Watson breezes to third Open victory

Press, 22 July 1980, Page 30

Watson breezes to third Open victory

NZPA-Reuter Muirfield, Scotland After Tom Watson’s third British Open golf championship win at Muirfield yesterday, the only person who did not believe that the American is the best player in the world was Tom Watson himself.

The self-effacing star from Kansas City breezed in to win by four strokes from his compatriot, Lee Trevino, with Ben Crenshaw third and a fourth American, Jack Nicklaus, tied for fourth place with Carl Mason, of Britain. AH five had 69 yesterday. “If you go by the record, Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer who ever played the game,” said Watson when the tournament had finished, and it is true that Nicklaus, aged 40, has won 16 of the grand slam events to just four for Watson.

But Watson has proved over the last three years that he is the most consistent player, with more tournament victories,, a lower average score per round and more money earned than anyone else in the world. He has now won another big event, and he won it impressively with a four-round total of 13-under-par 271, just three strokes more than when he set the British Open record of 268 while winning at Turnberry in 1977. Besides, his three titles in Britain, Watson also won the U.S. Masters in 1977. “My ambitions are to win the U.S. Open and the U.S. P.G.A. titles, which I’ve never won, to keep on improving my golf and to learn a greater variety of shots,” he said., “For example, with my swing it’s difficult for me to hit the ball low, but I’m still working on it.”

Watson ruled this event from the time he put together his seven-under-par 64 in the third round on Saturday, ■ but until then the likeliest winner seemed to be Trevino. . The Mexican-American, aged 40, shared the first round lead with Watson, but held it alone by three strokes after the second day, when he returned a 67. Then he lost seven strokes to Watson in round three, and neither, he nor anyone else made a serious run at the winner on the final day. Crenshaw’s third place follows seconds in the last two opens, while the shared fourth by Nicklaus was his worst finish since 1971. “I really was not good this week, jparticulariy with my putter, and my iron game was not going well, enough to get. me close to the hole," said Nicklaus, who won this

year’s U.S. Open last month. 1 The tournament produced < several surprises. An unknown Briton, Glenn Ralph, 1 was joint second on the ; opening day, then vanished ’ with rounds of 79 and 77. and 1 was not around for the final * day. - Then an Argentinian ex- ; lawyer and former motor- ! cycle racer named Horacio Carbonetti followed up his opening 78 with a 64 in the 1 second round, which broke . the Muirfield record of 66 ' held, by Nicklaus, Trevino ' and American Johnny Miller. , Carbonetti, however, also j disappeared after a 78 in the third round and did not j qualify for the final day. , His 64 mark was matched j by Watson and by the Amer- j ican; Hubert Green, i in the , third round, but it was the Japanese putting wizard, Is- ( ao Aoki, who denied them 1 all a place in Jhe record 1

books by sizzling around for a 63 on Saturday. Sadly, the three times champion, Gary Player, of South Africa, and the 1976 winner, Miller, did not make the cut for the last round, and the American veteran, Arnold Palmer, the champion in 1961 and 1962, missed the half-way cut after rounds of 76 and 74. Palmer, now 50, and one of the event’s greatest champions, said he was unlikely to play again in the British Open, which next year will be at Royal St George’s, near Sandwich on England’s south-east coast. Bob Charles, of New Zealand, shot a fourth round five over par 76, giving him a total of 295 for the tournament. Charles, a left-hander, was the 1963 champion. Simon Owen, the only other New Zealander left in the championship yesterday, returned a nine over par 80

for the final round, a tournament total of 297. The third New Zealander competing in the open this year, Dennis Clark, on 151 after the first two rounds, failed to make the 149 cut by two strokes. Leading scorers (British unless otherwise stated): — 271—Watson (U.5.),-68, 70, 64, 69. 275—L. Trevino (U.S.), 68, 67, in— B. Crenshaw (U.S.), 70, 70, 68. 69. 280—J. Nicklaus (U.S.), 73, 67, 71, 69; C. Mason. 72, 69, 74, 69. 282— C Stadler (U.S.). 72, 70, 69, 71; K. Brown, 70, 63, 68. 76; H. Green (U.S.), 77, 69. 64, 72; A. Bean (U.S.), 71, 69, 70, 72. 283— J. Newton (Aust.), 69. 71, 73, 70; G. Morgan (U.S.), 70, 70, 71. 72. 284— L. Nelson (U.S.), 72, 70, 71, 71; N. Faldo. 69, 74, 71. 70; I. Aoki (Japan), 74, 74, 63, 73; S, Lyle. 70, 71, 70, 73. 285— T. Weiskopf (U.S.), 72, 72, 71, 70; J. Pate (U.S.), 71, 67, 74, 73; J. Bland (S.A.), 73, 70, 70, 72. 286— B. Leitzke (U.S.), 74, 69, 73,.70; W. Rogers (U.S.), 76, 73, 63. 69; N. Suzuki (Japan), 74, 68, 72, 72; S. Ballesteros (Spain), 72, 63. 72. 74.