2009 British Open Final Round Live Blog

Saturday, July 18 was both a good and a bad day for the “old” among us. The world’s oldest man died (113-year-old Henry Allingham), sure, but Tom Watson provided the good by not only maintaining his lead in the 138th Open Championship, but by increasing it by dropping the tie at the top.

Watson is one of the few guys atop the Open Championship leaderboard with experience. The others, of course, are Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk, T4 and T6 respectively. And Goosen has that weird history thing working for him, too: fellow countryman Ernie Els won the U.S. Open in 1994 and 1997 and the British Open in 2002. Retief has won the U.S. Open seven years after each of Ernie’s wins – in 2001 and 2004 – and 2009 is seven years after Ernie’s victory at Muirfield.

The leaderboard to start the day:

1    Watson     -4
T2   Goggin     -3
     Fisher     -3
T4   Westwood   -2
     Goosen     -2
T6   Furyk      -1
     Cink       -1
T8   Molder      E
     Jaidee      E

Join us as we live blog the final round of the 2009 Open Championship (starting at 8:00am eastern).

08:03:29: The introductory thing we saw yesterday is finally over. It’s good, but twice? Can I hope we don’t see it this afternoon. Only 80 minutes until Watson tees off.

08:10:03: 10 minutes in, we go to commercial, and we’ve seen no live golf shots and only three or four replayed shots of big names finishing their rounds and an unlikely eagle.

08:12:48: By the way, Ross Fisher’s manager is a moron if he doesn’t just chuck his cell phone into the ocean.

08:17:36: Seriously, why are they on at 8:00am if they aren’t allowed to show actual golf until 9:00 or whatever? Watching Lee Westwood is normally pretty boring. Watching Lee Westwood warm up?

08:24:16: Watson says the flags are in more generous positions today. I think that hurts him – the more a putting contest the tournament becomes (and it hasn’t been to this point), the more that may hurt Old Tom (Watson, not Morris).

08:31:26: Zinger analyzes the swing changes Watson’s made since 1977. That’s why he hasn’t been in contention in 25 years – he’s been working on swing changes since 1983. It just took him a bit longer than the other TW.

08:33:42: Live golf! We see the 16-year-old miss a birdie putt! I was starting to think we might not see live golf until Old Tom reached the turn.

08:37:23: Ernie birdies the 10th to get to even par. He’s -3 on the day. He’ll likely need to get to -3 to have a chance. Same goes for Manassero, the 16-year-old amateur.

09:00:18: Furyk and Goosen tee off. Live golf! I think this may be the tenth such live shot today, an hour into coverage.

09:06:13: If I haven’t made it clear, I’m rooting for Tom Watson today.

09:09:28: I love how the official leaderboard at opengolf.com gets the order wrong. Guys who shot 70 are listed above guys who shot 69. Westwood and Fisher play together, yet have Goosen and Goggin listed between them, and Furyk is three spots from his playing partner.

09:22:12: Fisher birdies the first to tie for the lead at -4. Watson found the middle of the fairway at the first, just ahead of Goggin.

09:25:08: Watson finds a bunker well left of the green at the first. Tirico tells us the odds were 1000:1 and 500:1 for Old Tom and Goggin. If he lasts long enough, his nickname here will be Gogs.

09:25:53: Furyk saves bogey at the second. He falls back to E.

09:27:12: Watson, into the wind, comes up eight or ten feet short. Safe, but a tester for par. Fisher is in the junk from 181 right of the fairway at the second. “He just might pull it off” says Judy, but he doesn’t. It’s well left and way down the slope to a short sided pin. He may still be tied for the lead with a bogey, but at -3 with Watson and Gogs. Goosen’s made a bogey somewhere, but we never saw it: he’s +1 and at -1 total.

09:29:02: Old Tom doesn’t even touch the hole with his par putt. He falls out of the lead on the easy par-four first.

09:31:29: Fisher holes out from six feet below the green! Just as Tom Weiskopf talks about how his shot is nearly impossible, he goes and holes it! Birdies at the first and second and a two-shot lead. His wife better not be watching or the excitement may induce labor.

09:37:25: Watson finds the green at the second, 30 feet for birdie. Gogs, previously, hit it into the crowd left and short.

09:38:18: Chris Wood, -1, hits it to 15 feet at the ninth. Azinger cracks on his thinness and wonders “if the wind makes a whistling noise as it cuts through his body.”

09:40:28: Furyk bogeys the third. He falls to +1 and +2 on the day. The opengolf.com leaderboard is incredibly slow to update. IBM > Unisys?

