Champions Tour: Tom Watson ready to defend Mitsubishi Electric title
Tom Watson has expressed confidence in defending his title at the Champions Tour season opener, Mitsubishi Electric Championship, which kicks off on Friday.
The 61-year-old veteran is ready to take the charge of the field in his debut tournament of 2011 after taking a break of three weeks.
Although the five-time Open Championship winner is confident, yet he feels a bit nervous too. He said, “At the beginning of each year, there is a certain amount of anxiety. There is always that pressure I put on myself. You always want to start your year
off with a good showing. It is just like the first drive on the first hole. You always want to start off with a good first drive.”
The Hall of Famer should not be nervous looking at his previous starts. The American kicked off 2010 strongly when he won the first tournament of the season. He birdied the last two holes of the course to defeat Fred Couples. He composed a score of 22-under-par,
which is high for players of his age. However, that was not it. The veteran took part in 34 events in the season, which means he is in good form.
The experience and the strong form will help the player in competing against six other Hall of Famers in a field of 42. Despite having both, the veteran feels the threat posed by the challenging course of Hualalai.
Watson said, “I've always loved to play in Hawaii, but I've never really played well in Hawaii. It is nice to finally say I have won here in Hawaii. The menehunes (mythical Hawaiian trolls or small people) were definitely kept at bay last year.”
Apart from the course, Watson will face players like Hale Irwin, Russ Cochran, David Frost, Gary Hallberg, Larry Mize, Ted Schulz, and Rod Spittle. All of these men won a title in 2010 and hence received the invitation to compete in the debut title of Champions
Tour 2011.
The first of the 25 events on the Champions Tour will take place on the par-72 Hualalai Golf Course, which is considered as the easiest on the circuit. The tournament will cater 42 players who will go in the weekend without a cut.
Tom Watson has the edge of being a veteran on the Champions Tour, which is designed for players above 50 years of age. Let's see if he manages to win it this time too.
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