Watson Loses, but Golfers See a Champion

Only one short putt stood between 59-year old American Tom Watson and golf history. He was on the verge of becoming the oldest winner of a major championship.

CBS News correspondent Tony Guida has more on a performance that inspired older golfers everywhere.

Tom Watson was supposed to be too old for this. Yet with a birdie on the 71st hole of the British Open, Watson was young again, ready to write one of the greatest stories in the history of sport. Weekend golfers everywhere rejoiced.

"I'm thrilled that he's doing as well as he is because he's one year older than me," golfer Mark Levi said.

They've been playing golf at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx since 1895. It is the oldest public course in the country. Even duffers here have a respect for the game that borders on reverence when they talk about what an aging champion is doing across the pond.

"It shows tremendous skill, character and determination and it's truly inspiring and motivating for every golfer," said Humphrey Rolleston, a golfer at Van Cortlandt.

Paul Sliva, the pro at Van Cortlandt, says Watson played Turnberry with an almost incomprehensible mixture of flair and grit - a perfect marriage of golfer and course.

"Tom Watson is probably the greatest links player of all time and on a links course you have to hit so many different shots and accept the outcome," Sliva said.

Five times before the outcome for Watson was the claret jug: 1975 at Carnoustie, 1977 at Turnberry, 1980 at Muirfield, 1982 at Troon, and, a year later, Watson's fifth championship, at Royal Birkdale.

Twenty-six years later, Watson stood over an 8-foot putt on the final hole that would seal the unimaginable. For the first time all week, Watson showed his 59-year-old nerves, missing the putt.

Was he, in fact too old for this?

"I didn't feel like it," Watson said. "It just looked like it."

"Even if he doesn't win it's still an incredible achievement," Rolleston said.

The golfers at Van Cortlandt will never hit shots like Watson. But they know greatness when they see it.
By Tony Guida