A number of golfing legends have won on this Fylde Coast Championship course. ONPAR head down to the 33rd Senior Open at Royal Lytham to catch up with Tom Watson, one of the world’s greatest golfers.
A number of golfing legends have won on this Fylde Coast Championship course. ONPAR head down to the 33rd Senior Open at Royal Lytham to catch up with Tom Watson, one of the world’s greatest golfers.
How good a test is Royal Lytham?
It’s an excellent test, it’s grown on me. I didn’t particularly understand it in the early Open Championships that I played, but the more I played here the more I enjoyed it and understood it. There are several holes out there you have to play well, the first that comes to mind is the 12th, the par 3, the 15th is another one, you really have to play that well. They have double the number of bunkers than any other Open Championship venue.
Is that the secret, staying out of the bunkers?
That is the secret, but it seems like when we play links golf it’s like our own balls have a laser-guided missile system and go straight for the bunker.
The final holes are quite demanding, what do you think about those finishing holes?
It’s a tough golf course altogether, a lot of holes on the golf course you have to hit quality shots on. That’s why I like it. It’s a complete golf course.
You’ve won five Opens, three Senior Opens and saw Steve win twice here at Lytham, but have you found it difficult?
I haven’t particularly performed well here. I don’t know if it was the golf course of my performance level that week. A lot of times when you go to a golf tournament your performance level isn’t as strong as when you win. The times I’ve played here it hasn’t been quite spot on.
You played well last year at St Andrews, you enjoy links golf don’t you?
Well, I do. Links courses test you a little more than the parkland because of the conditions of the soil, how firm the conditions are, adjusting for the roll-out of the ball and the humps and bumps you don’t usually get on parkland golf courses which misdirect or redirect your ball. You have to take it with a grain of salt sometimes, you can hit good shots and get bad bounces or bad shots but get good bounces. I’ve been better than the average lucky guy, I’ve had more good bounces than I have bad bounces.
Ten years ago, you inspired us all by nearly winning The Open. Do you feel you have a chance this week?
You play it by ear. I’m not really certain about how my game is right now. I made an adjustment with my putting stroke earlier and it seemed to work. A simple thought and difference in the stroke. You have to putt well here. The greatest putters are the greatest players. You don’t have a great player who has never been a great putter. It equalises everything out. If you were to have asked Seve or me back in my heyday – that putter saved us both a tonne of times.
