Watson thrilled with being in 3-way tie for 1st place
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Tom Watson still gets quite a thrill seeing his name atop the leaderboard.
Maybe even more at age 65.
Watson withstood the scorching heat to shoot a 1-under 69 on Friday, finishing in a three-way tie atop the bunched leaderboard after the second round of the U.S. Senior Open.
“The illusion that I can still do it,” Watson said when asked what keeps him playing competitive golf. “I don’t have the tools in the toolbox I used to have. They’re missing. Some of the tools are missing. And so it’s getting more and more difficult for me to compete, but I still feel as if I can somehow get it done.”
Sure seems that way so far in Sacramento.
Watson was joined at 5 under for the championship by Jeff Maggert and Peter Fowler. Maggert shot a 65, and Fowler a 66 in their morning rounds.
Joe Boros, the club pro at Treesdale Country Club and Saxonburg resident, had a rough second round at the U.S. Senior Open Friday at Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento, Calif.
Boros had six bogeys and a double bogey to shoot a 6-over par 76 in the second round. Boros finished with a two-day score of 8-over, missing the cut.
But all the attention turned to the Hall of Famer heating up in the sizzling sunshine.
Watson made four birdies and three bogeys to provide the drama at sun-drenched Del Paso Country Club, where the temperature soared above 100 degrees again. Watson is trying to become the oldest winner of the event, the oldest to win a senior major and the oldest to win on the Champions Tour.
“To hit a shot under pressure that’s really a good golf shot is why I’m out here,” Watson said. “That’s what I like to do. And when I get to the point where I can’t do it or I can’t do it often enough to really satisfy myself, then I won’t be out here.”
It’s the fourth time Watson has held or shared the lead through 36 holes at the U.S. Senior Open.
He has never won the event, which is in its 36th year.
A victory would be the exclamation point to his storied career.
Watson will play in his final British Open next month at St. Andrews. He’s the only man to claim the claret jug on five courses — but never at St. Andrews — and suddenly seems ready to be more than a feel-good story at the Old Course.
