What Jack Nicklaus did for Tom Watson at The Open in 2009 which he’d never done in his life before

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Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson shared a tremendously healthy rivalry on the golf course throughout their careers, and a wonderfully close friendship off of it.

Nicklaus and Watson are two of the most successful golfers to have ever graced the game, with 26 major championships and 112 PGA Tour titles to their names between them.

The most famous showdown between the two players was dubbed as ‘The Duel in the Sun’ at the 1977 Open held at Turnberry.

Watson pipped Nicklaus by a single stroke after a fierce battle during the final round where they posted a 65 and 66 respectively.

For context, the next best scores on the day were a 67 and a couple of 69s.

Nicklaus and Watson are extremely close friends now, so what the Golden Bear did for his former rival 16 years ago shouldn’t actually be a surprise.

What Jack Nicklaus did for Tom Watson at The Open in 2009

Watson came incredibly close to winning The Open at Turnberry in 2009 at the age of 59.

A really unlucky bogey on his final hole meant that he faced a four-hole play-off with Stewart Cink – one that his fellow American eventually won convincingly.

Watson had everyone behind him. Every single golfer or anyone with even a slight interest in the sport was pulling for him that day in 2009.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be in the end for the eight-time major winner.

Nicklaus was one of the first people to console Watson after his heartbreaking loss to Cink at The Open in 2009.

“After the ceremonies I went into the press room and the corps were slowly moving in,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Come on everybody, this ain’t a funeral.’ I answered questions about why I putted from the back of the green instead of chipping. Then Hilary [his wife] and I went back to the hotel to dress for dinner. We were going to Wildings, which does the best sticky toffee pudding. The phone goes and I hear Hilary say, ‘Oh hello Babs.’ Then she hands it to me and says, ‘Jack wants to talk to you.’ ”

“He says, ‘Tom, I did something I’ve never done in my life before.’ I asked what and he said, ‘I watched you from the first shot you hit to the last in the play-off.’ Then he talked about the last hole. ‘You hit the perfect drive. If the second shot stops six inches shorter you’d win the tournament outright. The third shot would lose you the tournament.’ I agreed but felt it was better to putt because I had a depressed lie. I goosed it. Jack says, ‘The putt? You hit it like the rest of us would have, you dawg!’ The stomach is pretty empty at those times. You think ‘what if’. But the best player in the world called to console me. That lifted me.”

What a class act that was from Nicklaus, and Watson would have appreciated that more than we can even comprehend.

Tom Watson’s career by numbers

Watson is unquestionably one of the most successful players to have ever played the game.

His record in professional golf speaks for itself:

It’s such a shame that he didn’t win The Open in 2009.

Had his ball not bounced as hard as it did on the 18th green at Turnberry, Watson would have won The Open at the age of 59.

That undoubtedly would have been the greatest sporting achievement ever, bar none!

It wasn’t to be for Watson in the end, but at least he had his great friend Nicklaus there to help comfort him.