Struggling Watson Is Still the Same Person Who Dominated Tour

Perhaps it is more difficult for a professional golfer who was used to winning major tournaments to adjust to also-ran status, however impermanent, than someone who hasn’t won at all.

When Tom Watson walked off the practice putting green Tuesday at the Riviera Country Club, there were several reporters waiting for him.

After all, Watson is a prominent figure on the tour and for many years was dominant. He has won 5 British Opens, 2 Masters and a U.S. Open.

His shootouts with Jack Nicklaus are part of golf lore.

But his name hasn’t appeared on the leader board with regularity in recent years.

Watson didn’t win on the Tour in 1985 or 1986. He won the Nabisco tournament in 1987 and finished second to Scott Simpson in the U.S. Open that year.

Last year was not a memorable one for Watson, though. He didn’t win on the Tour and was 39th on the money list, although he did earn $273,216.

And he isn’t off to an auspicious start this year. He finished 20 strokes behind winner Mark Calcavecchia at Phoenix and didn’t make the cut last week in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Now he’s back at Riviera, preparing for Thursday’s start of the Nissan Los Angeles Open, which he won in 1980 and 1982.

Watson was accommodating to reporters Tuesday, as he was when his winning and high finishes were common.

“Look at the tennis players,” he said. “They’re bad-mouthing the line calls. I don’t like it any more than you do.

“On the other hand, they’re playing for an enormous amount of money, and when somebody takes that call away that they think is unfair, they get upset. I don’t condone it. I condemn it.”

Watson said when he started on the Tour in 1971, the players weren’t always trying to do the best they could.

“There just wasn’t enough money to play for,” he said. “At that time, they only paid through 30 or 40 spots. Even if you made the cut, a lot of times you wouldn’t make any money. If you shot a 78 on Saturday, what was the point of trying to shoot 64 on Sunday? Go out and find a party.”

Watson conceded that many good players are coming out of college now and improving the quality of the Tour. “The thing that lures them is the money,” he said. “When you can make $180,000 in a week (the winner’s share in the L.A. Open), it gets your attention and makes you bear down.”

Watson was reminded, not unkindly, that it has been estimated that a pro golfer’s best years are between ages 30 and 40. Watson will be 40 in September.

Asked if he were concerned about that aspect, Watson said: “Sure, I’m concerned. I hope there is some powder left in the shell.”

Watson has made more than $4 million in his 18 years on the Tour, second only to Nicklaus. Yet he says winning is still the main motivation. “I don’t buy the idea that a person just likes to make a living out here, even though they can,” he said.

For now, though, Watson is more concerned with his putting stroke.

“Ben Crenshaw told me two things: ‘Hit the ball solid on your putts and keep your head down.’ That’s probably all it is.”

Simple, isn’t it?

The pro-am portion of the L.A. Open begins today at Riviera.

Among the celebrities in the field are Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, comedian Tom Smothers, former National Football League star O. J. Simpson and former major league baseball stars Ernie Banks and Steve Garvey.