09:41:08: Watson will tap in for par at the second. He comes up short. Fisher, with his second at the third, in bright pink, gets a hard kick left and will leave him 40 feet for his third three to open his fourth round.

09:47:35: Baby Daddy comes up short with his birdie putt at the third. Gogs yanks it into the junk on the third. Westwood has eight feet for par and cans it.

09:49:29: The leaderboard is Fisher -5, Watson -3, Westwood and Gogs -2, three players at -1: Wood, Cink, Goosen. Watson flies the green at the third. Gogs pitches back to the fairway.

09:55:01: Old Tom plays a delicate shot well from a bad lie. Fisher hits into the junk at the fourth. Chris Wood pumps another curler in, -4 today and -2 total at the tenth.

09:57:01: Fisher gets a drop, pitches beautifully from the hay, and Old Tom’s short putt mini-yips return as he gags it left to fall back to -2. Jack Nicklaus is on the phone. Bah.

09:58:58: Fisher bogeys from eight feet or so at the fourth. He falls back to -4, still two ahead of everyone, but now Chris Wood is T2. Lee is even for the day, Goggin is +1, Watson is +2, Goosen +1, and Cink +1. Furyk is +2 and is T11 already.

10:01:26: opengolf.com still has Fisher at -5. Seriously, Unisys, c’mon. Watson at the fourth finds the slope and slings the ball down to 20 or 25 feet or so.

10:03:36: Fisher, with an iron at the fifth, finds the gorse bushes it would seem. Manassero makes a birdie at the 15th to get to even par for the championship, -3 for the day, tied with Leonard and Els and Cink.

10:06:05: Fisher’s not in the gorse, but the ball is two feet above his stance and in the long long hay. He has a wedge, gripped down to the metal, and he advances the ball only a few feet. A marshall points. He’s in even thicker stuff now.

10:07:22: Old Tom, from 20 or so, comes up an inch shy at the fourth. Fisher hits the ball behind him even further left, still in the long deep stuff.

10:09:23: Ernie makes bogey at 16. I’d tell you where he sits now but the leaderboard won’t update for 15 minutes. Rankin says Fisher’s lie left of the fairway is even worse than his previous two.

10:11:49: Fisher picks up his ball. He’s apparently taking an unplayable, his fourth stroke. Hey, he could hole out for bogey now! Suffice to say he won’t be the leader alone after this hole.

10:14:19: Fisher’s fifth nearly finds the right rough again. Watson’s still waiting on the tee and likely has no idea how many shots Fisher has taken.

10:18:28: Fisher hits a good sixth. He’ll have a chance to save triple. Watson, with a driver, finds the fairway. We think… since the BBC cameramen can’t ever seem to find it. Westwood bogeys to fall back to -1, which is as good as Fisher can do. Wild Haired Wood misses his birdie putt at the 12th. His shirt’s untucked and my wife notices he’s wearing red briefs.

10:20:30: Fisher makes a double par – the point at which my brother-in-law picks up – and puts a snowman on his scorecard. He falls back to even par.

10:21:06: Cink lips out for eagle, and will tap in for birdie to get to -1, one back. Watson plays a bit left and is just off the green, 30 feet from a birdie. Wood, at the 13th, goes through the fairway. He has the easier holes from here on out, supposedly.

10:23:15: Fisher tees off at the fifth. 227, wind 17 MPH right, and misses the green right, catches a slope, and rolls it down to 25 feet. The leaderboard hasn’t updated yet. 🙁

10:25:43: Soren Hansen has the clubhouse lead at +1. He shot 67 today. Old Tom has comes up short again. He’s probably had three putts if he had an extra foot or two of speed today.

10:27:17: Wood flies the green at the 13th. Fisher, for birdie, slides low. Gogs saves par at the fifth. Westwood birdies on roughly Fisher’s line, but closer. He gets back to -2 and is tied for the lead.

10:29:32: Els just misses his eagle putt at the 17th. He’ll get to even par, likely take the clubhouse lead in about 15 minutes at even par, and, hey, you never know.

10:33:36: Watson at the sixth, with a 3-wood, to 12 feet! A phenomenal shot. Westwood with a driver at the seventh, very reachable today says Azinger. Wood, for par at the 13th, pulls it four feet by. He’ll fall out of the lead.

10:35:07: Goggin nearly makes a bomb at the sixth for birdie. Goosen, -1, at the eighth fairway, carries the crest and gets to the back shelf. Old Tom at the sixth, again not enough speed, drifts right and barely reaches the hole. He’ll stay at -2, but Westwood will probably jump into the lead at the seventh.

