Terrific teamwork helps Watson and North extend their dominance

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SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Behind the clubhouse at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa, there's a pathway laid with bricks. The winners' names from each year are engraved on these bricks in a semi-circle around the American flag.

Tom Watson and Andy North are proving unstoppable as a team. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

Watson/North Final Stats

Category Total Rank Eagles 0 N/A Birdies 31 1 Pars 23 32 Bogeys 0 N/A Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 76.2% 5 Greens in Regulation 83.3% T1 Putts per Round 24.0 3 Putts per GIR 1.467 2 Sand Saves 100.0% T1

"What Andy [North] really wants to do is build the patio out with Watson and North in bricks," Tom Watson joked.

North earned his sixth brick on Sunday after pairing up with Watson in the 54-hole team competition. This is the first official victory for the pair but fourth overall at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf.

Since their wins in 2005, 2006 and 2007 were in the Raphael Division, which was an unofficial event, the official money and win went to the tournament's individual winner. In 2008, the tournament returned to an all-team format so Watson and North finally claimed an official victory.

For the win, the pair earned 225 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup point's race. What's more, North claimed his first win in 22 years dating back to the 1985 U.S. Open.

After sitting on a four-stroke lead Saturday night, the two got off to a slow start by making par on the first two holes. In the two-man better-ball format, that opened the door for hard-pressing teams behind them on the leaderboard but ahead on the course to quickly catch up.

"Last night I quietly just said to myself: If we shoot 8 under par we'll probably win the tournament," Watson said. "And I was just hoping we'd get to 8 under a lot quicker than we did.

"...You don't want to gallop to the start where you make five pars in a row or six pars in a row. You need to throw some birdies in there, so that's what we did."

North got the team going, knocking a shot just inches from the pin on the par-3 third hole.

"That was pretty cool. [Hitting a] 228-yard 3-iron, that's like the kids ... I just waxed it," North exclaimed.

Watson interrupted to add: "It went up there and the crowd went "Oooh!" and it lipped out."

North tapped that in for birdie, the first of eight by the team on the day. But, with other teams like Jeff Sluman/Craig Stadler shooting 11 under par on Sunday and Ian Woosnam/Sandy Lyle at 12 under on the final day, North and Watson watched their four-stroke lead shrivel away.

"[Tournament Director] Tim Iley said it was important that we keep it interesting today. Being the television guy, [I know that] ratings are important so we did our thing," North deadpanned.

The last-round efforts by the other pairs weren't enough. When Team Watson and North eventually capped off its final round with a par, it meant the rest of the field would have to sit in amazement for another year.

It's been four years and an astonishing 162 holes since Watson and North last made bogey.

The secret to their success is simple. Watson, 58, needs a good pair of eyes to help him read the greens.

There's where two-time U.S. Open Champion North, also 58, comes in. North never had great speed when putting as a kid, so he came up with this unique method of choking way up on the putter and extending his arms straight out to strike the ball. It doesn't look pretty but it works.

"I don't read the greens well anymore," Watson admitted. "I like the eyes that Andy has. He's a wonderful reader of putts."

"[My eyes are] one of the few things that still work," North interjected, "so that's good."

How does Watson, winner of eight majors and 31 other tournaments on the PGA TOUR, help North?

"Tom still hits the ball better than anybody out here. He hits it as well as a lot of the younger guys on the PGA TOUR," North explained. "...It relaxes me a lot to know that he's there and so solid, that he's not going to make any mistakes."

North spends most of his time these days doing television broadcasts. Those commitments plus injuries -- North has endured 11 surgeries to fix various problems -- mean the clubs stay in the closest for most of the year. However, he did get warmed up for this week's event by playing with Watson and Brandt Snedeker in the Par-3 Contest at Augusta National Golf Club prior to the Masters Tournament.

He also participated in the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am last week and tied for 48th. His buddy Watson took home the trophy there.

"I struck the ball very well at Outback. I missed very few greens there," Watson said on Friday in Savannah after the pair shot a tournament record-tying 59. "I played the last two rounds, I putted for 33 birdies on 36 holes the last two rounds [there]...I'm doing a lot of things really well right now."

For their win in Savannah, North received a one-year exemption on the Champions Tour but doesn't expect to use it often, except when the Tour kicks off 2009 at the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai in beautiful Hawaii.

"Can I commit now?" North asked. "That was the first thing out of [my wife] Susan's mouth: We're going to Hualalai."

North's body just won't let him play full-time anymore and he would hate to commit to a tournament and be unable to play. He's also enjoying his gig on television too much.

There is one tournament, however, that he's keeping an eye on. Based on his success in team competition, North joked that he and his partner deserve a shot at making the Ryder Cup team.

"I've been telling (U.S. Ryder Cup Captain) Paul Azinger that he has (captain's) picks for two years. He has four picks. [Tom and I] can play teams.

"Maybe his guys can't," North said, poking fun at the downfall of the U.S. Ryder Cup squad in recent years, "but [Tom and I] can play teams."