Tom Watson Bids Farewell To One Of The Very Best Links Careers
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James Corrigan said it would be “like Luciano Pavarotti signing off at La Scala” and Michael Bamberger called his style “primal” in a wonderful send off, but no matter how you look at it, Tom Watson signed off on an epic links career. He is in the same league as the very best links golfers of all time—Old and Young Tom, the Parks, Jones, Thomson, etc)—and enjoyed the added benefit of competing in the Senior Open Championship.
Bamberger wrote:
This is all a round-about way of saying that this farewell from Watson is significant, because here you have a golfer who played a sort of primal golf in ways nobody else ever did, including everybody.
Watson did not issue a press release announcing his goodbye or anything like that. He just answered a question from Lewis with characteristic candor.
In explaining his decision to call it a day on the two of the most prized senior events, Watson said, “The why is pretty simple, I can’t compete against these guys anymore. I don’t hit the ball far enough, and when you can’t compete, there’s no sense. I’m a realist. I understand how to play the game. And I just don’t have enough tools in the tool box to compete against these guys out here.”
Some nice social posts of the farewell 73 at Royal Lytham and St Annes:
