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Show p,nsiiorKN Kin Watson ma a 1-not smntuary of his in the British a victory he ..uvll" he sa'd. "let's 4sl v it's not exju'U-v f ;y I the u s cv" nias not, indeed. the U.S. Open, a Jr.th ago, he won w h of the great shots in frs ancient history, a ftin fcrdie on the 71st f a dramatic turn-Jd turn-Jd that beat Jack V.ilsus. 'flustimehewonitwith tyjll in his pocket. It jL landed to him. after Ld finished his round, y Nick Price faltered jiied on the last few 5 that complete the rri difficult journey to stone clubhouse at pricfi a two-stroke Mer'over , Watson, jurendered three and the lllth chupionship on the last Scurvies. His was not the only collipse. Bobby CtoFtt. ho had led irccgh the first three roads, imtinued to slide tjutbegsi Saturday and gtiily diappeared from cje contation. I've b?en in that pcsition," aid Watsjn, ,io let numerous pctectial tites slip aay ie.'cre be began his climb n the No. 1 position in nr'.d golf. Re ticked of! a number j'iem. a Tournament of fryers title, a I'.S. Open i Medinah, a Heritage 1 know whX they're fs!." be sa'd. "I've sen tbere. I've cried and ! suzpcM there's some p-jg going on right V put it's something wisve to get through. 1 tide me a tougher iyer because I didn't iwwanttofeel that way jgiln." .tii immediately after Tra: bad finished play, je'k Price began his tzil slide, Watson t::ght this one had i ssped him. "I didn't expect to be the Oyrn champion." he siiid. "I've never won a tournament like this, where someone just handed it to me." But, regardless of the fashion in which it was gained, it counts. It counts as his fourth British Open title, mulching the most by nn American. It counts as his seventh major professional triumph, tying Arnold Palmer's total. And it made him only the fifth man in history to win both the U.S. and British Opens in the same year. His fourth British Open triumph, acquired while he waited by the 18th green in bright Scottish sunshine, equaled the total by Walter Hagen, who won this title in 1922, '24, '28 and '29. And the victory let him join the elite company of Lee Trevino, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones as the only men to win the big national titles on both sides of the Atlantic in the same year. Treuno was the last to do it Li 1971. Hogan did it in 1S53, Sarazen in 1932 and Jones in his grand slam year of 1930. But it didn't come easily. He finished three holes in front of Price, a previously-obscure young man from Southern Africa who had played without particular distinction for four years on the European tour. But Price, 25, a native of South Africa who grew up in Zimbabwe and now lias returned to South Africa, played courageously until those last few, very difficult holes on old Troon's, links claimed him as a victim. Price had a two-stroke lead with five holes to go. But he made double bogey-6 on the 15th, dropping back to even with Watson. And, with Watson finished, Price came up short of the par-3 17th, chipped some seven or eight feet beyond the cup, and needing that putt to retain in a tie for the top, missed. He remained one stroke back when he played the 18th. Price, playing his second from the rough, got it some 30-35 feet beyond the cup. Now he needed that birdie putt to tie and send the lllth British Open Championship into an 18-hole 18-hole playoff. With Watson watching from behind the green, a little smile on his face, Price missed it, leaving it just short. It finished off a 73 and gave him a tie for second at 285. Sharing that postion was gangling -Peter Oosterhuis, an Englishman now living in California, who birdied the last hole for a 70. American Tom Purtzer came on to take a share of fourth at 286, two under par for four trips over the 7,067 yards of heather and forse, thistles and thicklets that stretch along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. Purtzer had a closing 69. He was tied with Nick Faldo of England, Des Smyth of Ireland and Mashiro Kuramoto of Japan, who played with Yatson and become the highest finisher in this event his country has ever produced. Faldo had a final-round 69 in generally good weather conditions, bright, warm sunshine and relatively gentle breezes. Kuramota had a 71 and Smyth 73. Fuzzy Zoeller, a former Masters champion, and Scot Sandy Lyle were next at 281. Campett, the distraught young man who led through the first three rounds, couldn't halt the slide that began with his horrendous 78 in Saturday's third round, a dismal effort that reduced his leading margin from a commanding five shots to a slender one. And that one quickly disappeared as the curly-haired curly-haired Clampett played front side in a fat 40 and dropped out of title contention. He finished with a 77 and was tied for 10th place with Jack Nicklaus. |