10:38:57: Westwood has a short eagle putt (well, it’s short as eagle putts go – 18 feet or so) at the seventh. Watson from the tee, drives it straight between the two pot bunkers and the ball settles down on the edge of the fairway.

10:40:14: Wood hurts his wrist at the 14th hitting out of the hay. Els plays 18, nearly bounces it in the cup, but goes long. If he gets up and down he’ll take the clubhouse lead at E. Fisher’s fourth rolls eight feet by from above the green at the seventh.

10:41:56: Westwood’s 20-footer for eagle… GOES! Lee Westwood takes the lead by two at -4, where Watson started the day.

10:43:21: Azinger mentions that it was 59° but it’s now 55°. Gogs pitches back to the fairway at the seventh.

10:44:32: Watson, from 249 with a fairway wood, catches a slope and finds the green at the seventh. His putt is just a bit longer than Westwood’s and from a bit deeper in the green.

10:45:50: Ernie has six feet to post even par. He pushes it right. He’ll tie for the clubhouse lead with Soren Hansen and Justin Leonard at +1.

10:49:27: Watson’s eagle putt… is short. Not even a chance. Zinger is nice by calling it “tentative.” Wood misses his par putt at the 14th. He’ll fall back to even par.

10:51:52: Goggin makes a long birdie putt at the seventh to get back to -2. Old Tom stuffs his birdie putt to get to -3. The leaders are at -4, -3, and -2 with Cink (who we haven’t seen in ages) and Goosen (almost ages) at -1.

10:55:27: Watson’s driver has been on. He finds the fairway at the eighth. Manassero taps in at the 18th to finish at +2 with a final-round 69. Wood birdies the 15th and gets back to -1 with Cink and Goosen.

10:56:27: Westwood has 50 feet for birdie at the eighth, and plays it well.

10:58:13: Seriously, we have to watch Lee Westwood’s entire pre-shot routine for a two-foot putt, and I can’t remember the last shot we saw of Stewart Cink, who’s three back and playing the tenth hole? Instead we’re “treated” to Terry Gannon at the halfway hut? C’mon, boys. Show golf.

10:59:30: Old Tom at the eighth, with a hybrid, finds a hollow just back right. He’ll elect to pitch the ball. He does, the ball runs, and he’s still six feet shy.

11:06:23: Old Tom decels his putter, but the ball trickles in, and he’ll stay at -3. Westwood from the right intermediate hits a rather glorious shot to 15 feet past the pin with a lob wedge. The golf course is playing “fiery” right now, and balls are bouncing everywhere.

11:08:08: Watson block one into the wispy stuff right. He may have a good lie as we can see the ball. Gogs hits a fairway metal, and it too goes right. Luke Donald at the 18th, even par, could post -1 and will very easily post even par.

11:09:55: Westwood will two putt easily at the ninth.

11:11:34: I’m getting really tired of this dog-and-his-bone commercial. And Lee Westwood will henceforth be known as NASCAR due to the number of logos on his clothes (thanks Rich).

11:13:07: Watson is 25 yards shy, not his best effort. Chris Wood at the 16th will tap in for par after a good run at birdie. NASCAR driving (ha) at the 10th, finds some longer hay right and beyond the two controversial bunkers.

11:15:04: Hey look, it’s Stewart Cink! He knocks in a putt somewhere to get to something (11 to get to -1, I think). Donald will post even par, missing his birdie putt. He shot 67 today.

11:15:52: Watson has left himself 30 feet for par. NASCAR will find himself leading by two, perhaps briefly if his lie on 10 is bad.

11:18:55: Lee’s lie doesn’t look good. Judy thinks it’s okay. It comes out left. We have no idea where, though, as the BBC can’t show us. Watson, as predicted, misses his par putt at the ninth. At least he got it to the hole, missing just right.

11:21:03: Goosen misses a long birdie putt at the 11th that would have gotten him to -2. NASCAR runs his chip well past the hole and is still just off the green. Bet you didn’t know Gogs was still at -2 and thus T2 with Old Tom. Gogs finds the fairway WAY down the fairway at the 10th. Watson lays up short of the fairway bunkers.

11:24:50: NASCAR will bogey the 10th. He’ll fall back to -3, still leading by one over Gogs and Old Tom.

