Tom Watson - sports is also for the young at heart

The British Open golf championship has produced several dramatic final round melt-downs. The two that stand out from recent history are:

Frenchman Jean Van de Velde's disastrous triple bogey on the final hole at Carnoustie in 1999 to hand the title to a relatively unknown Paul Lawrie.

Dane Thomas Bjorn needlessly attacked the pin at the 16th hole at Royal St George in 2003, leaving himself stranded in a deep greenside bunker from where he failed to get out in his first two attempts. The eventual winner, American Ben Curtis, was unknown even in his home country!

Stewart Cink, this year's Open winner, is better known and definitely a more consistent player than either Lawrie or Curtis. It wasn't just Tom Watson's missed 8 footer that enabled him to win. He applied the heat on his older countryman when he courageously birdied the 72nd hole to become the leader in the clubhouse. Lee Westwood should have learned a lesson or two from that.

I still can't get over the off-the-green putt that Watson knocked 8 feet past the pin. Was it bad luck that the perfectly struck rescue approach didn't stop on the green? I think it was Nicklaus, who famously said: There is no good luck or bad luck in golf, just good shots and bad shots.

Putting from the fringe is always dicey if the ball has nestled down in the grass. Solid contact isn't possible. More often than not, the ball will jump up and roll farther than you intended. The two shot swing on the 72nd hole sealed Watson's fate.

Under pressure of defending a final round lead, adrenaline plays a negative role. Where calmness and deliberation is required, one ends up rushing and making a jerky swing. Padraig Harrington's pitch from behind the 16th green squirting into the water under pressure from Tiger's fantastic birdie at the Bridgestone Open at Akron, Ohio is the most recent example.

To be leading a Major Championship at age 59, till the final stroke on the 72nd hole, was an achievement that warmed the cockles of the heart of every elderly person who has ever played any competitive sport. Even for youngsters, it was an example of what a combination of skill and will power can achieve.

Why didn't Tom Watson win? Why couldn't he become a 'Cinderella Man'? Because that is life. Some times, dreams do come true - just look at it from Stewart Cink's perspective!

(Note: Another Tom has written an excellent piece about the tragic end to Watson's run at becoming the oldest person to ever win a Major championship. Read it here.)

Shakespearean tragedy at the US Masters

The recently concluded US Masters at the Augusta National had all the ingredients of a Shakespearean tragedy. Since I'm a sports loving engineer morphed into a stock market investment analyst, readers may question my credentials about commenting on the fine arts.

So, I am following the advice of the late great Master himself (Falstaff: 'The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better part I have saved my life.'  Henry IV, Part One) - and quoting from this article:-

"A Shakespearean tragedy is a five act play ending in the death of most of the major characters...Let us consider several characteristics common to Shakespeare's four great tragedies. Each play is especially concerned with one central figure or tragic protagonist. Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth are the protagonists of their respective plays. It is significant that each is the story of a man because the paradox of tragedy in real life is experienced mostly by individual men. Thus as we identify ourselves with the protagonist the sense of tragedy is aroused in us...Each play contains an element of hope that is disappointed or ambition that is frustrated."

Let me introduce our central figure - the 'tragic protagonist'. A 48 year old journeyman pro, bearing the scars of many a battle, a few of which he had won, still not able to clinch that one Major victory. After 69 holes of this demanding 72 hole layout, he was two shots clear of his nearest rival.

Would he become the oldest pro ever to win a Major, or would this Masters become his last hurrah? For thousands of spectators on a gorgeous spring evening, and millions of TV viewers across the globe, the air was tingling with anticipation and excitement.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. There were other major characters in this 'play'. One by one, frustrated and disappointed, they fell by the wayside.

Phil Mickelson set the course alight with a birdie spree that equalled Augusta's front nine record score of 30 and brought him to within a shot off the lead. Of particular brilliance, among many shining stars, was the hooked approach from behind the trees to an elevated 6th green, the ball finishing a couple of feet from the hole.

Lefty's playing partner, and everyone's favourite to win, the great Tiger Woods was trying hard but achieving little. A superb second shot on the par 5 8th got the ball hole-high, about 30 feet to the left. To no one's surprise and everyone's delight, he drilled the putt home for an eagle 3 on a difficult undulating green. The Tiger was on the prowl.

Meanwhile, the leader seemed like he was playing to a plan. While Lefty was charging and Tiger's fans were roaring, Kenny Perry cut out the frills and quietly but steadily parred all the front nine holes.

Chad Campbell, the sole leader after the first round and joint leader with Perry after 36, was also playing unspectacular, grinding golf and staying in the hunt.

Perry's playing partner, a veteran pro from Argentina, Angel Cabrera was playing the worst golf among the leaders. Missing greens with approach shots, incorrect club selections and even a horrid shank, but a never-say-die attitude and a fantastic short game kept his chances alive. The stage was set for the finale.

Mickelson hit a fat 9 iron into the water on the short but very difficult par 3 12th, and completely lost momentum. Tiger kept hitting his approach shots far away from the difficult pin placements and never had reasonable chances to cut the deficit.

