Tom Watson Loses Playoff in Open Championship

This is significant in that it shows that golf is truly a game and not a sport. When a 59 year old man has a chance to beat the best in his competition over the course of four days, then we are talking about something that involves skill and not athletic ability.

* Cynicism Alert * If a 59 year old is one routine action away from winning a championship in your sport, perhaps your sport is not a sport after all. I've never really considered golf to be a sport - to me, it's more of an amped up parlor game, played outdoors. Tom Watson's narrow miss at the Open just gives more data. I'll pick up golf when I'm old, and my ability to play real sports has left me.

I have never been known to step on toes or be offensive on this site, but there is a first time. So here goes.I do not like golf. The last game I ever played was when I was a senior in high school. It was after Labor Day in 1960. Since then I have been a religious and zealous non-golfer. I have NOT played golf on some of the best courses in the world.I do not like Tiger Woods. He makes my buns tired. He is tedious and moronic.Watching golf on television is tedious and moronic. I do like the announcers talking in low tones, however. THAT'S entertainment. Do they actually think that the golfer can hear their inane comments.Watching golf in person is tedious and moronic.Listening to golfers talk about their last great game is tedious and moronic.Golf fashion is tedious and moronic.Golf magazines are tedious and moronic.Watching golf movies is tedious and moronic.Golf is tedious and moronic.Except for the fact that Watson is nearly my age, who cares if he won or lost?

ESPN (which is sliding downhill fast) really really wanted this to be a story since it's the slow-cycle time of the year for sports journalism. . .(no NFL, NBA. . .just MLB and Lance Armstrong's commercials telling you if you question him then you're pro-cancer) Thus this golfing "story" was thrust upon the sporting world. . .Tiger not making the cut was as equal or bigger a story thus this one doesn't merit much on this list. . .

Ok, it was a nice story, and I'm sure the suits at the network loved it after they soiled their drawers when Tiger didn't make the cut, but it was GOLF for crissake..... My septegenarian ex-father-in law can still shoot 4 over on the local links, and that's while suffering from dementia. (My personal opinion is that dementia improves one's putting game) I'm pretty much with magellan on this one. Golf isn't a sport, its a game.

Personally I find the obsession that the middle-aged males of my race have with the game of golf to be extremely tiresome. On more than one occassion I've had to restrain myself from interupting someone who is recounting of a particularly fascinating shot on the back nine at Honky Oaks with a fist to the mouth. It's not a bad game, but guys have gotten really, really stupid about it. As sports stories go, the tale of one of the lions of the game making a late career run at the grandaddy of titles is tailor made for the television insistance that we have a dramatic narrative to go with the sporting action on the screen. Which by the way is another thing I'm getting pretty tired of. On that note, how would you like to be Stewart Cink. He just played the game of his life, and will probably never again have such a moment in the sun - and nobody gives a rat's ass. His decent into life filled with depression and alcoholism probably began Monday morning.

I was rooting for the old man. I was like who is Stewart Cink? Actually watching Tiger get his panties in the bunch flalling his hands around and tossing his clubs around in frustration was hillarious and entertaining. What a sore loser. Watching all that, I was glad he didn't make the cut.

I've always thought that Senior PGA players belonged on the list of "The Luckiest White Men, Ever". Some of them make more in earnings in their first two years than they did in career earnings as PGA members. Bet that Watson can't do this: Thanks to fitman (aka Tony Ferrante) for his marvelous performance...

4 stars for it's import within the golf world (players, fans, sponsors,etc.). 3 stars (Significant) for it's meaning in the sports world in general. 1 star, maybe 2, for it's impact on the world in general. The 10 footer that Watson missed is emblematic of what ended his winning on the regular tour - he just lost nerve or thought too much and rushed those 12 foot and under putts. Is it a sport? Yes, just as auto racing is. It takes athletic ability to play golf. If you look at the number of athletes over the years from the 4 major sports who played golf during or after their primary careers, the majority of them are at best VERY average on the links. There are many aspects of the game that keep otherwise great athletes from being able to play it well enough to compete at the highest levels. Think Michael Jordan - greatest single talent the NBA has ever seen, but a comparative hacker on a golf course. I'm sorry Watson didn't seal this deal; it took a lot of discipline... Read more