Watson said he only had one hour of sleep after he bogeyed the 72nd hole and then lost a playoff to Stewart Cink at Turnberry on Sunday, but was right back on the course to play full rounds at Sunningdale on Monday and Tuesday. He followed that with an extensive session on the practice range before the tournament opens Thursday."My mom and dad were flexible and in good shape well into their 70s," Watson said, when asked where he found his energy. "I come from good genes there."
Watson would be forgiven for spending his days lamenting that final putt at the 18th hole at Turnberry, but says he is more interested in looking to the future.
"This, too, shall pass," he said. "It's onward to the next week and forget what you did in the past, except where it might help you play better golf."
He may need his best golf to hold off this year's senior Open field, considered one of the strongest in the history of the event. It's headed by Bernhard Langer, easily the most dominant player on the Champions Tour this year with four victories and earnings of almost $1.5 million, twice as much as second-place Andy Bean.
Three other top Europeans from the same era -- Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam and Nick Faldo
-- are also in the field along with all the leading Americans.
Langer has been a hugely successful senior since turning 50 late in 2007.
"Things have been going quite well," said the German, who won the 1985 European Open at Sunningdale. "It's a very unique course, just fabulous. We are in the middle of the country and it has a linksy look to it. It's a very good test of golf."
At 6,616 yards, it is fairly short by Champions Tour standards.
"But at the same time, we can't hit driver here on many holes because it doesn't pay to hit driver and bring in all the trouble," Langer said. "So that makes the second shot longer."
Langer was not surprised by Watson's Open performance.
"It was terrific. I don't think people realize how high the level of play is on the Champions or Senior Tours," Langer said. "It's difficult to win out there because there are so many great players."
