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Tom Watson Biography

Quiet But Determined, Nicklaus, And "the Shot", Took Strong Stands, Chronology, Awards And Accomplishments



1949-

American golfer

Tom Watson won eight major golf tournaments, including five British Opens, and challenged Jack Nicklaus for golf supremacy in the late 1970s. Regarded as a failure under pressure in his early years, Watson silenced critics by winning all major tournaments but the PGA at least once. He was twice a Masters champion and took the U.S. Open once.



"Beginning in 1977, Watson won six PGA Tour Player of the Year awards, and he led the money list five times," Web Golf Village wrote. "Yet it was his head-to-head victories against Nicklaus, ten years his senior, that cemented him as a player for the ages." After joining the Senior PGA Tour, Watson atoned in part for his one Grand Slam void, the PGA, by winning the Seniors' version in 2001.

Sketch by Paul Burton

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