ESPN.com - Golf - US OPEN 2003 Columnist

Thursday, June 12

Watson smile, magic light up Open
By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. -- The worry had been that bringing the U.S. Open to Olympia Fields Country Club would be like taking a Broadway play to New Haven. The stage wouldn't be big enough, the theater too small.


	Tom Watson hugs caddie Bruce Edwards, who in January was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, after the fairy-tale round.

Oh, we of little faith. The 103rd Open not only gave us all the tried and true storylines that we expect from the national championship, it went one better. It gave us Tom Watson atop the leaderboard. It gave us 53-year-old Tom Watson, and his caddie, Bruce Edwards, dying of Lou Gehrig's Disease, both of them boo-hooing through the final nine holes of a round of 5-under-par 65, good enough for a share of the lead.

It gave us Watson, holing a 6-iron for eagle at No. 12, his third hole; holing a birdie putt at No. 7 that took longer to drop than the New Year's Eve ball at Times Square; making putts like the Watson of old, not the old Watson bedeviled on the greens in recent years. "Will wonders never cease?" Watson asked after the round. "You don't expect a 53-year-old to lead the U.S. Open, do you?"

Watson played in his first professional tournament, the 1968 Western Open, at Olympia Fields. He won his first PGA Tour event, the 1974 Western, at another Chicago course, Butler National. At the U.S. Open in 1975, at Medinah Country Club, some 40 miles from here, a 25-year-old Watson led the field by three strokes through 36 holes. He shot 78-77 on the weekend and tied for ninth. That was so long ago that Watson finished even with Arnold Palmer.

Watson's won his Open in 1982, a trophy now old enough to buy a drink, and he hasn't seriously contended in this championship since finishing sixth at Oakmont in 1994. For one day, at least, the only difference between this Watson and the one that ruled the Tour for a nearly a decade was the lack of ugly plaid pants.

With the 65, which tied his best score in 104 previous Open rounds, Watson shares the lead with Brett Quigley, a non-winner on the PGA Tour. While Watson plays the role of Sentimental Favorite, Quigley, 33, fits the bill of Thursday Leader, the unknown who surprises everyone, most of all himself, by finishing the opening round in first place.

In recent years, the Thursday Leader has been filled by players such as Woody Austin (1996, finished 23rd), Nolan Henke (1991, seventh) and Mike Nicolette (1988, 40th). For most of the opening round, it appeared as if the Thursday Leader would be Jay Don Blake, a 44-year-old PGA Tour journeyman so well regarded that the initial announcement in the media center boomed, "Joe Don Blake is now in the interview room."

On as benign a day as the Windy City can deliver, Blake's 4-under-par 66 wouldn't be low enough to lead. Quigley, better known for being the nephew of Dana Quigley, the ironman of the Champions Tour, than for his own golf, even characterized himself as an "underachiever." That is the result, he said, of putting too much pressure on himself to succeed.

"You don't have to play perfect to score well," Quigley said. He proved it by hitting just eight fairways in regulation. Quigley watched The Golf Channel the other night and saw highlights of the 1980 Open, when Jack Nicklaus won his fourth Open championship.

"Seeing a lot of guys hit bad shots freed me up," Quigley said. "I don't have to be perfect. I don't have to hit 18 fairways and 18 greens."

In addition to the Sentimental Favorite and the Thursday Leader, this first round presented the requisite Proven Veterans: Justin Leonard, the 1997 British Open champion, tied with Blake at four-under; Jim Furyk, who always seems to hang around the leaderboard at a major, is another stroke back. A threesome at 68 included Mark Calcavecchia, the 1989 British Open winner.

Lurking quietly in the background are the pre-tournament favorites. While Ernie Els ho-hummed his way to a 17-par, one-birdie 69, defending champion Tiger Woods, in the same threesome, scrambled his way to a 70. They kept themselves in the tournament, as did Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, who joined Woods and 17 others at even par. Two dozen golfers broke par.

Filling the role of Ing�nue is 18-year-old Luke List, who stood on the first tee at 8:50 a.m. Thursday and tried to keep his breakfast down. "I took a deep breath," said List, who will be a freshman at Vanderbilt this fall. "It was all I could do to not fall over. My legs were shaking. My heart was beating. I got my swing back on No. 3."

List, with a 75, finished ahead of, among others, the leading money-winner on the PGA Tour, Davis Love III. That's a leaderboard worth framing in the List household.

A leaderboard with Tom Watson atop it is a keepsake, too. For one day, the swagger and the Huck Finn grin returned. The gallery couldn't get enough of him. When he blasted from a greenside bunker close enough to save par at No. 18, a fan in the gallery yelled, "Tiger Who?" Watson's smile might have lit Broadway.

This was John McEnroe returning to win at Centre Court, Nolan Ryan staring down off the mound, Joe Montana trotting out to the huddle one more time. The truth is, it was more. Given the score and the chance to share such a special day with Edwards, Watson said, "It's a memory that, if I shoot 90 tomorrow (Friday), I don't care."

Speaking of memory, someone asked Watson if remembering the player he used to be helped him Thursday. Watson cut the questioner short.

"I am the guy I used to be," Watson said. "I don't have to remember. I am the guy. Maybe it's just for one round. You never know. Let's find out."

Ivan Maisel is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He can be reached at ivan.maisel@espn3.com.