11:25:57: Another shot of Cink! He comes up just short at the 12th and will make an easy par. He’s still -1. Two shots of Cink in five minutes – it’s like they’ve lost their minds! 😛

11:28:15: Old Tom plays beautifully from 178 at the 10th. He’ll have under 20 feet for birdie. Maybe he’ll even get it to the hole this time. At the 11th NASCAR tugs it a bit to the back left part of the green. 172 yards today, and guys are hitting 9I or so straight downwind.

11:31:55: Old Tom from 14 feet, raises the putter, but the putt catches the right edge and stays out. NASCAR from the back of the 12th just catches the left side and it stays out. A zero-shot swing that could have been one either way. Gogs, from eight feet and on about the same line, knocks it in. He’s tied for the lead!

11:34:34: Chris Wood makes birdie to go to -2 with his birdie at the 17th. He may very well post early and win the Open Championship, crazy hair and all.

11:35:03: Gogs hits the front right of the green and the ball sits quickly, somehow. Old Tom stares it down, but he’s even further right than Gogs. Neither messed with the bunker.

11:38:36: Gogs leaves his putt short. Old Tom was inside him somehow? Further onto the green I guess. NASCAR hits it into the “really tall wispy stuff” left of 12. Wood hits an iron off 18, but it bounces through the fairway. His lie will be okay.

11:39:37: Old Tom tries to overcome North’s announcer curse, and DOES! North was saying that how every time he’s needed one he makes it, and that’s just what he’s done now. He’s tied for the lead at -3 with Gogs and NASCAR. The arm raise wasn’t premature that time.

11:40:54: Cink does a 360 and birdies the 13th! He gets to -2. They might actually show him now. NASCAR at the 12th has a reasonable lie, 208, 5I, and he’s well short but in the middle of the fairway.

11:41:50: Daly eagles the 17th to get to +4. Hey, if he can ace the 18th… no, wait…

11:42:50: Old Tom takes his driver at the 12th. He’ll have to start the ball over the right rough, unlike NASCAR. He’s been driving the ball well all week. Not this time – it bounces off someone’s shin and finds the long rough, but it may still be visible. Gogs finds the fairway. Wood carries the ball over the back of the green. I’ve tried to avoid the pun that he’s a “twig” given his last name, but since he’s almost done with his round…

11:45:14: Westwood nearly holes out his chip, but he’ll have a seven footer for par. He would go on to sneak it in the right-hand side and remains at -3.

11:47:26: Andy North tells us the lie is really good. He gives a ball to the woman whose shin it hit. Wood’s chip is a bit chunky and will leave him a long putt to stay at -2. Old Tom gets a lot of ball and puts the ball left on a knob just off the green. He’ll putt down a big slope.

11:49:23: Cink at 14 misses right. Thomas Aiken birdies the 16th to get to even for the tournament, -2 on the day. This isn’t on TV, but on the web. Gogs finds the front third of the green at 12. Wood eyes up his par putt at 18 to post -2. It’s 12 or 14 feet or so. It slides by left, like Donald’s putt, and he’ll post -1.

11:52:12: Old Tom from on high, putting, gets the ball started downhill and leaves it short. The last part was uphill and he has a “testy one left” – inside of three feet though. And ABC still hasn’t shown Aiken, who is now playing the reachable 17th.

11:53:33: Gogs putts to Old Tom’s mark. They’ll both par. Cink, from way right at 14, runs his chip well past the hole, 10 or 11 feet.

11:55:10: NASCAR hits a good 9I from 170 to the 13th. He’ll have a makeable birdie putt. Zinger gasps as Old Tom taps in – the putter head moved WAY outside and really cut across the ball. It still goes in, but wow – that’s not a good stroke at all. It looks a lot like Paul Goydos’ “pull-stroke.”

11:59:07: Old Tom hits iron and finds the fairway. Longer second, but he took the bunkers out of play. Gogs also hits an iron and it scoots hard, just missing a bunker but finding the rough just beyond it. NASCAR, from 12 feet, pushes it and leaves it short. Par. Still T1 through 13.

12:01:25: Ross Fisher is T14, +5 for the day, by the way. I thought maybe he’d left to be with his wife since we haven’t seen him in awhile.

12:02:16: Old Tom finds the front corner of the green. Same line as Westwood, but three times the length. Gogs from 143, goes at the flag, eight feet for birdie to take the lead!

12:03:02: NASCAR, driving into a 23 MPH wind at the 13th, crushes one up the gut. Tom Rinaldi interviews Chris Wood. Chris Wood’s hair will be interviewed in the media room later.

12:05:06: Old Tom faces a putt at the 13th. 30 feet. Not much break. Just short – and probably in, but just short. Story of the day for Watson, really. He could be four clear of the field if you gave him an ounce more power on every putt.

12:05:52: Cink dropped a shot at 14 but picks it back up at 15 to get back to -2. Gogs has his short putt, but pushes it wide right and will not take the lead by himself. Still Old Tom, Gogs, NASCAR at -3, Cink at -2, and Chris Wood’s Hair at -1 sitting in the clubhouse.

12:08:12: Goosen has fallen back and is E for the tournament, +2 today. That South African Seven Year thing doesn’t look likely at this point. But, like Cink earlier, how little do we see of people who aren’t within a shot of the lead. He’s three back with a ton of holes left to play, and yet we haven’t seen him hit a golf ball in how long? Instead we see pre-shot routines that don’t matter, people staring into the sea, Tom Rinaldi, and far too many commercials. I wish I could pay for the BBC feed – it might be worth $20 today alone for me. Maybe more!

12:09:25: Westwood from 14, 21 MPH into him, 194, 4I, the wind eats it up and he’s 30 yards short of the green. Watson won’t make that mistake. Who hits a faded 4I into a 21 MPH wind from 194? He’d have done better to top the ball with that club in that situation.

12:10:35: Old Tom’s ball skips into the second cut just right of the 14th fairway. Not quite enough draw. That might be good though – it’ll help take the spin off his second shot.

12:11:15: NASCAR putts from 15 yards short of the 14th. Good play – perfect distance and four feet left of the cup. Good par by NASCAR. Gogs from the 14th tee finds the fairway 30 yards ahead of Old Tom.

12:12:08: Goosen! Maybe I just have to complain… He’s on the tee at 15, 227 yards, and a lot of guys playing 7I today. He flies the green and gets into a horrible lie in the very back of the bunker. He’ll probably have to play out sideways.

12:14:00: Old Tom’s ball is 218 and has settled down. North says “this is the kind of shot Tom doesn’t hit anywhere near like he used to.” NASCAR made par from well short; Old Tom is looking to do the same. The ball comes out low and runs up, center of the fairway, probably 35 yards back. Tougher angle than NASCAR’s shot, it looks like.

12:15:51: Gogs, in a 25 MPH headwind from 199, uphill, hits an iron that comes up short and left in the pot bunker.

12:18:46: Old Tom’s chip checks up and will leave him 8-10 feet for par. Cink at the 16th, from 168 with an 8I, goes left and the ball doesn’t come down the slope. Safe play – almost too safe. Gogs from the bunker blasts to about the same distance as Old Tom.

12:20:28: Uphill putt, ten feet, for Old Tom. Let’s see which kind of stroke he gives this one. Strange tells us you don’t want to get behind at this stage because you’ll have to make something happen. Old Tom takes his time. He’ll be nearly 60 when he finally putts this. He uses the Titleist logo on his ball as his line. he strokes it. It touches the left edge but stays out. A teeny bit of that pull stroke. Curtis Strange agrees.

12:22:06: Goosen made a double bogey. He’s done. Through T11, only four people are still on the golf course – NASCAR, Gogs, Old Tom, and Cink.

12:22:51: NASCAR bounces it into the bunker behind the 15th. It’s in the middle of the bunker, at least, and back into the wind. Uphill to the green (five feet), then 12 feet downhill to the cup. But, again, into the wind. 50/50 shot according to previous players for par for NASCAR.

12:23:58: Gogs misses his par putt. NASCAR is alone at the top at -3, with Cink at -2 the only other person on the golf course. Chris Wood is alone in fifth in the clubhouse. It’s a four-horse race now.

12:24:33: Cink misses a six-footer for par. He falls back to -1.

-3 NASCAR
-2 Gogs
   Old Tom
-1 Cink
   Chris Wood's Hair

12:25:40: Zinger tells us that when the ball is below your feet, the heel catches and you can’t spin the ball. NASCAR’s bunker shot is not brilliantly played, and he shoves it 20 or so feet beyond the flag.

12:26:46: Cink hits a fairway metal from the tee at the 17th. He stares after it. Right side of the fairway – safe. An eagle would virtually assure him a share of the lead at the end of the day, I think. A birdie would tie him – temporarily – for the lead. Will the 17th be as pivotal this year as it was last year for Paddy?

12:28:04: NASCAR’s putt from 20 feet is left the hole way. He falls back to -2. He taps in. Watson is looking at him from the tee, tied again for the lead. Fisher still has to clean up his birdie effort, which doesn’t go and leaves him at +2, four back and out of it. Richard S. Johnson birdies the 17th to get to +1 and T7.

12:31:32: Old Tom at the 15th, stares it down, lands it just short, and rolls over the crest. Zinger thinks he was unlucky. Regardless, his birdie putt will be just outside of NASCAR’s par putt.

12:32:15: Cink has 303 with a 21 MPH crosswind left. He’ll aim at some cross bunkers he has to carry or avoid. He gets good contact, stares it down, and it goes into the left greenside bunker. Long but simple bunker shot.

12:33:13: NASCAR on the 16th, crosswind from the right again, fairway metal, good tee shot finds the heart of the fairway and takes a HUGE hop forward off a downslope. Gogs back on 15 throws the ball up in the air, and hits it into almost exactly the same spot as NASCAR.

12:37:49: Old Tom’s birdie putt is short and right. He’ll tap in. NASCAR at the 16th from 139 – caddie says “get down” right away – and he hits it long and left into the rough beside the green. Gogs from the bunker hits it about as well as NASCAR’s. 20 feet for par. It stays left and slides three feet by. He’ll drop back to -2.

12:39:05: Cink on the 17th from the bunker, , blasts it out, spins to a stop five or six feet by – the kind of putt Cink has struggled with traditionally.

-2   NASCAR
     Old Tom
-1   Chris Wood's Hair
     Cink
     Gogs

12:40:42: Old Tom has played the last three holes at -5 for the week with no bogeys. That’s a good sign. Old Tom’s tee shot finds the left intermediate cut at the 16th. NASCAR’s chip comes up 12 feet shy of the flag, 25 or 30 feet short of the burn.

12:42:12: Cink’s birdie effort misses a foot right. Absolutely no chance there – none. Horrible effort, really. Gogs hits an iron off 16, it takes a bounce, and rolls out quite a ways.

12:43:16: NASCAR’s putt glances in the left side of the cup but doesn’t go. He bogeys and falls back to -1, leaving Old Tom alone in the lead once again, just as he started the day. Tom at -2, four others at -1: Cink, Chris Wood’s Hair, Gogs, and NASCAR.

12:46:01: Gogs from 176, wind 24 MPH across and helping a touch, hits it into the hay lefter and shorter than NASCAR’s. Cink hits an iron off 18 and finds the fairway, running through into the first cut. He needs a birdie. NASCAR and Old Tom and Gogs still have the 17th to play.

12:47:06: Old Tom, 18 MPH across and helping, 171 yards, plays it out right for the wind, and it finds the front left of the green, bounds on, and leaves him 35 or 40 feet for birdie.

12:48:01: NASCAR, driver, 17. Looks at it for awhile. And with good reason – it’s in the hay and wispy crap to the left. Horrible swing at an inopportune time when he needed something. I’d say what I’m thinking right now but I don’t want to jinx anything.

12:52:06: Old Tom, 35 feet away, has made a lot of long putts here in the past few days. Not today, as the crowd oohs and ahhs. He’s four feet shy.

12:52:28: Cink at 18, clean lie, 193 yards. Bounces it on, 12-15 feet for birdie, and on a different angle (pin high right) than the other attempts.

12:53:06: Gogs makes bogey. He falls back to E for the tournament. If Old Tom can gut his in, he’ll stay clear. He does! Tom Watson leads the British Open with two holes left to play!

12:54:48: Where’s NASCAR? There he is. He caught a break according to Judy Rankin. Playing a 5I, ball comes out okay, 216 to the front, and yes! It’s on, and it rolls up and cozies up to 20 feet for eagle. What a lucky break for NASCAR.

12:56:31: Old Tom just finds the intermediate cut right of 17. Cink’s birdie putt at the 18th, he raises his arm with six feet left, and the putt drops! Stewart Cink posts -2 and takes Goosen and Chris Wood’s Hair out of it! Gogs is at even par but playing a hole he can eagle. NASCAR is at -1 with an eagle putt, and Old Tom is at -2 and in good position at 17. The opengolf.com leaderboard will update in about half an hour.

13:00:47: The board updates. NASCAR will make birdie at worst to tie for the lead. His eagle putt, though, bounces a few times and stays out right, catching the edge and stopping an inch behind the cup. NASCAR -2, and it’s a three-way tie at the top, with Old Tom still to play the rest of the 17th.

13:02:30: Old Tom has 267 to the hole, 207 to carry two pot bunkers. 22 MPH cross wind. Hybrid. Ball bounces up and on, going hot, and rolls off the back of the green. A chip and a putt will put Old Tom back in the lead at -3.

13:04:52: NASCAR’s ball finds the fairway bunker on the left side of the 18th. He can’t get to the green, says Zinger, and he also says he has no idea it’s in the bunker.

13:05:38: NASCAR’s -2 finally shows up on opengolf.com’s leaderboard. Hey, it’s only been five minutes. 😛 Baby Daddy hits it off 18 and finds the fairway.

13:06:22: Jim Furyk, +5, knocks in a long putt for par at the 18th. Disappointing day for Jim, 76. Goosen finished up at 72 and even par, T5.

13:06:54: Old Tom’s ball is sitting down, but he’s going to putt it out. It’s the safe play says Andy North. Gogs, from 65 feet on the front of the green for birdie, doesn’t go. That ends Matt Goggin’s championship run, as he’ll likely finish up at even par, T5 with Retief and Luke Donald.

13:08:19: Old Tom putting from the back rough. To tap-in range and -3! Old Tom again leads the 2009 British Open with one hole to play – a hole off which you hit an iron. WOW!

13:10:00: NASCAR, 186, with a huge lip in front of him. Only 160 to the front of the green. He swings, 9I, solid contact, steps out and jumps, ball finds the front right of the green. He’ll need birdie and it’s unlikely he’s going to get it.

13:13:14: Old Tom will hit a hybrid off the 18th tee. He waits for a cart to move near the start of the fairway. It does, he hits. “Absolutely perfect” says Andy North. It is – right in the hight of the fairway.

13:15:28: Unlike at Torrey Pines in 2008, NASCAR’s putt does not come up weak and short. Instead, it zips six feet by the hole, never really very close. He’ll have to gut it out to tie Cink at -2. Par will win for Old Tom.

13:17:44: NASCAR three putts, missing left. He falls back to -1.

13:18:40: Gogs from 220, even par and +3 for the day, finds the very far right side of the green.

13:19:16: 187 yards for Old Tom. 18th hole. 2009 British Open. Good strike. Staring after it. Rolls off the back of the green, just into the rough by an inch, an 8I that he nuked. There’s still tension.

13:22:05: Andy North: “The lie is not great. If it was six inches shorter, he could putt it easily.” He’s going to putt the ball. Lot of grass between the ball and the putter face. The hill doesn’t look as steep from down low as it did from up high.

13:23:02: He putts. It rolls eight feet past the hole. Gogs will at least be putting somewhat on that line.

13:24:37: Gogs lips out his LONG putt that would have put him -1 and T3. He’ll tap in the one-inch putt, finish T5, even par.

13:25:00: Old Tom has eight feet to avoid a playoff with Stewart Cink and win his sixth Open Championship.

13:25:29: To Win Championsip.

13:25:35: No. The putt doesn’t even have a chance. Four-hole playoff with Stewart Cink. I don’t know what holes yet.

13:29:50: They’ll play holes 5, 6, 17, and 18 in the playoff. Cink played them in E, -1, E, -1 for -2 total. Old Tom played them in E, E, -1, +1 for an even-par total.

13:31:28: Rich says “I’m sure the entire crowd are behind him, but I’ve got a feeling Watson will run out of steam here…” and I tend to agree. What a day this could be for Stewart Cink. But, no offense to the Twitter fiend, I’m still pulling for Old Tom.

13:39:03: We learn about a thing with Stewart Cink’s ball moving when he marked the ball on the 17th. No penalty, but a little bit of stress. Cink is -1 on these holes for the week, Watson is even.

Watson-Cink Playoff

13:41:23: Old Tom splits the fairway with a driver. Cink takes an iron and does likewise. Cink is 36. Watson is closer to 80 than 36.

13:45:24: Cink has 217. Old Tom has more than 20 less than that. 4I for Cink, a bit right, and it drifts into the bunker Tom Weiskopft told us about, possibly very close to the lip.

13:47:04: Old Tom had 191 and found the front left bunker. Neither hit a particularly good shot.

13:48:49: North says a good shot is 15 feet for Old Tom. Judy says the same for Cink, but not necessarily because of the lip but just the distance.

13:50:00: Cink’s bunker shot, ball below his feet, grabs the ridge and rolls out to eight feet shy of the cup. Leaves an uphill putt. Old Tom now, just carries it out, and leaves 40 feet for his par. About all he could do, and still three holes left, and Cink isn’t stone dead either.

13:51:56: Old Tom, for par. Several practice swings, backs off, takes another look. Putt is away and rolls up to tap-in range. Pressure shifts back to Cink’s eight footer.

