Turnberry

Only one of these men has won the Open in Turnberry, Scotland.

The British Open this week will be played on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland at Turnberry. Turnberry, although not as famous as the legendary St. Andrews, was the site of the best British Open ever, and quite possibly the single best major golf tournament of the modern era. The year was 1977.

It was a duel between a twenty-seven year old Tom Watson and a thirty-seven year old Jack Nicklaus. Watson, a gap-toothed kid from Kansas City, had already won the 1975 British Open at Carnoustie and then beat the Golden Bear head-to-head in the 1977 Masters, three months before the British Open. Nicklaus was in his prime, having already won 14 of his eventual 18 major titles. Watson was hot coming in, according to Dave Anderson of the New York Times. He had just won the Western Open and a tune-up tournament in Barcelona where he shot a 61 in the final round. He would go on to win six tournaments that year and five British Open titles in his career, equaling the all-time record.

Watson and Nicklaus went mano-a-mano like great boxers for four rounds. The both opened 68-70 and pulled three strokes clear of the field. Then came the third round Saturday, booming driving, arrow like irons, long putts and when the day ended both had shot majestic 65s. They would be again alone in the final group on Sunday. The final round was the stuff legends are made of.

The winner broke the British Open scoring record by eight strokes. Watson and Nicklaus finished a full ten strokes clear of third place Hubert Green. As Sunday drew to a close, Watson was down by one stroke heading to the par three 15th hole. He answered the bell. He nailed a 60 foot birdie putt from the hardened grass a full 10 feet off of the green, dinging it off the flagstick and dropping it into the jar. They were tied with three holes to go. Both players parred the 16th hole. The 17th was a par five, Watson made the the green in two. He was facing a mere twenty foot two-putt for birdie. Nicklaus, off the green in two, finessed a tricky chip to within five feet, but he couldn't nail the birdie putt. Watson two putted for birdie and held the lead for the first time all day. But, the Golden Bear wasn't done yet.

18 was a par four and the tournament looked all but over when Nicklaus hit his drive into the deep British Open rough. Somehow he slashed through it, and put his second on to the edge of the green, forty feet from the pin. Meanwhile Watson, offering no opportunities to the consensus best player ever (pre-Tiger) hit a one-iron down the middle of the fairway, and then a seven-iron to two feet. But he knew better than most, it still was not over. According the Times veteran columnist Dave Anderson, moments before Nicklaus putted Watson whispered to his caddie that Nicklaus would make that 40-footer for birdie. And he did. Facing all the pressure in the golfing world, with greatest player in the game watching over his shoulder, Watson drilled the two footer and won the tournament. As Nicklaus told him later, "I gave you my best shot but it wasn’t enough. Congratulations."

We would be lucky to see half as much drama this week as the British Open returns to Turnberry for the first time since 1994 when Nick Price was the winner.