St Andrews Magazine Edition 04

We thought we may
have seen the last of
Tom Watson when he
crossed the Swilcan
Bridge at the end of his
second round of the
2015 Open, but 2018
has seen the five-time
Open Champion return
to St Andrews for both
the Senior Open and a
new role.
Earlier this year Watson
was unveiled as an
Ambassador for The
Open worldwide,
promoting the oldest
championship in golf
on the global stage.
The Senior Open will be
the legendary
American’s final
competitive outing at
the Old Course, and for
a considerable time it
was looking like he
could walk away with
the title.
A bogey-free opening
round of 69 had him
inside the top ten, and
in the second round a
solitary bogey at the
sixth was offset by five
birdies, including a
spectacular one at the
formidable Road Hole
17 th (pictured).
Going into the
weekend he was just
two shots off the lead,
but it was about to get
better. A spectacular
eagle, secured with a
putt from off the green
at the par-five fifth, was
followed by a birdie at
the sixth to see Watson
incredibly take the
lead.
But his hopes of a
record fourth Senior
Open win took a
battering with a back
nine of 40 to fall back
of the leader.
A final round of 77 saw
him finish 11 off the
winning score but it
was a tremendous
performance from the
68-year-old.
Before the tournament
Watson spoke to St
Andrews Magazine
about the week
ahead:
“It’s wonderful that we
have the chance to
play the Old Course as
Seniors, there’s more
excitement about
playing this Senior
Open Championship
than I have been
involved in before.”
“A lot of our players
from the PGA Tour
Champions wanted to
come over here and
qualify, the players are
truly excited about
playing.”