13:53:23: Cink’s uphill putt… drops. He takes a one-shot lead over Old Tom with three to go.

13:55:35: 227 yards, wind across and in to the right, 21 MPH. Cink has a 2-iron. His tee shot is well right but it funnels down onto the green off a big slope right. He’s really well positioned.

13:56:42: 3W again like earlier today. Shot is well right, well short, into the crowd and looking bad for Old Tom.

13:59:47: Old Tom may be 20 feet below the level of the green. Maybe 30 feet. His lie is matted down, he’s hitting into the wind (when he gets over the dune), right into the sun. If he’s a little short the ball should hit that mound and shoot forward.

14:00:45: Pitch is away. It’s a good one, stopping eight feet behind the hole, maybe ten feet. Justin Leonard claps. Despite what Azinger says, I think he needs to make that putt. Two down with two to play against Cink, who has a lot more power, you don’t want that.

14:02:14: Cink, former belly-putter user… good to see him using a regular putter. HIs birdie putt coasts to a stop three feet beyond the cup. Not a gimme. Anyway, glad to see that regardless of who wins, they will not have used a belly putter, keeping the streak of no major winners using a putter anchored to their body in any way.

14:03:46: Old Tom’s par putt at the sixth… GOES! “Par of a lifetime for Tom Watson” says Zinger. I’m inclined to agree. Cink’s putt just became four feet. Or five.

14:04:46: Cink’s putt also falls. Nervy test there, and he passed. Cink is one up going to the final two holes. 4-3 versus Watson’s 5-3.

14:08:07: Cink’s 3W off the 17th is in good shape, left side of the fairway, trickles into the left rough. Should give him a good angle to the green.

14:08:33: Old Tom hits driver. It goes left, fast, and unless Old Tom gets a NASCAR-esque break, Stewart Cink is going to win the 2009 Open Championship.

14:10:21: Ball search. Old Tom may have to head back to the tee. This could be disastrous. Rankin tells us it may have been found. Replays show the marshal looking back at the tee as the ball flies into the junk. The ball is in a horrible, horrible lie. No chance, and Tom will have to play a great third shot to have a reasonable chance at birdie.

14:12:01: “I don’t know if I can get it out of there, Ox, but I’m gonna give it a try” he says to his caddie. He gives it a whack. The ball stays in the thick stuff, squirting out low and to the left. Old Tom has lost the 2009 Open Championship, and he’s going to rue the first two times he used his putter on the 18th hole.

14:13:19: Old Tom opts to lay up. The ball comes out more cleanly, runs a long ways, and leaves him 120 yards or so to the flag.

14:14:24: Cink has 255 to the hole. The wind is 21 MPH across left and helping very slightly. His iron is crisply struck and bounds on. He’ll have 40 feet for eagle. “In control” says Azinger.

14:16:40: Old Tom, from 137, with his fourth. Ball hits the front of the green and goes nowhere, stopping 15 feet short of even Cink’s golf ball in two more shots than Cink’s.

14:19:25: Old Tom’s putt, from 80 feet, looks good for awhile but slides by left. He’ll bogey the par-five 17th at best and will fall, likely, three or more shots back with one hole to play.

14:20:26: Cink’s putt drifts right but to tap-in range. From four feet, Old Tom misses his bogey putt. Cink 4, Old Tom 7. Or 4-3-4 versus 5-3-7.

14:22:11: Cink’s putt falls. He leads by four with one hole to play.

14:24:48: Cink’s iron off the 18th splits the fairway. It’s well beyond the bunker NASCAR found. Old Tom hits his hybrid and misses right in the crowd.

14:26:02: Engraver is seen carving “STEWART CINK” into one of the bands of the Claret Jug.

14:29:00: Watson from 260 finds the, well, it’s left and short and it doesn’t look good.

14:30:01: Cink’s second with a pitching wedge bounces on and nestles up to three feet. Congratulations, Stewart Cink.

14:32:10: Stewart walks up 18. I wonder how Lee Westwood feels right about now having three-putted 18 to miss out on a spot in this playoff.

14:32:33: Watson’s third from the longest hay I’ve seen all week, stays in the hollow short of the green. He plays his fourth quickly and it coasts up and nearly goes in. He’ll tap in for bogey, finish +4 for the playoff, and in second place at age 59 in the Open Championship.

14:33:49: Stewart Cink finishes in style, birdieing the home hole for the second time today, and beating Tom Watson by six in a four-hole playoff. Congratulations to Stewart Cink, Champion Golfer of the Year.