Tom Watson closed out his British Open career with his worst score ever at St. Andrews.
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The golf course won – Watson finished with an 80 for a 12-over-par total – but he won enough in his time. His son Michael was on the bag for this, Watson’s farewell, in place of his regular caddie Neil Oxman.
“I’m not putting myself in the same shoes as Bobby Jones, but walking up that 18th hole, as the legend goes, Bobby Jones was engulfed by thousands of people who had come out and heard that he was on the golf course, and they watched him finish right there at the 18th hole”. He has said he will not turn professional until 2016 after he finishes his degree in entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State, the university that counts Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Scott Verplank among its golfing alumni.
Said Watson: “It’s all joy, there’s no reason to be sad and I fully appreciate the R&A giving me a special exemption to play”. I hate to finish that way.
“There have been lots of wonderful memories we’ve had, we’ve shared here”.
The hole resulted in a triple-bogey for Watson, moving him to three over par for the tournament.
Nick Faldo strode onto the famed Swilcan Bridge, turned to face the applauding galleries and a phalanx of photographers, and thrust both his arms toward the sunny skies over St. Andrews.
Nicklaus threw his arm around Watson’s shoulder as the two men walked off the green.
Watson may not have liked the way he finished, but it was a job well done by the officials letting him complete his final round at the Open Championship in front of his large fan base.
Willett, the son of a Yorkshire vicar and a teacher, a former world No. 1 amateur who finished third at this year’s WGC Match Play, was the first to hit double-figures under par and came in early with a second-round 69, a two-stroke cushion at the time.
He nearly had a sixth, at age 59 in 2009, when he missed an eight-foot putt to win and lost to Stewart Cink in a playoff.
Of all the advice Watson gave on Tuesday, Streb said it was on the iconic Road Hole where he learned the most. Woods was 5 over with seven holes to play.
Robert Streb shot 1-under-par 35-36=71 in today’s second round of The Open Championship to reach the midpoint in 7-under 137, two swings off the 36-hole clubhouse lead.
With the cut expected to be even, Woods will miss the cut in back-to-back majors for the first time in his career.
“If I could entertain the fans with great golf shots, that’s what I was out there to do”, he said. “To be in front of you for the last time, I wish I could be a little bit more eloquent in what I’m saying”. It’s also the one major each year that that is contested on a links style golf course, meaning that the obstacles are fescue grass, pot bunkers, burns and undulations, instead of trees and lakes like on traditional, or parkland golf courses.
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A ceremonial final walk across the Swilcan Bridge is the ultimate symbol of the British Open.
