As Tom Watson gazed out over the home of a historic triumph at Royal Birkdale back in 1983 on Thursday, the American legend chuckled as he began relaying his most favourite tale about The Claret Jug.
Aussie cricket great Keith Miller famously said there’s no “pressure in Test cricket. Real pressure is when you are flying a Mosquito with a Messerschmitt up your arse” and while Watson was not a fighter pilot, he has a tale that made him sweat bullets.
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When patrons walk into the grounds at Royal Birkdale this week, among the first things they see are banners proclaiming the triumphs of five-time champions Watson and Australian great Peter Thompson. Their final triumphs came at Royal Birkdale.
But when Watson, who spoke favourably about the recent PGA Tour collaboration in regards to the Australian Open and the R&A’s Spirit of Golf recipient Adam Scott among other topics, arrived in 1983 he did so carrying a secret.
In an unusual circumstance, the iconic American was given the real Claret Jug after his triumph at Troon a year earlier instead of a replica and he kept it quiet for years with good reason after an accident at home that tested his nerve.
The trophy took pride of place on his desk but while practising his swing – which golfer has not procrastinated this way – he accidentally clipped the famous trophy and knocked a dent into it.
As the Rolex Testimonee quipped in the Committee Room of the Royal Birkdale Golf Club on Thursday, that was “more pressure” than draining the putts that secured him a couple of his major championships.
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Tom Watson spoke to foxsports.com.au at Royal Birkdale this week.Source: Supplied
But it was not only with a golf club that Watson, an eight-time major winner, was more than handy.
The Kansas City native could also do a thing or two around the home as well and had a vice and some tools downstairs and thought he would have a crack at smoothing out the kink himself. What was the worst, ahem, that could happen?
“I was practising my golf swing like this and … I mean, I knocked it off the desk and the lip went like this,” Watson said, when demonstrating how he had mangled the trophy with the errant swing.
“Rather than the lip up (being) here like that, the lip bent down like this. Now what am I going to do? Well, I had a good silversmith in Kansas (but) I said, ‘No, he probably couldn’t fix it.’
“(But) I looked at it and (the silverware) wasn’t creased … so I said to myself, ‘I can fix this.’ So I took it down (because) I had vice grip and some velvet and I put it on the lip right there, and clamped that vice grip on here like this, and when I looked to see if there’s crease, (there was) no crease. No crease. I’d gotten it back to where it should have been.
Tom Watson shared a hilarious story about what he did to the real Claret Jug.Source: AP
“I didn’t tell that story for a few years to the R&A. I’m sure they weren’t too happy about that. (But) no harm, no foul, we say in basketball.”
With the 154th British Open underway, foxsport.com.au had the chance to join a small pool of journalists from around the world for a chat with Watson about his famous career and thoughts on the current state of the game.
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On almost winning a sixth British Open aged 59 …
Watson’s performance in the 2009 British Open at Turnberry, a course he said was his favourite among the Open rota, sits among the greatest performances of his career, even though it ended in defeat.
The champion was just a couple of months shy of his 60th birthday and his eighth and final major title had been clinched at Royal Birkdale 26 years earlier when Watson, who is clearly a fan of time keeping given his current role, turned back the clock.
The champion had not recorded a Top 10 finish in a major for 12 years but became the story of the 2009 Open after taking the lead at the end of the second round, a position he held at the close of play on day three as well.
An immensely popular figure, Watson had the chance to secure a victory for the ages but missed an eight-foot putt that would have secured him the win on the 72nd before falling in a playoff to Stewart Cink, who is playing this year’s Open.
Watson later lamented his approach to the final hole when saying it “tore his guts out” to have fallen shy of a historic success.
“I was going right at the flag but with the uncertainty of links golf, maybe a gust of wind took it a bit further than it was supposed to,” he said at the time.
“I felt extreme disappointment that night but the one good thing that came of that was the response of people around the world.”
Time, though, has softened the disappointment, with Watson saying it did not cause him any sleepless nights.
“It’s over and done with. I say this for fun, but I say ‘I scared the kids’. Would have. Could have. Should have. It would have made for a great story … but I really can’t complain too much,” he said on Thursday.
“My second shot into the 18th green was as good as I could have hit the ball. But … I think there was an extra gust of wind and the ball didn’t stop.
