Winged Foot!” a lout Western, Watson returned in 1977 as the but Weiskopf went about throwing away course of the year, but so had many oth- Something else would have to happen. mood. shouted as Watson was about to miss a man to beat. He had already won the his chances again. Three times, he ers, and Butler National, untested by the Something did. Watson mounted a “I think I deserved a victory today,” two-footer for par on the par-3 second. Masters to go with the San Diego Open splashed balls into the water. pros previously, hardly seemed a layout charge, his 2-under 69 for a total of 3- Watson exulted. “I played well. It’s unfor- The shout came again later, and and the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. Weiskopf rallied to tie with a second for a third-year Tour pro’s breakthrough. over 287 was one of the best scores of the tunate that Tom played bad, but those are Watson bogeyed the fourth and seventh, With Jack Nicklaus playing a reduced eagle, this on the par-5 12th, joining Designed for hosting the Western by week, but that wouldn’t have been the breaks of the game. ending up with a double-bogey and schedule and even less vis- Watson, Armstrong and at George Fazio and nephew Tom Fazio on enough to win had Weiskopf been on his “It’s something I’ve dreamed about bogey finish for a 7-over 78, the three- ible, Watson was the number-one money- 4-under, but Weiskopf would collect his land owned by Oak Brook industrialist game to the finish. since being a kid,” Watson added, stroke lead replaced by a three-stroke winner in golf and the top attraction too. third water-induced double-bogey of the Paul Butler, Butler came complete with Inexplicably, he wasn’t. Watson was still smiling the gap-toothed smile that deficit to leader Frank Beard. He found winning his second Western day on the par-3 13th and not be heard spectator mounds in key viewing areas six strokes back standing on the fifth tee. would become famous. “I always It didn’t get much better on Sunday, Open title oddly similar to the first. For from again. Meanwhile, Armstrong held and played to a stern par of 71 over He birdied that hole, a devilish par 3 over thought it would come in time. I hope it when he scored 77 to finish in a tie for one thing, he had to beat Tom Weiskopf remarkably steady, Miller piled up par 7,002 yards. water, and the next. Weiskopf bogeyed the keeps coming.” ninth at 6-over 290. again. The difference: This time, he was after par, and Watson hung in there.

