Tom Watson Rolls Back the Years Shooting 65 on Opening Day – The Open Championship 2009

Tom Watson, 59, who last won the Open in 1983, clearly enjoyed his golf at Turnberry today, as he shot to an early clubhouse lead of a 5 under par 65 on the opening day of The Open Championship 2009.

Watson birdied the seventeenth and parred the final hole to huge roars of applause from the crowd, many of whom may not have been around to witness his last Open victory on the course, back in 1977.

The American did not drop a shot all day, birdying holes 1, 3, 10, 12 and 17 en route to his super score of 65.

Watson told the BBC:

“It’s not bad for an almost 60 year old!”

“I was playing very well in the practice rounds and I felt I had the opportunity to do very well this week.”

Watson, who went into the Championship with odds of over 1500-1 has had his price slashed to just 50-1 with Irish bookmaker Boylesports following his superb opening day.

Conditions were described as “benign” by Australian John Senden who’s four-under round had placed him in the early lead before Watson completed his consistent display. With little or no breeze, and fair weather looking set to stay for the day, Senden anticipated more low scores to follow on this opening day.

Related Stories from the Past Month:

• Spain Win FIFA World Cup 2010
• Wimbledon Tennis 2010: Rafa Nadal Wins Mens Singles Final in Straight Sets
• FIFA World Cup 2010 Semi Final: Germany 0 v 1 Spain
• Wimbledon Tennis 2010: Tomas Berdych Defeats Roger Federer in Men’s Singles Quarter Final
• FIFA World Cup 2010 Quarter Final: Uruguay 1 v 1 Ghana (Uruguay win 4-2 on penalties)

Posted by Robin Scott on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:50:56. Click Here to Subscribe to Robin Scott by RSS. Filed under Golf, Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry