Well, That Was Anticlimactic

Congratulations, Stewart Cink, on your first major championship. Too bad no one cares. Do you remember who beat Jean Van de Velde in '99? All we'll remember from Turnberry is Tom Watson missing an 8-footer for the Claret Jug.

No one was rooting for Cink. In the last 20 minutes, his Wikipedia page has been edited to include the phrases "He won the British Open beating up an old man along the way" and "Cink is nervous, farting often. Asshole spoiled the British Open." But it doesn't matter, because Watson couldn't pull out a simple up-and-down on 18.

This was supposed to be history. It was supposed to be the oldest winner of a major by more than a decade. It was supposed to be a golfer winning his first tournament in 11 years, and doing it at the British Open. It was supposed his first major win in 26 years.

Instead, it's Stewart Cink. A clutch birdie putt on 18 seemed like it wouldn't matter, until the wheels came off the Watson bandwagon. Maybe there's a reason why the old guys don't win; maybe 72 holes takes the stamina of a younger man. Certainly, 76 holes were four too many: Watson collapsed completely, going 4-over in the 4-hole playoff. Cink went 2-under in the playoff, and 2-under for the tournament. And on a weekend where the wind and the rough mercilessly weeded out the best in the world, 2-under was good enough.

So now Tom Watson will retire to the Tom Watson Suite at Turnberry, named for him after his legendary duel with Jack Nicklaus in 1977. That glory was 32 years ago. For the first time this weekend, it feels like it.