Tom Watson

You’re 56 now and playing on the Champions Tour. How does life with the old guys compare to life on the regular tour?

“It’s quieter and it’s easier but, to be honest, the electricity isn’t as great on the Champions Tour.”

There must be some rivalries out there, some competition?

“I guess that’s where it is the same because there are all these old rivalries rekindled from years gone by, it’s all done on fairly friendly terms. On the PGA Tour we’ve got the rivalry between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson right now, and some people may say that it’s not on friendly terms. But what you have to realise is that these two players are just trying to be the best player in the world – Tiger is now, and Phil’s trying to be. That means you do what you have to do to get the job done. On the Seniors [Champions] Tour you play your golf and try to get the job done, but if you don’t then there’s always next week.”

Presumably you’re all buddies anyway?

“We’ve all been around the track a few times and, you know, we don’t take much time out there. Trust me, we old guys are much, much quicker than the kids.”

As you get older do you get frustrated when you play golf, knowing what you used to be able to do and what your limitations are today?

“I try to keep these things in some kind of perspective, but I’ve got this competitive nature that means I’m always asking myself how I can hit the ball longer. When I played Augusta this year, I realised that the golf course  – with all those changes  – was now beyond my capabilities of competing successfully.”

You missed the cut at The Masters, but what did you make of the new layout at Augusta?

“The younger players who bomb it and hit the ball 30 yards in the air further than I do could play the course, but I couldn’t. Numbers seven, 14 and 17 are the three holes that are the most difficult, because you need to be so long off the tee to be able to have the right shot into the green –  I haven’t got that. You know, I’m way back where my 4-iron has no chance of holding the green. The kids are still hitting 8 or 9 or a pitching wedge into the greens, whereas I’ve got to hit a 4-iron and those greens are just not designed for 4-irons.”

It’s not fair, is it?

“Well, when I was a kid I remember some of the older guys at Augusta grumbling because they couldn’t hit the ball over the bunker on the first hole, but I could. What goes around comes around.”

Presumably, that’s your take on the whole technology debate then?

“It’s just evolution. I would like them to take a hard look at the equipment issue, but I don’t think it’s going to get done. The other thing you have to understand – and I have to understand – is that all the players who want to be the best are doing what Tiger does, and that’s working out. They’re getting very, very strong and maintaining a high degree of strength and flexibility. When I was playing, nobody did that except Gary Player. Come to think of it, he still does.”

So strength coupled with technology equals length, right?

“Yes, but most of it is down to technology. I mean some of these guys are carrying the ball 300 yards in the air, that’s going to make any golf course a lot easier.

I mean it would be nice to play the golf course with the same shot values as we did 20 years ago, but we can’t. Ultimately, though, it’s not really in the interests of the manufacturers to change things is it? All they’ve ever done is sell clubs and balls that go further.”

» Tom Watson Part 2