Watson Chips on Old Block

It was almost like 1982 all over again for Tom Watson, whose shot on the par-three 17th landed in the same place he chipped in from to beat Jack Nicklaus and win the U.S. Open.

This time, it didn’t work out that way. Watson hit the chip long and then missed a four-footer for par coming back. He closed with a birdie and a round of 73, tying five others for 27th at 12 over par.

“If I never play here again, at least I can say I birdied the last hole,” Watson said.

Watson, 50, was playing in his 28th U.S. Open, and he says it may be his last. If Watson does not receive a special exemption from the USGA, he said he plans to enter a qualifier for the 2001 Open at Southern Hills in Tulsa.

“I think I can play with these young kids,” Watson said. “Most of them, at least. All but one.”

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Tiger Woods has a chance next month to become the fifth golfer to win all four major championships when he takes aim in the British Open at storied St. Andrews.

“That’s something that I would love to have happen,” Woods said of winning at St. Andrews. “And there’s no better site to have it occur than at the home of golf. That’s where it all started.”

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Colin Montgomerie shot 73 on Sunday and finished 15-over 299 for the tournament.

The Scot was ranked No. 1 in fairways hit. “That’s great,” Montgomerie quipped. “They should put a hole in the fairway.”

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Richard Zokol of Canada shot a five-under 30 on the front nine Sunday, a U.S. Open record at Pebble Beach. Zokol ended up with a 69 and finished 13-over for the tournament. After his morning round, Zokol sized up his chances to win:

“Being that I’m leading in the clubhouse, if we get an earthquake here in the San Francisco area I might win this tournament.”

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Sam Snead wanted to watch Woods close out his U.S. Open victory, but he couldn’t. Lightning from a Friday night storm fried all four of the television sets at his home in Hot Springs, Va. “Boom and it was gone,” Snead said. “I don’t think Tiger needed me watching for him to win anyway.”

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Remember Nick Faldo? Three-time Masters champion? Three-time British Open champion? He hasn’t won at all since the 1997 Nissan Open at Riviera.

But he was seventh at the U.S. Open, his best finish in a major since he finished fourth in the 1996 British Open. Faldo, 43 next month, considers that improvement. “I’ve been working hard on changing things the last month,” he said. “So it’s been a big learning curve this time. Basically, it was a good week.

“I’m technically not exempt next year, so that was one goal. I finished less than 20 back from Tiger--that was the second goal.”

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While Tiger’s mother, Kutilda, walked the course for all four rounds of the Open, his father, Earl, who rarely travels these days, watched on TV on Father’s Day.

“Awesome, totally awesome,” Earl Woods said from his home in Cypress. “It’s like watching a Mercedes climb a hill. The power was there, control was there. It’s just on cruise control.”

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Scratch that Grand Slam talk for Vijay Singh. The Masters champion tied for eighth, following up his third-round 80 with a closing 68.

“I just tried to redeem myself,” Singh said. “I’m very, very disappointed.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.