1977 at Turnberry: What a show by Watson, Nicklaus

Mike Dudurich

Posted 2009-07-13

There are plenty of reasons to remember the 1977 British Open at Turnberry with great appreciation.

It is most remembered as the “Duel in the Sun,” a spectacular display of world-class golf by two of the dominant players in the game at the time, Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus. But for those of us of the age to remember that year, one thing that stands out was the dust.

Yeah, dust. Leading up to that year’s Open, Scotland was in the midst of a dry spell and while the Scots normally don’t water their golf courses excessively anyway, Turnberry had turned into a dust bowl. And one of the things that took place was that when the huge galleries moved around the course, they kicked up a bunch of dust.

“It was dry and dusty, and as I've said many times before, the 14th tee, we were waiting for the crowd to cross in the crosswalk up in front of the tee about 60 or 70 yards, and it was dust and we were looking into the evening sun there and it was like a fog, it was so dusty,” Watson said recently. “It was spiritual, kind of reminded you of Golf in the Kingdom, Michael Murphy.”

Beyond the dust, however, this was a truly remarkable golf tournament. Nicklaus was 37 and was in possession of 14 of the 18 major championships he’d eventually finish with. Watson, was a mere pup at age 27, had three major titles at the time, including a down-to-the-wire win over Nicklaus at the Masters in April.

The remarkable aspects of this epic battle were numerous, starting with the fact that the two superstars put up identical scores over the first three days: 68, 70 and 65. Not only did that set up a head-to-head confrontation on the final day, but it separated the two from the rest of the field to the degree that Hubert Green said, “I don’t know what those two were doing, but I won the first flight.”

The record books show that Watson matched his third round 65 with another in the fourth, but it was far from being just a numbers thing. The ebb and flow of the day was, well, it was something that we’ve yet to see again in the 31 years since.

Watson came from three strokes down at one point in the final round to record seven birdies and two bogeys in his 65 while Nicklaus had four birdies and no bogeys in his 66.

Watson caught the Golden Bear at the 15th hole with a 60-foot birdie putt and appeared to seal the deal on the par 5 17th when he made an easy birdie and Nicklaus took two putts from four feet for par.

Both players knew what they had to do going to the 18th. Watson’s drive found the middle of the fairway, leaving him a 7-iron in. Nicklaus, trailing by a shot, had to take a more aggressive line off the tee and, in the process, blocked his shot way right.

As you’d expect from a guy who might have been the best 18th hole player ever, Nicklaus concocted a swing from the deep rough and the proximity to a gorse bush and rifled an 8-iron that reached the green, but was 32 feet from the hole.

Watson wasn’t flustered, drilling that 7-iron to within 2 feet of the cup. Nicklaus made his lengthy birdie putt, but Watson didn’t flinch, knocking in the 2-footer to win the Open for the second time in three years.

Nicklaus put his hands on Watson's shoulders and said something like, "You know, I'm tired of giving it my best shot and finding it's not enough." He referred, of course, to Watson’s back nine charge at Augusta a few months earlier.

The 1977 Open is still regarded as one of the great championships of all time and it’s a great memory for Watson. But Watson doesn’t relive it.

“When I was playing at Turnberry in the Senior Open Championship, they had the loop of the '77 Open Championship running continuously on the monitors in the clubhouse there,” Watson said. “So I had to kind of stop by; yeah, that was a pretty good shot; or, how did Jack do that? But no, I don't go back in the quietness of my home and relive that. It's past, but it's a wonderful memory, there's not a question. And it's a wonderful time to go back and relive that, and our primary objective is to go back there and play well enough to compete against the kids.”

Watson shattered a 16-year Open scoring record that year, shooting 268. That record lasted until 1993 when Greg Norman lit up Royal St George’s to the tune of 267.

Watson won five Open championships, but while others are quick to anoint 1977 as the best, Watson waffles just a bit.

“You're asking a how-many-angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin question,” Watson said.

“The U.S. Open and Turnberry and the Masters and '77, playing against the best player in the game, I really can't separate them out. I can just say that playing against the best in Jack and coming out on top was what I was out there to do, and that was to beat the best and try to establish myself as one of the best players in the game.”

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About Mike...
As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf. He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com. Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August. The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1250/show?showId=insidepghgolf - Listen to Mike Here!.

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