“I tried to putt it out of the grass there and I made sure I got into the hole and hit it too far. And then I made a lousy putt. And Stewart … didn’t miss a shot in the playoff. He played great.”
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On the recent agreement by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour to elevate the Australian Open
The recent agreement reached by the PGA of Australia with the premier global tours to elevate the Australian Open from 2027 has boosted hopes the national championship might return to its previous glory.
While Rory McIlroy made a big splash in 2025 at Royal Melbourne and returning again for this year’s event at Kingston Heath, the increase in prize money and co-sanctioning from next season has boosted hopes of a stronger field.
2022 British Open champion Cameron Smith is among those who have urged Australian officials to pursue as many stars as possible and not solely focus on wooing current world No.1 Scottie Scheffler down under.
Watson, for his part, said there were challenges associated with travelling long distances and that the current schedule was challenging for players, but he likes the approach.
“It’s a wonderful idea,” he said.
“You know, Greg Norman back in the ‘96, he tried to promote a world tour, and the PGA Tour didn’t buy into it. I think we’re pretty provincial and also we don’t like to travel overseas in time zones, things like that. It’s national.
“But there are players who do go around the world, and Gary Player would be the first one to tell you he’s travelled (more than any other). That is true. But it takes it out of you.
Tom Watson backed the idea of the Australian Open being elevated.Source: AFP
“When I started the tour, I was not an exempt player, but I made it a policy that I’d never play more than six tournaments in a row, and I would … go home (and) I’d spend two weeks off the tour before I went back so I could recharge my batteries and practice my game.
“One week was not enough because you come down off the excitement and the adrenaline of playing on the tour. It takes you two days to get rid of the adrenaline (and) you have to be prepared to go the next tournament.
“The players today, you see, they talk about their schedules … and all those events, back to back to back, it wears on you, (because) we’re playing under adrenaline all the time. I commiserate with them on the schedule.”
On Adam Scott, Rory and Scottie Scheffler …
When asked about the decision by the R&A this week to anoint Adam Scott the inaugural Spirit of Golf honouree given his ambassadorship for the game and stewardship in the sport, Watson was succinct in his appraisal of the Australian.
“I would describe him very simply as a gentleman. He plays the game the way people should play the game,” Watson said.
“And he has got the best golf swing out here, he and Ludvig Aberg, those are the best two swings.”
He likes the look of emerging American Chris Gottterup and McIlroy is the golfer who Watson enjoys watching the most of current day players.
The 76-year-old is also intrigued as to how long Scheffler, the world No.1, can remain at the top of the game and contend for majors.
“I think it’s what this game continues to be all about. You’re always going to have somebody make a run and just be there,” he said.
“The problem is, how long is that period? In my career, it was about a seven-year period when I was kind of there, right at the top. Arnold Palmer the same way. Arnie was kind of there for seven years. Jack and Tiger were there for many more years at the top. That determines the greatest, the length of your career at the top.”
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And one last word on hecklers
Matt Fitzpatrick put on the table this week that he is concerned the integrity of golf could be compromised by sports betting, which has exploded in the United States since being legalised.
Several players this week have pointed to it as being part of the reason instances of bad behaviour among fans seems to be on the rise and while Watson does not necessarily believe that aspect is out of control, he is worried about the impact of betting.
“I hate to actually make this public because I don’t want it to be public, but what really concerns me is that somebody is going to be on a cell phone (and) he’s got the app, the betting app like this,” Watson said, grabbing a mobile phone off the table.
“He’s got this guy out here and I’m going to bet that he … misses this putt like this, and he clicks his $100 dollar bet like this, and then yells in the guy’s backswing. That’s what concerns me.”
Despite the unrest at the Ryder Cup and more recently at Shinnecock Hills when Wyndham Clark was trying to close out his US Open triumph, Watson said he still believes the sport is played the right way.
“The game still has that respect … with which people play,” he said.
“The kids see the pros coming off the 18th green, taking their caps off, shaking hands, whether the guy just beat his brains out or not. And that’s still part of the game, and I think that’s a really good image for professional golf to show that.”
Courtney Walsh spoke to Tom Watson via is role as a Rolex Testimonee. Rolex is a Patron of The Open and has been the Official Timekeeper of The Open and The R&A since 1981.