Tom Watson
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Thomas Sturges “Tom” Watson (born September 4, 1949) is an American golfer who plays on the Champions Tour.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Watson was one of the leading players in the world, winning eight major championships and heading the PGA Tour money list five times. He was the number one player in the world, according to McCormack’s World Golf Rankings, from 1978 through 1982, and in both 1983 and 1984 was second in those rankings behind Seve Ballesteros by only the barest of margins. He spent 32 weeks in the top 10 of the successor Sony Rankings in their debut in 1986.
Several of his major victories during this period came at the expense of Jack Nicklaus, the man he replaced as number one, most notably the 1977 British Open and the 1982 US Open. Though his rivalry with Nicklaus was intense it was this continuing rivalry and friendship that served to increase golf’s popularity during the time. Watson is generally regarded as one of the greatest links players of all time, a claim backed up by his 5 Open Championship victories.
Watson has claimed 8 major championships in total: 5 British Opens, 2 Masters titles and 1 US Open title. The only major title that he hasn’t won in his career is the US PGA Championship, which would put him in an elite group of completing a career grand slam of majors, a group including the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods. Nonetheless, Watson is 6th on the list of total majors championships victories, and is one of only 14 players to have won at least 3 of the 4 golfing major titles.
