British Open Golf : Tom Watson Hopes That History Repeats Itself

Tom Watson’s second-place finish seemed almost inevitable, given the history attached to the U.S. Open at Olympic Country Club in San Francisco.

At Muirfield, site of this week’s British Open, it would be almost unthinkable.

The winners of the 12 previous British Opens played at Muirfield form a roster of all-time greats dating back to the 19th century: Harry Vardon, James Briad, Ted Ray, Walter Hagen, Henry Cotton and -- in the last four played at the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers -- Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Watson.

There is also another little historical fact worth noting about the championship the world outside the United States simply calls “The Open:”

The last time Watson won it, for a fifth time in 1983, he did so after finishing second in the U.S. Open to Larry Nelson.

But unlike the Tom Watson of ‘83, who was acknowledged as one of best players in the world, the Tom Watson of ’87 is a puzzle. He hasn’t won in three long seasons. Olympic, the course where Jack Fleck upset Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer blew a 7-shot lead with nine holes left, wasn’t about to help Watson.

“I played well enough, I did enough (in the U.S. Open) to prove to myself that I’m back,” he said. “But winning is the name of the game. I haven’t done that yet.”

He will attempt to remedy that situation, starting Thursday, against a 153-man international field that Michael Bonallack, secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, calls “the strongest ever assembled.”

It is led by defending titleholder Greg Norman of Australia and includes Seve Ballesteros of Spain, Bernhard Langer of West Germany and Sandy Lyle of Scotland -- all favorites with Britain’s legal bookmakers.

But Norman, clearly the dominant figure in golf last year, has not been his best since Larry Mize’s playoff pitch-in beat him at the Masters. Norman withdrew from the Canadian Open two weeks ago, pleading fatigue, so he could prepare to defend the only major title he has ever won.

The U.S. contingent, though it dominated this event in the past, commands considerably less respect these days. There is a reason: An American has not won the British Open since Watson’s last triumph and last year there were no Americans among the top five.

America’s hopes of reversing that trend have been diminished by the absence of two of the most recent winners and the less-than-outstanding performance of some others.

Barring a last-minute change of plans, neither Simpson nor Canadian Open winner Curtis Strange were expected to play at Muirfield.

There is nothing in the recent record of PGA champion Bob Tway to suggest he is ready to regain the form that made him the 1986 Player of the Year.

Corey Pavin has been in a mild slump since two early-season victories.

Fuzzy Zoeller is hampered by his chronic back problems even though he insists, “There’s nothing wrong with me, it’s my golf game that’s hurting.”

Paul Azinger, who has won three American titles and leads the U.S. money-winning list, will be playing in his first British Open.

Ray Floyd needs only to win at Muirfield to join four others in an exclusive group of players who have scored career sweeps of the game’s Big Four -- the British, the U.S. Open, Masters and PGA. But Floyd, like Tway, has not played particularly well since winning the 1986 U.S. national championship.

Then there is Nicklaus, 47, who won the first of his three British Open titles on these links by the Firth of Forth. He even named his Ohio golf village after this course.

Though he has had difficulty driving the ball this year, a prime consideration at Muirfield, he seems to play his best in the majors, particularly the British Open. In addition to his three victories, he has been a runner-up seven times and on two other occasions missed a playoff by a single shot.

Langer, Ballesteros and Lyle, on the other hand, appear to be near the peak of their game.

Langer, a Masters champion, has frequently challenged but failed to win in the United States during the first half of this season. He did win the British PGA, however, and scored a runaway triumph in the Irish Open.

Ballesteros, a two-time Masters and British Open champion, was second or third -- including a playoff loss in the Masters -- in four of his last five U.S. starts.

Lyle, another past British Open winner, won the important Tournament Players Championship earlier this year.

America’s best includes Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Mize, Payne Stewart, Hal Sutton and Lanny Wadkins. Arnold Palmer, 57, is scheduled to make his first British Open appearance in four years.

Portions of play Thursday and Friday will be televised live in the United States by ESPN, and by ABC on Saturday and Sunday.