Tom Watson made his most emotional farewell to top level golf at St Andrews last year but when walking up the 18th fairway at Augusta for the final time this week he is certain to be accorded a magnificent ovation.
Watson has two Masters titles, 1977 and 1981, to his name before his 43rd appearance at Augusta but his true legacy was secured not in the United States but Britain, where he won five Open Championships.
Now 66, he has acknowledged the march of father time which means he can longer compete with the relative kids of the day who blast the ball out of the park.
“I was one of the longest hitters out here, I really was, in my prime,” Watson said. “I hit the ball farther than almost anybody. Obviously there’s a great advantage doing that.
“But when you’re starting to come into those greens with longer clubs and you’re not making the birdies you used to, then it’s a little bit harder.”
Watson almost capped his magnificent career with an astonishing Open victory in 2009 but failed to get up and down from the back of the 18th green at Turnberry and subsequently lost a play-off to Stewart Cink.
That showed he could still compete and even last year he became the oldest player to break par at the Masters with an opening round 71.
Sadly a poorer Friday followed and Watson missed the cut but making the weekend is his goal for these final rounds around Augusta.
“That’s the way I feel about this, I’m just trying to make the cut,” he explained. “That’s not enough, and it’s time to say, adios.”
Watson intends to keep playing on the Champions Tour for those over 50 but even there he is competing against younger, longer players. “I’ll continue to play on the Champions Tour,” he said. “Those golf courses are more to my liking.
“I still have to beat the likes of Bernhard Langer and John Daly this summer when he comes on the Tour. I’m losing my distance, so I don’t have that advantage.”
Watson was then asked if he could imagine cutting down the length of courses he would play and didn’t miss the chance for a friendly rib of fellow great Jack Nicklaus.
“Well, play it forward like Jack? No, I’m going to be playing, they don’t have Super Senior tees,” he joked.
“I’m going to continue to play on the Champions Tour. And again, when the reality sets in that, that is not what I should be doing, then I’ll call it quits then. But it’s not now.”
Moments later, Nicklaus was gushing in his praise for Watson as he summed up his contribution to the game.
“He’s one of the best players, I’d put him in one of the best five or six players that ever played the game,” he said. “Watson is a great player.”