Tom Watson spent much of the 1970s and 1980s on top of the golf world. The American golfer led the PGA Tour money list on five occasions during the 20-year time span. He also secured eight Major victories.
Watson found much of his major tournament success in the United Kingdom. The golfer won the Open Championship five times between 1975 and 1983. During that nine-year run, Watson was nearly unstoppable as a golfer. He won two Masters tournaments and one U.S. Open.
The only major Watson was unable to win was the PGA Championship. His best finish came in 1978 as he placed second in the tournament. The PGA Championship was the only element of the golf Grand Slam to elude Watson. Despite never winning the Slam, Watson was still one of the best golfers of his day and a player that will remembered by golf fans and pundits.
Watson went on to play on the PGA Senior Tour. He won 14 times on the circuit with six of those wins being in senior major events.
The golfer is remembered today for his incredible streaks and elite performances. For nearly four decades, Watson made at least one PGA Tour cut per season. His low PGA score of 65 was recorded on two different occasions (1993 and 2000). Watson is the only person to score a round of 67 or lower in one of the four majors in five decades. His consistency has been unmatched by any other golfer to date.
Named PGA Player of the Year on six occasions, Watson was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1988. He has since been given a lifetime membership to the European Tour. Watson continued to play competitive golf Until 2019. Since 2007, he has hosted the Watson Challenge in his home state of Kansas.
Tom Watson’s Major Wins
| Years | Masters | US PGA | U.S. Open | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
| 1977 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
| 1980 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
| 1981 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| 1982 | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 1983 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
Masters Wins: 2
If you want to look at an era of golf in which two greats of the sport were going head-to-head then you need look no further than what Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus were up to in the 1970s. That played out in all of the Majors, but especially in the Masters, with the pair of them winning it at the other’s expense. It was a friendly rivalry that helped to increase the popularity of the sport, in spite of the somewhat snobbish appearance of the Masters Tournament as a competition. The first time that Watson took part on it was 1970 when he missed the cut, but he won it in 1977 and then tied for second in the two years that followed.
1977 – Two Shot Victory in Battle with “the Golden Bear”
For many Major winners, the Masters is the tournament that allows them to break their duck. That isn’t the case with Tom Watson, who had already won the Open Championship two years before. Even so, it was a momentous occasion, if for no other reason than it saw him and Jack Nicklaus going head-to-head in a classic of the era. He shot 70 in his opening round, then moved to tied-first after a 69 on day two. Day three left him there after a 70, but it was the Sunday when the excitement gripped viewers. Watson and Nicklaus were in a ding-dong battle, which Watson emerged as the winner of thanks to a 67 and total of 276 for the week, putting him two shots ahead of his rival.
1981 – Miller & Nicklaus Held Off for Two Stroke Triumph
Watson and Nicklaus once again went up against one another at Augusta National, with a bogey-free Friday seeing the latter enter the weekend with a four-stroke lead. He shot 75 on the Saturday, however, whilst Watson followed a 71 and a 68 with a 70, giving him a one-shot advantage and the lead heading into the final round. Another 71 was enough to secure him his second green jacket, shooting 280 over the course of the week and finishing on -8. That meant that he was two shots clear of Johnny Miller and Nicklaus, with the Golden Bear being the runner-up for the fourth time. He did manage to win the Masters again six years later, however.
PGA Championship Wins: None
Although Tom Watson never managed to win the PGA Championship, it wasn’t a tournament that he disgraced himself in. In fact, he only missed the cut once in his first 19 appearances. Having finished ninth in 1975, the third time that he entered the competition, he managed to end tied-sixth in 1977 and tied-second a year later. Even that was thanks to a play-off, with Watson making par on the first two holes of the sudden-death tie but losing out when John Mahaffey sank a 12-foot putt. Watson would end up tied-ninth in the PGA Championship three more times in his career, with the most impressive of those coming in 2000, 27 years after his first appearance.
US Open Wins: 1
Tom Watson’s first US Open appearance came in 1972 when he ended up tied-29th. He missed the Cut the following year, but followed that up with five top-ten finishes to prove that he was a golfer that knew how to cope with the stresses of the open nature of the competition. A tied-third finish in 1980 was followed up with a win two years later, then a second-place a year after that. He finished second in 1987 to prove that it wasn’t a fluke. In spite of his age, Watson kept on playing in the US Open and often made the cut, including in 2010 when he was 60-years-old and finished tied-29th at Pebble Beach.
