Why Watson, Couples could contend in more 2010 majors

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Tom Watson will compete at his "favorite golf course in the world" this June at the U.S. Open.

The inquest into Tom Watson's resurgence has taken many forms and asked plenty of questions.

What has gotten into Watson?

We know he's a great champion, admired far and wide as one of the game's all-time best.

We know that his dedication and perseverance are relentless.

But, come on, playing this kind of golf at 60? Almost winning a sixth Claret Jug at age 59 last summer at Turnberry, where he was only 10 feet from victory on the 72nd green on one of the most daunting of all the courses on the British Open rotation?

Playing superbly again last week at the Masters, where few thought Watson could handle a very long, difficult golf course. He opened with 67 and was 1 shot off the lead held by another Champions Tour star, Fred Couples.

Let's be honest. Watson isn't supposed to be contending in the majors against the kids. (Pssst. Don't tell him that.)

Watson, whose performance at Turnberry still resonates in his game, doesn't have to grapple to explain his solid play. He's armed and ready.

"I would have to say that there's been a certain glow about the whole (Turnberry) situation, even though I finished second," said Watson, who lost a playoff to Stewart Cink. "And the glow comes from the people who watched it and who have come up to me and have commented to me about what they thought of it.

"A lot of them have said, 'You know, I'm not too old now. You've just proven to me that I'm just not too old.'"

Watson points to the Champions Tour as a critical factor in maintaining his competitive instincts and game at very high levels at this point in his career.

"Some of you say, well, get rid of that tour, it doesn't mean anything," Watson said. "But it does mean something when you play competition. If you continue to play competition and the chips are down - as you're trying to make a 4-footer on the Champions Tour or a 4-footer at Augusta, you're still competitive."

Another way of saying that is, "Action is action."

Watson and Couples are two Champions Tour players who are competitive whenever they tee it up in PGA TOUR events, whether those events are major championships or regular TOUR events, because their competitive juices continue to be challenge. Practice is one thing but there is no substitute for testing the game out there on the course.

"Before the senior Tour, what happened to the old guys? They had no place to play really, no place to stay competitive, and we do now," Watson said.

The natural extension of the issue is this: Can somebody who is 50 or older win a major championship?

It's never been done with 48-year-old Julius Boros coming the closest at the 1968 PGA Championship at Pecan Valley in San Antonio.

"It's a longshot for somebody, honestly, of our age to do it," Watson said. "But, still, they can do it."

Where? Which of the major championship might best be suited for an older player?

"The Open Championship is on courses that are bouncy and they are firm and they don't play as long as Augusta National plays," he said. "So in my perspective, I felt better with a links course in my hands than Augusta National.

"Ask Freddie. Freddie's right there. He can carry the ball 300 yards still in the air. That's a long way, for a 50-year-old."

Couples agrees that the Masters or the Open Championship is the best chance for him. He proved that again last week at Augusta National where he came mighty close. With rounds of 66-75-68-70 -- 279 for 9-under-par and solo sixth place.

"I haven't been in the British Open in a long time," Couples said. "But (Augusta National) is my all-time favorite spot to play. I know I can play the course. I can putt the greens. I'm a great lag putter.

"The first day, shooting 66, leading the Masters at age 50, that stood out."

Watson will get another shot at a major when he tees it up at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. A long-anticipated special exemption has been granted to Watson by the USGA. Watson said at the Masters he expected a decision soon and it came Monday.

"It's my favorite golf course in the world," said Watson, who won the U.S. Open there in 1982 in a classic duel against Jack Nicklaus.

"Some of my life's favorite times have been spent near Stillwater Cove. I know there will be more this coming June."

Watson, the winner of eight major championships in his career, has competed in 30 U.S. Open Championships. He was runner-up in 1983 and 1987 and has 11 times placed in the top 10. When he tees it up, he will become the only player to have played in all five U.S. Open Championships at Pebble Beach. The other U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach: 1972, 1982, 1992, 2000.

In his last start in the U.S. Open in 2003 at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club, Watson was tied for the lead after 18 holes and finished tied for 28th.

Champions Tour Insider notes: Couples will make his fifth career start on the Champions Tour at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am this week at TPC Tampa. He's going for a fourth straight victory, which has been done only once before, by Chi Chi Rodriguez in 1987. Couples' sixth-place finish at the Masters last week was the best performance ever by a player over 50.

• For the first time in Champions Tour history, the first five official events of the season have been won with sub-200 54-hole totals. The cumulative winner's score in relation to par this year is 95-under, the most ever under par after five official tournaments. In 2007, the cumulative winner's score in relation to par after five events was 80-under.

• World Golf Hall of Fame member Hale Irwin will make his 1,000th combined career (PGA TOUR/Champions Tour) start at the Outback. He's the all-time career win leader on the Champions Tour with 45. Irwin will become the 11th player in history with at least 1,000 PGA TOUR/Champions Tour Appearances. Miller Barber is the all-time leader in appearances with 1,292.