Every so often a golf tournament will come along where two players appear to be playing a completely course to the rest of the field as they leave the rest behind and duel between themselves for the title.
Of course, The Open Championship in 2016 springs to mind as Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson were 14 and 11 shots clear of third place respectively. Meanwhile, on the LPGA earlier this year, Rose Zhang was 15 shots ahead of third place as she edged Madelene Sagstrom at the Cognizant Founders Cup.
But surely, the most famous example came in 1977 when Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus engaged in a battle at Turnberry which would widely become known as the Duel in the Sun. Only three players ended that week under par, with Hubert Green third on one under par.
As the leaders teed off on the final hole, Watson found himself at 10 under par, while Nicklaus was one behind after missing a short birdie putt on 17. And Nicklaus landed himself in trouble off the 18th tee, very nearly putting himself in the gorse bushes. Thankfully, the thick rough held onto his ball – obviously making his approach much more challenging.
Tom Watson shares what Jack Nicklaus said immediately after their battle at the 1977 Open Championship
Watson meanwhile, left himself with a short birdie putt. As the pair approached the green, Nicklaus had a lengthy chance to put some pressure on.
And speaking on Fairways of Life with Matt Adams, Watson explained the events which followed.
“Even though I hit it close, Jack Nicklaus in his career has hit more birdie putts on the last hole of the major championship than anybody else in the history of golf. So I expected him to make the putt. And when he putted it, 10 feet from the hole I said, that’s dead centre, and it was. Dead centre of the hole, made a birdie,” he said.
“So I had to collect myself, but I was already prepared. I said I’m going to have to make this putt before he putted the ball, I’m going to have to make this putt. I wasn’t thinking he had a 30 footer and I had a two-and-a-half footer, I didn’t relax at all. And when he made the putt, the crowd went absolutely ballistic. It was an airplane roar, jet engine roar, and it didn’t subside. It just kept going and going and going, and I said, well, to heck with it, I’m just going to putt my ball when they’re still cheering for Jack. So I bent down to put my ball on my mark, and as I was lifting up the mark, Jack puts his hands up. The crowd went silent in about three seconds. Only in the game of golf, they respected the game that much. Jack said, alright, let this man have his due.
“It went dead silent. I looked at the putt, took my two practice swings and putted it in the right centre of the hole. It wasn’t dead centre, but right centre, and won it. That time there, when I walked off the green, Jack came over to me and he put his arm around my neck, gave me a tug and looked at me, he said, ‘Tom, I gave you my best shot, but it wasn’t good enough’, and he smiled and he said, ‘congratulations, I’m really happy for you’.”
The major wins Watson and Nicklaus would have after 1977
While there have been examples in the last decade of two players leaving the field behind, there has probably been nothing quite like the 1977 Open where two of the greatest to have ever played the game were battling it out in that manner.
Watson remarkably won all eight of his majors between 1975 and 1983 – although he so nearly won a ninth as recently as 2009 when he returned to Turnberry. The Open triumph in 1977 was his third title.
Meanwhile, Nicklaus was potentially not quite as good as he had been. But he still went on to win The Open the following year; the PGA Championship and the US Open in 1980; and The Masters in 1986. He completed a career grand slam in that period alone.
Nicklaus was a class act when Watson won, but he had a lot of practice finishing second in majors. He did so 19 times during his career – it is one of the reasons those who place Nicklaus as the greatest of all-time often do so.
He certainly has to be considered the greatest competitor golf has ever seen, when you consider both his glory in victory and his grace in defeat.
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