My U.S. Open: Tom Watson (1982)

I'm Tom Watson and this is my U.S. Open how do you define the reasons that you win a tournament you can point it each individual shot you're not supposed to make the putt at 11 and I was about to make the butter 14 you're not supposed to chip it in at 17 you're not supposed to but that's why people watch to see the unexplainable the US Open was important to me because of my father he was in golf history nut he said if you win the US Open you won on the toughest golf course there is I count like that throughout the three practice rounds I hit the ball all over the place but the one thing I did I stayed around the Greens all the time it's just practice chipping out of a heavy rough most of time off the down slopes under the greens because the Greens had pebbles at that time there was a downslope and rough this much two or three yards this stuff before it hit the resource I practiced a lot right now in those down slopes Brown one with a sugar shot 78 or 79 and just kind of hung in there and I get to the last hole just trying to hold it together somehow in 1516 in 17 people the second day was just like the first thing is just a struggle just trying to stay in the contest the best I could using all my faculties to score but he had a bad Drive let's just go find it and you trying to make par par is pretty good education yes every three other last five holes that day and still it even poorer the fingers in the damp and I'm just holding back the water I always went for the range after I play and no matter of price playing well or playing poorly I want to confirm what I was doing well or I want to find something to change the first playing poorly and I went to the range trying to find something to change and remember a key that Sam told me Sam Snead he said you know song you gotta keep the inside your left arm close to your chest as you make the backswing like this so I tried it it worked a little bit and kind of kept with it and it worked more than just a little bit I was on the range for an hour and a half hitting balls fine at the end of it turn to Bruce caddie is it I've gotten started to pan out I started striping it with the driver playing from the short grass rather than where the gallery standing it built my confidence the more I played through that Saturday around by the end of the Saturday I feel a lot more at ease with my golf swing but also now the pressure was really real because now I really felt that I had a chance to win their national here in the cheers and Wars in front of me I knew they were cheers for Jack and they kept on coming and they kept on coming and okay now I've got to do my job I have beautiful drive a tent way down here and I decided to try to play a cut shot into this flag when you can see is going right to left and as soon as I hit it shots to the right look out down down they're gonna be in the very very tall grass the only wish you can have at that point is give me a lie so I can play unfortunately I had a lie that I could at least get the club face on the ball Watson now it's an airborne and as you can see just on now I'm faced with a 25 footer for par here actually I felt very good about this but I felt like I had it read correctly felt like a good just break it just lightly left to right not very much and when I got up over the but I felt like I'm gonna make this that could well be the shots of the championship there I am still tied for the lead what a time to hold a puck an escape with a password in that start a stronger person from then on long putts my caddy here Bruce Edwards really help Bruce said it was probably the finest read in the history of our relationship and again it's one of the three long putts I made there from 10 11 and 14 it you're not supposed to make those he just nor during my Stanford years I played pebble early in the mornings a Saturday morning is a number of times but I always play a game within the game and that was when I hit the 15th TSN alright now you got a part of the last four holes to win the use oh and Jack was the person I was trying to beat and when I got to the 15th tee in 1982 in the u.s. oh and Jack Nicklaus is one shot behind I said game on what I'm putting well you know I've got to get it close and sure enough I hit it a little bit harder than I thought was necessary and it just went sideways and broke the rope down there for basically a give me bogey that I look back on that and that's one of those extraordinary shots that I played in the last night two-strike dumped for Watson simple the situation two pars and you tied a par and a birdie you win a par and a bogey you lose I hit it solidly but I knew I heard it too much to the left I said oh no walking off the tee I muttered to the caddie Bruce I said well that's dead they said come on let's get it up and down as soon as I saw where the ball was sitting in the grass I said well that was the shot I practiced hundreds of times in the practice rounds off the downslope out of the heavy grass tried to hit as softly as possible Bruce puts the bag down he says get it close and I said get it close hell but still a done that's good do you believe it do you believe in you say has taken the lead finally wanted who turned loose like that see I told you I was going home that'll be remembered now I have a one-shot lead the tournament I wanted to win the most my thoughts immediately went to okay now I've got to play the last hole I played the 18th over 3-wood off the tee and I hit it as far as a driver is so pumped he's just taking an eye on you know I get a seven hour to lay up you just want to make sure I hit the right angle into the front right flag position good-looking shot in the air say now I have this downhill putt to to putt to win the national and you looked at me a little some of them you did it to me again anyway congratulations I'm really happy for you I've been dreaming of this moment since I was 10 years old it was a great great feeling to be able to call my dad on Father's Day know that he shared the victory this is a tournament that he loved them the one tournament that I wanted to win the most this is what I've always dreamed up and I finally hit one you

Channel: United States Golf Association (USGA)

Views: 42,767

Keywords: USGA, United States Golf Association, U.S. Open, US Open, USGA championship, PGA Tour, major championship, golf, professional golf, U.S. Open golf, highlights, golf highlights, sports, sports highlights, Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach California, Rolex, golf film, U.S. Open film, U.S. Open documentary, Tom Watson, 1982 U.S. Open, 1982 US Open

Id: bU-cLS3UmwY

Length: 9min 31sec (571 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 05 2019