Life Just Isn't Fair

Tom Watson should have won the British Open.

It was the perfect script. One of golf's legends returning 22 years later to the same course where he famously dueled with arguably the greatest player in golf history at the 1977 Open Championship. Watson prevailed over Jack Nicklaus on that day at Turnberry in what many call the greatest final round of golf in major championship history. But with his 6th claret jug (and 9th major championship) all but in the bag on Sunday, Watson learned the cruel lesson that all of us do on a sometimes daily basis: Life just isn't fair.

And that's what's so great about sports. Time and time again, sports mirror real life. The highs and lows. The thrills and the heartbreaks. Yeah, they're just "games" at the end of the day, but there are lessons there to be learned. Just like each day of each of our lives.

And so was the case on Sunday. Watson had captivated the sports world. Tiger Woods was not around this particular weekend after missing the cut at a major for just the second time in his glorious career, but thankfully for golf (and the TV networks) there was Watson.

Two months shy of celebrating his 60th birthday, Watson was aiming to become the oldest player (by far) to ever win a major. An opening round 65 had people talking, but when he followed that up with a 70 on Friday and then a 71 on Saturday -- when anything under par on both days was a great score -- we all started to believe that this could actually happen. Nicklaus said he and his wife shed a few tears while watching the action on Saturday from their home in Florida. I'm guessing they weren't alone. This was more than just Tom Watson showing all of us that "old" people were still capable of doing some pretty special things. This was Tom Watson showing all of us that we're all capable of doing some pretty special things, no matter the circumstance.

And so there he stood on the 18th tee on Sunday. A par away from one of the most improbable victories in sports history. Four shots away from the best moment the golf world has seen since Tiger's win at The Masters a decade and a half ago. One par.

He hit his drive perfectly, just like he'd done all week. In the middle of the fairway, he was a mere decent approach from a sure victory. But in links golf anything can happen. And in links golf, just like in life, you face constant decisions without much time to make them. You do what you think his best, and then plow full-steam ahead.

Watson was in between clubs. He said he thought about hitting a 9-iron, but felt more comfortable hitting an 8. The decision took just seconds, but it changed the outcome of the entire tournament. His swing was perfect. His contact was perfect. He's Tom Watson. That's what he does. He's made that same swing hundreds of thousands of times with hundreds of thousands of dollars hanging in the balance. But this time it was too perfect.

The ball landed just short of the green and kicked right toward the flag, but the first bounce was too high and the pace was too fast. The ball ran thru the green and off the back. It came to rest in the rough behind the green, leaving Watson with a difficult up-and-down to save par and win the tournament.

"I hit the 8-iron just like I wanted to hit it. But in retrospect, I guess I should have hit the 9," Watson said afterward. As they say, hindsight is always 20-20. But like in life, there were no do-overs on this day. There was no other person on the planet that could have made that decision for Tom Watson. He hit the cub he felt most comfortable with. He hit it perfect. But the result just wasn't what he wanted.

Just minutes later, Watson was faced with another tough decision for his third shot. Laying in the rough, the conventional play was to chip the ball up the slope and land it on the green, letting it feed toward the hole. But, Watson said he didn't feel comfortable chipping in that situation, with the condition of the terrain in front of him, because too many bad things could happen if he didn't make contact like he wanted to. He chose to putt.

Watson stroked the ball solidly. It had no problem getting thru the fringe and up to the green, but the speed was so much that it ran eight feet past the hole. That left an extremely testy put for par and the tournament championship.

And so there he was. Tom Watson. Fifty-nine years old. A legend of the game. A winner of eight major championships. There he was, on the very same course on the west coast of Scotland where some 22 years ago he outdueled the great Jack Nicklaus to win one of those eight major championships. Tom Watson. Eight feet from one of the great sporting moments of my lifetime. Eight feet from history. Thousands of people surrounding him and that small patch of grass he was standing on, hoping to will a tiny golf ball into a small hole. Millions more watching on television trying to do the same thing.

He missed.

It was probably the worst putt he hit all week. He desrcibed afterward in one word -- "lousy."

And that was it. The tournament was not over, but for all intent and purposes it was. The bogey dropped Watson into a tie with Stewart Cink at 2-under. They headed back to the 5th tee for a 4-hole playoff to decide the champion. But the air was out of the Tom Watson balloon. His 59-year-old boldy started catching up with him and the playoff was never really competitive. Cink won by six shots, claiming his first major championship. It was well-deserved for one of the nicest guys on Tour. But the story of the week was, and always will be, Watson.

He should have won the British Open. That 8-iron should have stopped on the back of the green. That par putt should have went in. I should have just witnessed one of the great sporting moments of my lifetime.

Life just isn't fair.

But, you know what? That's what makes it so much fun.

There were no do-overs for Tom Watson today, but I'm giving myself one. I said that I should have just witnessed one of the great sporting moments of my lifetime. And in retrospect, I think I just did.