Global Golf Post - June 21, 2010

Tom Watson became the second-oldest
player to make the cut at a U.S. Open.

LEN SHAPIRO
PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA | As Tom
Watson walked off the 18th green at Peb-
ble Beach early Friday afternoon, specta-
tors in the packed bleachers up above
rose as one to offer a stirring ovation to a
60-year-old man who had just posted an
even-par 71 on his favorite golf course in
the second round of his 31st, and possibly
last, U.S. Open championship.

Still, after his opening-round 78,
Watson said he was far more interested
in focusing on the present, not re-living
the past, as he played on Friday.

“I had my game face on,” he said after
signing for 71 that kept him in the tour-
nament for another two days. “Today, it
was ‘how am I going to get my job done?’
I’ll talk about the sentimental part later. I
hate to miss the cut. I do. It grates on me.
I hate it. Always have.”
And how much longer will he keep try-
ing to make cuts and maybe, just maybe,
win tournaments?
“It could be a year, could be three
years,” he said two days before the start
of play. “I hope it’s a long time because
that’s what I am. I’m a golfer, plain and
simple, a golfer. And when I can’t do it
anymore on a competitive level, it’s going
to be a sad day.” l
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