SAVANNAH, Ga. — Everyone wants to know Tom Watson's secret to playing superior golf at 60.

Here it is: competition.

"That's all it takes," Watson says.

Maybe those questioners should quit asking and pay attention. Watson, well past the PGA Tour's cut line, has continued to hang with the game's much younger stars at the biggest events.

Watson lost a chance at his sixth British Open title last July, falling in a playoff to 36-year-old Stewart Cink. Earlier this month, Watson opened the Masters with a 5-under 67, one off the lead held by his Champions Tour colleague, Fred Couples.

Watson chalks up the strong play to the fields he and Couples face each week in the 50-and-over set.

"That's what I've said about the reason I'm still out there and have done well in some of the kids' major championships," Watson said. "I still have the ability, the opportunity to compete."

He and Couples, 50, both plan to continue testing themselves against the game's best players.

Watson, a seven-time major champion, accepted an exemption into the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, site of his stirring win over Jack Nicklaus in 1982, when he famously chipped in from the rough at No. 17 to take the victory.

It is Watson's first U.S. Open since 2003 — and another chance to surprise those who think the 50-and-over set should settle into weekend games at the club.

Couples, like Watson taking part in the Legends of Golf, sure doesn't think so. He's playing on the PGA Tour the next two weeks at the Quail Hollow Championship and The Players Championship.

Couples stayed in the Masters mix halfway through Sunday's final round.