ST ANDREWS, Scotland — The fickle bounce of the ball on the treacherous corrugated fairways of wild links courses has been pretty kind to American Tom Watson during his 40-year love affair with the British Open.
Five times he has conquered topography and climate, and some of the game's greats, to lift the Claret Jug, the first occasion on his debut in 1975 at Carnoustie when he "was just trying to learn how to play the game for a living".
He almost did the unthinkable and win a sixth Open at Turnberry in 2009, aged 59, a bad break on the 18th green depriving sport of its ultimate fireside fairytale.