Tom Watson surges in from tenth tee at Aussie Open
The 63-year-old American golfing legend, Tom Watson, proved that he still had what it took to putt with the best of players and in the worst of weather.
Tom Watson recorded a momentous 68 shot win at the Lakes the morning. He had begun his play at the disadvantaged 10th tee, but well into the back nine, he was back in the saddle with four birdies.
The putting at the par-4 third hole was the only rocky play the American experienced for the duration of the round.
On the 8th hole, he performed an exquisite 13 meter birdie which wrapped up the day with the crowd applauding the master golfer’s ability.
Watson told players that teeing off first was the winning cue to windy tournaments like the Australian Open that opened on Thursday to gusty winds and threatening weather.
Teeing off first makes for good scoring, so he said. Teeing off last, consequently, means a struggling game because the greens, complicated as they are, make for harder play.
As the winds pick up in the afternoons, he explained, it becomes increasingly difficult to get the ball closer to the pins.
"You can get some really awkward putts, you can miss the greens and if you do that two or thrice you make bogeys and if you make bogeys you don't win golf tournaments.
"Let's hope the winds do what they did today and yesterday, they were calm in the morning and blew in the afternoon, and maybe I can get a really good round tomorrow to run up the leaderboard some.
"I didn't make the same mistakes as I did yesterday.
"I just made a little rotation change in my backswing that freed up the setting of the club and made it a little bit easier to set the club.
He admitted to playing what he described as “pretty solid golf”.
His ten-stroke comeback was uniquely inspirational for the crowd, especially after the disturbing Caddy Whack that opened the tournament on Thursday.
Watson described how hard he had worked on his swing-tweaking the previous months, also giving due credit to the course management.
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