14 WWW. CDGA. ORG JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2004 15 He made a critical par save after find- This time, Watson would make the for Edwards and vice versa. They plugged ing a greenside bunker on the par-3 25-footer. He would become a three-time on. Watson birdied the 16th and made 11th, birdied the 14th to jump to 5- Western Open champion, but not with- the turn in 2-under 32, then birdied the under, then went about making an out a great struggle even before the extra par 5 first via a sand wedge to 12 feet. At One Brilliant unlikely 3 on the par-4 17th. holes. Here was Tom Watson not exactly 3-under, he was in the hunt in the Open Watson, who pulled and hooked his on top of his game, wayward with the 21 years after his victory at Pebble Beach. Stroke of tee shot, got away with it because the driver, sometimes with approach irons, “Will wonders never cease!” he would 17th fairway sweeps around to the left, hardly confident to carry on against the exclaim after the round was over. “You can Personal and the left rough slants back toward the likes of Norman, , T.C. only imagine what it means in this late fairway. Moreover, in 1977, the trees Chen, , Mark O’Meara and stage in your life to do well in the tourna- alongside the fairway were 27 years just about every other player who was ment that you want to win the most.” Insurance. smaller than they are today. And Watson, hot in the summer of 1984. Olympia Fields’ North Course has as winners often do, got one more break. Watson recounted that he hit driver always been a shotmaker’s course, and The Atlantic The ball ended up on a patch of dirt. He only 26 times over the course of four- Watson has always been a shotmaker. On ® was able to smack a 9-iron 130 yards to plus rounds. And still he went to and fro this day, he was sublime. Plus, the putter, Master Plan Policy the back fringe of the green and from across Butler’s pristine landscape. His an old Ping Pal 2, was working, and there, hole the putt from 20 feet. Birdie. caddie should have been Rand McNally. maybe something else was too. How else If you play golf, or live in a A roar. And the title, again. Take, for instance, his excursion on to explain Watson sinking a 45-foot putt golfing community, you need the par-3 11th hole on Sunday. Norman, for a birdie on the green of the par-3 sev- PHOTO BY PETER WAGNER the tour quality coverage you Watson in the Western: despite a 3-over 39 on the front, was enth hole, a putt that stopped on the lip A Perennial Contender breathing down his neck. Watson took a long enough for Watson to be three steps get with Atlantic Mutual. The Watson was in select company, a two- 5-iron and fell out of his swing coming At the 2003 U.S. Open, Watson—playing on an exemption—dazzled spectators by from the cup before it tumbled in. Atlantic Master Plan can carding an opening-round 65. While he finished in a tie for 28th place, Watson won time Western Open winner. He entered a through the ball. It sailed to the right, the galleries and a bully pulpit to discuss ALS, the disease that afflicts his caddie and Some 35,000 people crowded automatically protect your period where he would be in the chase past a refreshment stand and close to a friend, Bruce Edwards. Olympia Fields on Open Thursday, and it almost annually, finishing sixth in 1978 pond not believed to be in play. sounded like all of them were right on cars, homes and valuables in and 1979 and second in unusual circum- Watson had no shot even after he got Western appearance. It was 1997, the For an eagle! top of the green. Watson and Edwards a single package.When the stances in 1983. Torrential rains pushed line-of-sight relief, but invented one. He year ’ first Western appear- “Bruce said, ‘You holed it!’ That start- were doing all they could not to cry. Golf Club Member endorse- the Western’s second round to Sunday grabbed a 7-iron and chopped. The ball ance as a pro ended up with thousands ed a feeling going.” Watson played the rest of his round and forced a 36-hole conclusion on stopped 20 feet from the hole. Then he following him down the final fairway. Bruce, of course, being Bruce Edwards, smartly enough to tie for the lead in the ment is added, you get the Monday, July 4. sank the putt for a zany 3. Norman, who Watson scored 68-69 on the weekend, Watson’s longtime caddie and recently Open, but that was the second most extra coverage you need. Watson led at daybreak by four would get used to things like that hap- his best Saturday-Sunday performance in diagnosed with ALS, amyotrophic lateral important thing going on. A hug with strokes, but knew the grind ahead wasn’t pening against him, was dumbfounded. the Western, a reminder of the great days sclerosis, which Lou Gehrig died from Edwards when the round ended drove Call Forest Agency today for easy. The night before, he’d said, “This is In a reversal from a year earlier, of the past, particularly that first win as a and the eminent physicist Stephen that point home. additional information on this a difficult golf course and a four-shot lead Watson’s putter saved him there and pro back in 1974. Hawking has lived with for years. A good “We turned back the clock today,” isn’t safe until you have two holes to go.” elsewhere in the dramatic final round. day for Watson would make it a good day Edwards said. “It was a blast. He’s 53 opportunity and for a proposal. Watson found himself in a monumen- He got up and down for par nine times in 2003 U.S. Open: Watson Wins going on 24.” tal scrap with Mark McCumber, who was a bogey-free outing. the Crowds The round gave Watson what he On Open Sunday, Watson and Edwards three holes ahead. They were tied by “I made everything I looked at,” said There, the story might have ended, but for called “a bully pulpit” with reporters to Since 1957 depart the 18th green to heartfelt applause. lunchtime. McCumber went ahead, Watson at day’s end. “The putter was the the USGA granting Watson an exemption explain how ALS is “an orphan disease. It Watson tied him. Watson went ahead by key weapon today.” into the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia affects 30,000 people, and that doesn’t a stroke, then two, chipping in from the It had to be. Norman threw together a Fields on the basis of his career record. make it a big enough disease for the drug rough on the 10th hole, then here came late charge, with birdies on four of the last Watson wasn’t expected to contend—or companies to spend millions of dollars to McCumber again. He birdied the par-5 seven holes to tie Watson at 8-under-par was he? After all, Hale Irwin wasn’t expect- find a cure. That’s the message that’s real- 15th and par-4 18th to finish at 4-under 280 after 72 holes. They had matched ed to contend in 1990 at Medinah, except ly important for me to give.”

Forest Agency Inc. PHOTO BY PETER WAGNER Dan Browne, CIC, AAI, CPIA 284 and tie Watson, who was on the pars on the first two holes of sudden that he thought himself a contender, con- It didn’t matter that Watson—who Cathy Hall, AAI 15th as McCumber signed his scorecard. death, the 16th and 17th. Norman was tended and won. Why not Watson? would win the year’s Senior British Open Oak Park, IL It was still Watson’s Western to win or short on a 35-foot birdie effort on the Why not, indeed, it became clear late and , a pair of majors for the 708-383-9000 lose. Amazingly, he lost it, bogeying the 18th, and Watson sank his from 25 feet, a Thursday afternoon. The first round senior set, plus capture the Champions [email protected] 15th, then missing three straight birdie fitting and dramatic conclusion to what yielded low scores, courtesy of docile Tour points race—finished the Open putts on the final three holes. His 25- was the best-attended Western Open to weather and rough cut once too often, back in a tie for 28th by the time Jim footer on the last barely missed on the that point. but Watson was playing a game that Furyk was lifting the trophy on Sunday low side of the cup. Beyond 1984, Watson remained a reg- would have been successful no matter night. All along the fairways on Thursday, “It wasn’t very pretty, was it,” Watson ular at Butler National, and traveled what the conditions. and for the rest of the week, the call said. “If I’d have made some putts, I’d down Route 83 to Cog Hill when the His third hole of the day was a 458- could be heard: “Good luck, Bruce”—a have won.” Western moved there in 1991, but never yard uphill par 4. He had 171 yards to far cry from “Remember Winged Foot!” A year later, Watson stood on Butler’s again contended so vigorously on the the hole. He had a 6-iron in his hand. Full circle, indeed. ©2003 Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company 18th green again, again looking at a birdie final day. He did, however, add three The ball disappeared. PL-414 0503 putt. This time, it was on the third hole of more top-10 finishes to his resume, “All of a sudden the arms go up,” Daily Southtown sportswriter Tim Cronin is a a sudden-death playoff with . including a tie for seventh in his last Watson said. “Field goal!” regular contributor to Chicago District Golfer.

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