Tom Watson: Old man to some, hero to others

Tom Watson (age 59) was one putt away from winning the oldest and in my opinion most prestigious golf tournament in the world.

He made several mistakes on the final day, and bled lots of shots - but, he was the leader at the end of the first day, and he was tied for the lead at the end of regulation play.

He lost in a playoff to Stewart Cink, one of the greatest ball strikers of this era. In fact, many compare him to - Tom Watson.

That said- there are many people out there who call him a "choker" - he couldn't finish.

Ok, lets forget the fact that he has already beaten out Jack Nicklaus on the final hole of multiple majors for just a second, and take a hard look at what actually happened in the final few holes.

1) He hit an approach shot exactly 15 feet too far (he missed on the wrong side of the hole, after landing his perfectly hit approach shot in the exactly middle of the green).

2) He hit a putt from off the green that rolled 8 feet too far. If he had left the putt short, it would have rolled back, possibly off the green.

3) He hit a poor putt that finished two inches from the hole and guaranteed him a spot in a playoff. He did not aggressively putt back down to a hole where he had already slipped off the green.

It is true, he played very badly in the playoff. Awful in fact. Tiger woods didn't make the cut, I guess he choked too.

Seriously, Tom Watson has won FIVE British Opens - there is no person alive who has won more. It would have been soooo sweet to see him win another one.

He didn't - but it was still great.