ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – When Michael Watson was a wee lad, there was no questioning to whom he belonged. As a youngster first learning the game in Kansas City, Mo., when he stood over a putt on the practice green to win a tournament, it never was to capture the U.S. Open, or the Masters.
“It was to win the Open Championship,” he said. He smiled. “Obviously, that was ingrained into me.”
His dad, after all, was Tom Watson – or “Toom,” as the locals call him through their thick Scottish brogues from the grandstands. Watson won Claret Jugs at five different British Open venues, and nearly added a sixth title just shy of his 60th birthday at Turnberry six years ago.