Tom Watson's slow slink into retirement continues after this season, with the eight-time major winner announcing this week he will no longer play in the US Senior Open and Senior British Open Championship.
The 69-year-old Watson, who will turn 70 in September, made the cut by two shots at this week's 2019 Senior British Open Championship after getting up-and-down for par from 170 yards on the final hole of his second round. At the time, it seemed his 4-over 36-hole total at Royal Lytham and St. Annes would be right on the cutline.
“The why is pretty simple: I can’t compete against these guys anymore,” Watson said to Golf Channel on Saturday. “I don’t hit the ball far enough, and when you can’t compete, there’s no sense – I’m a realist. I understand how to play the game, and I just don’t have enough tools in the tool box to compete against these guys out here.”
Watson has won the Senior British Open three times in his career, with his last win in 2007, and notched eight top-10 finishes. Watson never won the US Senior Open, though he lost in a playoff in 2002. He finished T-17 last month at the US Senior Open in Indiana. The 2015 US Senior Open represents Watson's last top-10 finish in a senior major, with a T-7 effort.
Making his seventh PGA Tour Champions start this year, Watson said he'll continue to play select PGA Tour Champions events, but he plans to further cut back his schedule.