Tom Watson and Stewart Cink are linked by Turnberry’s links

From St. Andrews, Scotland

Tom Watson fits like an old shoe now. He is as comfortable in his own skin as we are, seeing him there.

He is a story on the day before the British Open not because of what he did in the distant past, but because of what he did last year. He may be 60, but he is current.

Wednesday at St. Andrews was a day of rain, wind and chill. They were supposed to play a special Champions Challenge, a four-hole event that allows past champions who are able to tee it up on the fabled grounds one more time. But this is Scotland, where even tradition and nostalgia can’t trump the weather.

And so, when common sense prevailed and a handful of elderly men were spared pneumonia, the day became best suited for a return to a year ago. That’s when Watson, the Huckleberry Finn of our youth, with freckles and that unruly sprig of hair nearly as memorable as his laser-like golf shots, nearly stole a sixth British Open title. Yes, at age 59.

With a graying fan base hanging on every shot, 54-hole leader Watson came to the 72nd hole at Turnberry needing only a par to win, hit a perfect-looking iron to the green, and saw it all slip away as the ball rolled off the green. Watson took a bogey and lost badly in the playoff to Stewart Cink, an American journeyman.

So much bad could have happened after that.

Watson could have been devastated, could have disappeared in a flurry of sub-par golf on both the regular and Champions Tour. Cink could have carried a chip on his shoulder because few outside his immediate family had wanted him to win.

Neither was the case.

Watson has continued to play like he has discovered Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth, staying in the title hunt late into both the Masters and the U.S. Open this year. And Cink has made himself an attractive figure by handling a tough situation like an adult, a rarity in sports.

With the weather outside frightful, both Watson and Cink came to chat and were delightful.

Watson said his form isn’t great coming into his seventh British Open at St. Andrews and, incredibly, his 33rd overall. But he said he will give it a good try and that, “other than an artificial hip, that I’m stiffer and I can’t hit the ball as far,” his game is about the same as always.

He smiled. No psych job or a con attempt for competitive reasons here. Self-effacing humor is best achieved by those comfortable with the self they are humoring.

Watson said he was gratified by last year because “people our age … come up to me and say, ‘Tom, that was wonderful.’ “He was also gratified because young people approach him and say the same thing. Before that, he said, they would say, “My grandmother just loves you.”

He admitted that success in this tournament, following good runs at Augusta and Pebble Beach, would be “a great triumvirate,” and said that last year’s near miss has not had a long-term impact on his life.

“It tore my guts up,” he said, “but my guts have been torn up before in this game.”

Watson said he has lost tournaments he should have won, and won some he had no business winning. Asked about Cink and last year, he said, “I’ve always liked Stewart and the way he is, the way he handles himself.”

Cink handled his part of the look-back with similar tone.

The champion is given the fabled Claret Jug to keep for a year, and Cink said he put it to good use.

“The first thing that went in it — I reserved the right to put in Guinness,” he said. “That’s my beer of choice, not that I drink a lot of beer.”

After that, he said, his children drank Coca-Cola from it and then it was used for wine.

“We basted some barbecue with it,” he said, drawing a gasp or two from the British press and prompting Cink’s quick description of how he gave it a last look at a stop in Ireland, realized some barbecue sauce residue remained, and gave it a final clean before turning it back in to tournament officials Tuesday.

Cink said he had no frustration about Watson getting all the attention last year, despite him winning.

“If I hadn’t won the tournament last year in that way, with Tom involved,” Cink said, “it wouldn’t have been such a special event.”

For practice rounds, a player of Watson’s stature pretty much has his pick of partners. Watson practiced with Cink on Tuesday. It was a warm, sunny day, a good time for relaxed preparation as well as for solidifying relationships.

Shortly after noon, they teed off on No. 18, headed down the massive fairway and stopped to pose for photos as they crossed the 700-year-old Swilcan Bridge.

They were two golfers, historically joined at the hip. Or, in Watson’s case, at the artificial hip.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com.