His poor luck was epitomised by what happened on the 18th. His tee shot went into the pines. The second shot ricocheted off a tree trunk. A wonderful approach over a tree to about 8 feet, followed by a missed putt for bogie. It was that kind of a day.

Chad Campbell had finished at -10 and had no option but to sit and watch the drama unfolding on TV. Flash back to where the 'play' had started - a little too early.

The 70th hole was the tough par 3 16th with the pin tucked left, close to the water. Like a would-be champion, Perry hit the ball a couple of feet below the hole for a 'gimme' birdie, to the delight of the huge crowd. Cabrera was about 10 feet above the hole and had a tricky, downhill left-to-right breaking putt.

This was a do-or-die moment. The Argentinian relied on the memories of his only victory on the US tour, the 107th US Open at Oakmont in 2007, and smoothly slid the ball into the cup to remain within two.

Tragedy struck on the 17th. Perry pulled his second shot and missed the green back and left. Cabrera also hit long to a green sloping up from front to back. Outwardly calm but obviously shaken, Perry jabbed at the chip, rolled it well past the hole, down the slope, all the way to the front of the green. The only sensible choice was a two-putt bogey. Cabrera deftly chipped to within a couple of feet, parred the hole and was 1 shot down with one to play.

The golf swing is one of the most complex motions in all of sports - perhaps because this is the only game where a stationary ball has to be propelled long distances. To get a repeating swing under the psychological pressure of championship golf, the club needs to go back and then forward along the same inclined plane.

Forget Woods. Look at the swings of other multiple Major winners. Els, Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Watson, Nicklaus, Player, Snead, Hogan. All with smooth, classic golf swings. No going back inside, making a loop and then coming through from the outside. (Like Furyk - one Major and Kenny Perry - none. Trevino and Palmer were notable exceptions - but they had extraordinary talent and will power.)

Anyway, cut to the chase. The final hole. Another pulled second shot to the left of the green by Perry. A chip 18 ft away and a putt that oh-so-heartbreakingly slid by the cup. Bogey. The Argentinian, nicknamed the 'Duck' - probably for his lackadaisical walk, looked like he deliberately played short and chipped and putted for a three-way tie with Chad Campbell and Perry.

Campbell showed his lack of experience by staying in front of the TV till Cabrera's putt dropped. He had little time to warm up or practice before the threesome headed back to the 18th tee for the first sudden-death hole. Tiger would have been hitting balls for half an hour if he was in Campbell's place. Whether he made the play-off or not. No wonder, Campbell made a bogey and dropped out of the race.

For the second sudden-death hole, Cabrera and Perry teed off from the par 4 10th. Under immense pressure came another jerky, loopy swing that sent Perry's ball way left into the trees. Cabrera was safely on in two. Barely able to take a proper swing, Perry chipped past the hole, missed the putt and lost the only realistic chance he ever had of winning a Major.

Cabrera two-putted for his second US tour victory. Another Major. But the main 'protagonist' had 'died'. End of 'play'.

The case of the missing Cat

After a surfeit of cricket, the rolling greens of the Royal Birkdale provided a pleasant change of scenery. But the driving rain and howling winds were hardly pleasant for some of the biggest stars in professional golf. Singh, Els, Mickelson soared to 79s and 80s.

I've not had the privilege of playing at any of the links courses in the UK. However I still remember an afternoon round at the Shoreline Golf Course in Mountain View, California - next to the rather benign San Francisco Bay. The short par three 3rd (or was it the 4th?) measured 120 yards over water and a green-side bunker.

During my usual morning rounds, I would hit an easy 9 iron to the green. On this particular afternoon, there was a strong headwind from the Bay. After some thinking - and with a fair amount of reluctance - I chose a 4 iron. Barely clearing the water, the ball landed in the small strip of ground short of the green-side bunker!

And that was more like a 25 mph wind - far more playable than the gale-force 40 mph winds over Royal Birkdale. His long experience, and previous wins at the British Open, helped the Shark - looking a bit long in the tooth - to work his way around the course with his meticulous pre-shot routines and dramatic up-and-downs.

But some thing was definitely missing from the whole show. Call it the feline factor. The half-empty stands (or bleachers - as the Americans would call it) and the pitter-patter of polite applause were pale shadows of the 10 deep crowds and thunderous roars at previous Majors.

As Alice would say about the proverbial Cheshire Cat, we have seen the Cat without a grin but never a grin without a Cat. Yes, that was it. That million-dollar smile - usually flashed when he slots an impossible chip from off the green or a downhiller with a double break from 40 feet - was definitely missing.

He did miss the cut at the US Open a couple of years back. Other than that aberration, Tiger has been at every Major championship over the last dozen years, winning 14 of them. That puts him second behind the legendary Jack Nicklaus.

So, for the lesser mortals, the only excitement left is whether Masters 1996 will rear its ugly head again. That was the last time Norman led the field in a Major going into the final round. The fact that he managed to squander a 5 shots lead and lost to Faldo by six shots is probably going through his mind as he prepares for the final round.

For the Shark's sake, let us hope that he pulls himself together one last time to become the oldest person to win a Major.