Like any golf fan, I always enjoy following the action associated with the sport’s four men’s major tournaments — the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the (British) Open Championship. It’s always interesting watching the drama unfold as the world’s golfing heavyweights battle for top honors.
To date, the winners of this year’s first three majors have been Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (Masters), England’s Aaron Rai (PGA Championship) and the USA’s Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open). Who will win the fourth title? That remains to be seen.
This year, the dates July 16-19 are on every serious golfer’s calendar. That’s when this year’s Open Championship will be contested at the historic Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. The most recent American winner at Royal Birkdale was Jordan Spieth in 2017. Other Americans winners include Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller and Mark O’Meara.
Every Open Championship is a special one for me because I attended the event 43 years ago, when it was also held at Royal Birkdale (July 14-17, 1983). As I watch this year’s Open Championship, I will be reminded of my own spectator experience.
To attend a pro golf tournament is one thing, but to attend the Open Championship is a unique experience. Please join me as I reminisce…
The 1983 Open attracted a then-record number of spectators — more than 140,000 fans. Many legendary golfers were in the field — Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Ray Floyd, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Curtis Strange and the defending champion, Tom Watson, to name a few.
Like all golf tournaments, it all boiled down to what happened on Sunday. The 1983 Open was no exception. That Sunday began with four strokes separating the top 10 players on the leaderboard. Those players, who hailed from four different countries, had won a total of 21 major championships, to date.
Australia’s Graham Marsh was the biggest story. He started the round at level par — eight shots off the pace and more than two hours in front of the final group (Tom Watson and Craig Stadler). Marsh was spectacular that day. By the time he had finished, he was leading the tournament with a four-day total of 277 (seven-under-par), thanks to a Sunday 64. That score looked tough to beat.
Just as Marsh was leaving the 18th green, the bright, blue skies that had been with us since Thursday’s opening round were giving way to a fresh breeze off the nearby Irish Sea and a dark sky. Would the group of talented Americans — featuring Lee Trevino, Andy Bean, Hale Irwin, Ray Floyd, Fuzzy Zoeller, Craig Stadler and Tom Watson — fall by the wayside and allow the Australian Marsh to win the famous Claret Jug, given annually to the winner?
Trevino started the day three shots behind. He took the lead with an eagle on 13, but he could shoot no better than a 70 and finished three strokes behind the eventual winner. South Africa’s Harold Henning, a 48-year-old journeyman with a great short game, started holing putts and climbed to within one shot of the lead, but couldn’t get any closer. Irwin and Bean both shot 67s and finished one better than Marsh. Zoeller, Floyd and Stadler wilted on the final day and weren’t able to mount a charge. But Watson remained in the mix all day.
It all came down to the final group on the final hole. Watson stood on the 18th tee at nine-under-par. He held a one-shot lead over Irwin and Bean. Watson faced a difficult finishing hole, a 473-yard dogleg to the right par-four. A strong, swirling wind off the sea added to the degree of difficulty.
A par four would give Watson a fifth Open crown, a bogey five meant an 18-hole playoff with both Irwin and Bean the following day, and anything worse wasn’t worth contemplating.
With a driver in his hands, Watson split the fairway, but he still had more than 200 yards to the flagstick. His ensuing two iron to the green was struck perfectly, landing a few feet from the pin and stopped 15 feet past the hole.
After Watson’s approach shot, controlled pandemonium unfolded before my very eyes, as the 18th green quickly became ringed with people. The final link in the circle came when thousands of fans — and I was one of them — rushed to form a line across the 18th fairway. The only thing that stopped the fans from getting any closer to the green was a line of police officers who formed a human retaining wall.
When Watson and his caddie finally made it through the crowd, the spectators gave him an ovation that even gave me goosebumps. What followed was rather academic. Watson had two putts for the championship, which he converted without trouble.
Watson repeated as champion — 67, 68, 70, 70; nine-under-par 275. Elementary, my dear Watson!