1982 – Chip-In on the 17th Seals Famous Victory
The 2010 performance of Tom Watson at Pebble Beach might well have been the golfer reliving his youth, given the fact that the only time that he won the competition was at the same golf course. That was in 1982, having ended up tied-third two years before. He ended his first round level par and sitting in tenth, two off the lead. He remained level par at the end of the second day, but the leaders were now five ahead. A four under par 68 saw him shoot to level with Bill Rogers in the lead on the Saturday, then he hit a 70 on the final round to hand him his one and only US Open win, two shots ahead of Jack Nicklaus in second.
Open Championship Wins: 5
Although he would win it five times, there is an argument that his most impressive performance in the Open Championship came in 2009 when he finished second as a 59-year-old, 26 years after his most recent Major win. He led after the second and third rounds, taking it to a four-hole play-off. He had a chance to win if he’d hit a par on the 18th in the final round, only to miss an eight-foot putt that resulted in the necessity to take on Stewart Cink over four holes. The crowd was undoubtedly on the older golfer’s side, but Cink was dead-eyed in the play-off and won it by -2 to Watson’s +4. It was Cink’s only Major, whilst Watson was effectively a specialist in the Open.
1975 – Watson’s Winning Debut After 18-Hole Playoff
The first of Tom Watson’s five Open Championship wins came at Carnoustie Golf Links in 1975 and was something of a tense affair. He didn’t trouble the top ten after shooting 71 on the opening day, but was tied-second thanks to a 67 on day two. He dropped to fourth after carding a 69 on the Friday, then managed a 72 on the final day to put him level with Jack Newton and forcing a play-off. As the rain poured, the two players went back-and-forth for the lead, with Watson chipping in for an eagle on the 14th. The pair were level going down the 18th, but Watson managed to save par whilst Newton got a bogey, handing over the win on the final time the play-off was over 18 holes.
1977 – Turnberry’s ‘Duel in the Sun’
Two years later and another Scottish course beckoned, this time the Alisa Course at Turnberry. It was a tournament that would become known as the ‘Duel in the Sun’ thanks to clear skies, with Watson and Nicklaus partnering each other for the final two rounds. The year before, Watson was defending champion but missed the cut whilst Nicklaus finished second. Having both carded a 68 on day one and a 70 on day two, day three saw them take the joint-lead thanks to a pair of 65s. It was Watson who managed to pip his rival and friend to the post, scoring 65 for a total of 268 for the week, whilst Nicklaus scored a 66 for -11 compared to Watson’s -12.
1980 – Four Shot Victory in Open’s First Sunday Finish
Watson’s third Open Championship win was also completed in Scotland, coming three years after his previous victory. Having not won a Major for three years, the American must have headed to Muirfield Golf Links with a sense of determination, knowing that it was the first Open that would start on a Thursday and finish on the Sunday. He shared the lead at the end of day one when he and Lee Trevino both shot a three under par 68, but slipped three shots behind his compatriot with a 70 on day two. He ended day three with the lead all to himself after carding a 64, then a 69 on the Sunday saw him win the tournament by four shots.
1982 – Single Stroke Triumph at Troon
Having finished tied-23rd in both the US Open and the Open Championship in 1981, Watson bounced back to win them both in 1982. It was his fourth Open Championship win, with all of them having been in Scotland, but his first at Royal Troon Golf Club. He became just the fifth person to win the two tournaments in the same year, ending day one two shots off the lead with a three under par 69. He slipped to seven from the top at the end of day two thanks to a 71, but everyone struggled on the Saturday and his 74 left him just three from the leader. A 70 on the Sunday gave him a total of 284 for the week, which was -4, handing him the win by a stroke.
1983 – Watson Defends Title at Royal Birkdale
With all of Watson’s previous Open Championship wins coming in Scotland, the defending champion might not have thought he could retain it when he went to Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport in 1983. Having won two of the last three, though, he was certainly one of the favourites. He ended day one tied-second thanks to a -4 round of 67, then stayed there when he carded a 68 on the Friday. Saturday saw him shoot 70 and take the lead in his own right, then he repeated the trick on the Sunday and ended up with a -9 total of 275 for the week, winning by a shot and securing his fifth Open win; the most of at player in the ‘modern’ era.