- Publish date:
The Vault
Every SI Story ... Every SI Photo ... Ever SI.COM/VAULT
EXCERPT | July 25, 1983
Tom Terrific
A supreme shot maker saves his best for last
Tom Watson hadn't won in a year, since the previous British Open, but he was in top form at Royal Birkdale, as Dan Jenkins reported.
Tom Watson keeps thinking up different ways to win the British Open. Last Sunday, on the rowdy Lancashire coast of England, he did it for the fifth time by waiting until almost the last minute and then playing what may have been the single best hole of his trophy-littered life. At that juncture Watson faced Royal Birkdale's toughest hole, the 18th, a 473-yard par-4 that looked as if it stretched from a towering sandhill to the Entebbe air terminal. Near that faraway green Hale Irwin, who had whiffed a two-inch putt the day before, was waiting with Andy Bean; the two of them were resting their hopes for an 18-hole Monday playoff on Watson stumbling to a bogey right here. But, ho-hum, this was the British Open, the championship that simply brings out the best in Watson. The only thing he was going to whiff was a pork pie, maybe.
Watson is still the sport's premier shot maker, and when he had to, he proved it. He smashed a 260-yard drive that literally split the heart of the fairway. He had 213 yards to the stadium-like green, grandstands to the sides, funny white clubhouse behind, and that's when he struck what he described as "the best two-iron of my life." The ball ate up the flag all the way and came to rest only 15 feet from the cup. A blind man could have two-putted for the victory, and Watson coolly did just that, knowing he had put them all away with that exemplary drive and perfect two-iron.
Watson's win at Royal Birkdale was his eighth and last major. His five British Open titles are one shy of the record held by Harry Vardon.
SI.COM | Breaking News | Real-time Scores | Daily Analysis
NFL
MLB
NBA
NHL
Golf
Editor's Choice
RECEIVING LINE
SI.com's Jim Trotter describes the star-studded camp run by the Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald:
A Ph.D. course for NFL wide receivers is in full swing at the University of Minnesota, where last week's instructor was future Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and this week's professor is former Viking Cris Carter. The camp is the brainchild of Fitzgerald (left), a Minnesota native who's working to be mentioned in the same sentence with the greats of the game. Among the wideouts who have made the trip are Buffalo's Lee Evans, Denver's Brandon Marshall and Minnesota's Sidney Rice.
MOST POPULAR
SI PHOTOS
Inside Obama's First Pitch
The President goes low with the All-Star Game's ceremonial toss
JON HEYMAN'S
Daily Scoop
How players like Matt Holliday size up as the trade deadline looms
SI PHOTOS
Recapping UFC 100
Brock Lesnar's over-the-top antics overshadow a key victory
ON THE GO
Tweet Tweet
Follow SI.com writers, including Peter King, Don Banks, Jon Heyman and Tim Layden, every day on Twitter. Plus get Truth and Rumors and regular updates at SI_24Seven
SI Mobile
Get the latest news, live scores, photos and stories from SI.com writers, plus personalize your page with your favorite teams.
Cover Gallery This Week in SI
1967
The spitter, banned from the majors since 1920, had returned to being "so much a part of the game," Herman Weiskopf reported, "that everyone talks about it constantly."
1979
Sebastian Coe shattered the record for the mile against a stellar field in Oslo. "Simply awesome," said Eamonn Coghlan, who even after running a personal best finished fourth.
1990
Greg LeMond "takes the biggest bike race in the world, folds it neatly, puts it in his pocket and makes it his own," Leigh Montville wrote, after LeMond won his third Tour de France.
GALLERIES
Tom Watson • British Open
David Beckham • MLS Return
Bill Clinton • Presidents at Play
PHOTO
Photograph by GRAHAM FINLAYSON
OUT OF THE CROWD Eight players held or shared the lead on Sunday before Watson finally emerged victorious.
PHOTO
TONY TRIOLO (SPITTER)
PHOTO
TONY DUFFY (COE)
PHOTO
YANN GUICHAOUA/AGENCE VANDYSTADT (LEMOND)
PHOTO
ANDREW HANCOCK (FITZGERALD)
PHOTO
DAVID BERGMAN (OBAMA)
PHOTO
MICHAEL ZAGARIS (HOLLIDAY)
PHOTO
GREG CHOAT (LESNAR)
PHOTO
ROBERT BECK (WATSON)
PHOTO
© CHAZ NIELL/SOUTHCREEK GLOBAL/ZUMA PRESS (BECKHAM)
PHOTO
ANDREW REDINGTON/ALLSPORT/GETTY IMAGES (CLINTON)
PHOTO
