Watson back at U.S. Open to create new legends

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - It probably is the most indelible shot golf has ever witnessed.

Tom Watson, at the 1982 U.S. Open right here at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, trying to win the championship he cherished most, deadlocked with Jack Nicklaus with two holes to go, facing an impossible chip shot from the back-left rough off the green at the par-3 17th hole.

To quote a wise man: "It's in the cup!"

It doesn't get more historic.

It'll be replayed forever. Especially this week. Watson is in the U.S. Open for the first time since 2003. It's his 31st. His first was also the first Open at Pebble, in 1972. He got in this week via a USGA exemption. He's the only one in the field who's played in all five Opens at Pebble.

Today, he tees off with Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa, whose combined ages (21 and 18, respectively) are 21 years younger than Watson's.

"I'll be hitting first most of the time," Watson said with a smile. "We'll see, though. Old age and treachery can sometimes win out over youth and inexperience."

Last July, at 59, Watson came within an 8-foot par putt of winning his sixth British Open. In April at the Masters, he opened with a 67. And now, he's going for back-to-back wins.

"My game is in pretty good shape," Watson said. "Just came off a victory. I won the rain-shortened, 36-hole Tom Watson Challenge in Kansas City. You laugh, but I did. It was good preparation. But this golf course is just a little different than the wet Kansas City Country Club.

"This golf course is more dangerous. That's the intent."

Whatever. He'll always have 17. And then some.

"This place brings back such wonderful memories for me," he said. "The first and foremost is probably the lucky chip. But it goes farther back than that . . . Playing here by myself when I was going to Stanford. Back then, the greens fees were about 15 bucks. Had a great relationship with [the starter]. He let me on for free, after I'd paid the first couple [of times]. He said, 'Aw, go on and play . . . '

"I still feel as if I can play the golf course. I'm out there and I'm still trying to figure it out. And the nostalgia, I guess it comes when we get to the 17th . . . and everyone wants to take a picture. It kind of reminds me of what happened, what occurred here before. It's pretty sweet."

And it always will be. The wedge he used in 1982 is on display in a promotional tent this week.

"Seventeen is going to be a hard hole for me," Watson said. "When I won here, I birdied it 3 out of 4 days. Back in those days, I could hit it straight up in the air, [land] it soft with a long iron. I can't do that as well anymore. I remember in '72, I played my practice round and said, 'How do you play this hole?' And, boy, I played it great [in '82]. I hit the green 3 out of 4 days. The day I didn't, I holed it."

Has he ever been able to replicate that chip?

"I have," he said. "Over the last year, I've been putting together an instructional video. It's called 'Lessons of a Lifetime.' And the second disc starts off with a recreation of that shot. I'll tell you I holed it again, but I won't tell you how many times it took me.

"It can be done."

Just as a 59-year-old captured the old magic for 71 holes last year at the British Open, one of the game's grandest stages.

Now, can he do it again? And maybe even give us the finish to trump all finishes?

"Is Tom Watson going to have a chance?" he asked. "Who knows? Who knows? That's why you're here. I hope that I can put myself in position to win. It would be pretty cool. If I don't win, it's probably my last U.S. Open."

The national championship will return to Pebble in 2019, for the course's 100th anniversary. Hey, you never know. The ball can do crazy things. Like hit nothing but cup when you least expect it.

Then, now, for as long as they keep playing. Certain images never fade away. *