Gullane, Scotland - Kansas City native, Tom Watson won his third Senior British Open in five years on Sunday, the only survivor to par at tough Muirfield after four windy days on the Scottish coast.
Graffiti Wall reports that Watson closed with a two-over 73 in the final round, making a double-bogey at the 18th hole but still beating Mark O’Meara and Stewart Ginn by a shot.
He met an old foe in Muirfield, the site of his 1980 British Open victory on the PGA Tour. The weather cooperated for Watson down the stretch, with clouds yielding to blue skies as he closed out his fifth major on the Champions Tour.
Watson now owns eight British Open titles among his 13 career majors on the PGA and Champions Tours.
He ended this one at even-par 284.
“The last few days playing Muirfield were some of the most serene days of my life,” said Watson. “This is one of my favorite golf courses, and the golf was pretty darn good this week.”
Ginn, the overnight leader, was done in Sunday by five consecutive bogeys from the 10th hole and only tied O’Meara for second place after a birdie at the 17th.
O’Meara, the 1998 British Open champion, joined him at one-over 285 with a final-round 72. Both players missed birdie putts at the 18th hole that could have sent the round to a playoff.
Watson won his first two Senior British Opens in playoffs.
“I made it a little difficult on myself today,” chuckled Watson, who also made a double-bogey at the 10th hole on Sunday. “Fortunately, those two guys didn’t make their putts.”
Defending champion Loren Roberts tied for fourth place with Jay Haas, Lonnie Nielsen and Eduardo Romero at four-over 288.
Watson seized the lead Sunday with a pair of birdies on the front nine, the first coming on a 20-foot putt at the third. He still held a share of the lead even after making his first double-bogey of the tournament from the deep rough at the 10th hole.
There was a two-shot swing at the 11th, where Watson made birdie and Ginn made bogey to give the eventual champion a two-stroke lead.
Watson later stumbled to a bogey at the 14th, but it didn’t matter. Ginn was in the midst of his bogey streak, and O’Meara was still three shots back.
All Watson needed was a six on the par-four closing hole, which he got after hitting a deep bunker with his last drive. It wasn’t the way he wanted to walk down 18, a champion again, but it was enough.
“I ended up making enough good shots today,” Watson said.
His victory at Muirfield in 1980, as a 30-year-old established star, was the third of his five British Open wins as a member of the PGA Tour. It came by four shots over Lee Trevino.
Now a 57-year-old Hall of Famer, Watson has been prone to mini collapses in the recent past. He gave up final-round leads in each of the last two U.S. Senior Opens, including this year at Whistling Straights, where tossed away six shots in a five-hole stretch.
It included two double-bogeys — the same number he had on the back nine Sunday at Muirfield. This time, Watson wasn’t sweating it.
“I felt more relaxed than I did at the U.S. Senior Open. I wasn’t comfortable at Whistling Straights,” Watson said. “But I gotta quit making these doubles.”
John Ross finished in fifth place at five-over 289, and Donnie Hammond was another shot further back at 290.
Nick Faldo tied for 14th in his debut on the Champions Tour after sharing the first round lead. He closed with a 75 in the final round — his third straight score of 74 or worse after an opening with a 68 at Muirfield.
