Tom Watson had won the British Open twice before he figured out the nuances of links golf. So there was no better place for him to end a two-year drought on the Champions Tour.
In Scotland, no less.
Watson matched Des Smyth along the back nine at Royal Aberdeen, then won a sudden- death playoff with par on the third extra hole Sunday to capture the Senior British Open for his fourth senior major.
He also won the Senior British Open two years ago at Turnberry, and Watson won five British Open titles during his PGA Tour career, all but one of them in Scotland.
“I really think that it goes back to my understanding of links golf,” Watson said. “Before ’79, I didn’t particularly like links golf. I was an American golfer. I liked it through the air, hit the ball high, couldn’t hit the ball low with much accuracy. I finally told myself, ‘You know, this is game is played on the ground. And you have to expect some bounces.’
“And I’ve had some terrible bounces out here. But I’ve had some great bounces.”
Watson closed with a 1-under- par 70, while Smyth made up a three-shot deficit on the front nine and shot 67. Both finished at 4-under 280.
They made par twice on the 18th hole in the playoff before going to the 187-yard 17th, where Smyth found a pot bunker just right of the green, blasted out to within 20 feet and took two putts for bogey.
Watson was just beyond the green but chipped close enough to make par for the victory.
“Maybe my concentration dipped a little,” Smyth said. “Just seemed to get ahead of it and put it in a tough position in the bunker. But Tom won, and he’s a great champion. So that’s nothing new.”
Greg Norman nearly joined them in a playoff, making birdie on the last hole for a 68 to finish one shot back at 281 in his Champions Tour debut.
PGA Tour: Slow and steady wins the … golf tournament.
Notorious dawdler Ben Crane, whose slow play irked Rory Sabbatini at the Booz Allen Classic last month and perturbed his playing partners in this event, shot a 1-under 69 to win the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee by four strokes over Scott Verplank.
“I wish I could flip a switch and be fast, but it doesn’t work that way,” Crane said after his second career tour victory. “I think it’s a process, and I think over the next few months I’ll get better.”
That won’t be soon enough for Verplank, who slogged his way to a 71.
“Unfortunately, I probably thought about it a little bit and that’s my fault, but we were on the clock the whole back nine,” Verplank said. “It’s kind of a nuisance to be on the clock. But I kind of expected it, too.”
Crane said he felt bad for Verplank.
“It stinks for Scott. It’s unfortunate,” he said, “but it’s the way it happens. I feel terrible about it, but I try not to change my routine. I don’t feel I was too far off (the pace).”
But he was way ahead of the field, finishing at 20-under 260.
European Tour: Niclas Fasth made a 10-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff against Angel Cabrera to win the Players’ Championship of Europe in Alveslohe, Germany.
