Golf / The Open: Watson hints at past glory: Five-times winner hands out warning to younger generation

JUST when it seemed Tom Watson was a past rather than a present master there was a sharp revision of opinions yesterday. Turnberry readied itself for today's start of the 123rd Open Championship to the accompaniment of bookmakers cutting their prices for the five-times champion.

Watson, 44, started the day at 50-1 but by the end of it he had been reduced to 33-1 as money rained in on the American and by last night the potential losses for Coral and co if he wins was estimated to be pounds 1.5m. This was the result of his playing the leading role yesterday as he and Jack Nicklaus thrashed two of the favourites for this week's tournament, Greg Norman and Nick Price. Old glory had resolutely put the new in its place.

'He is playing awfully well,' Nicklaus said of his practice partner. 'I wouldn't make him my first choice as the man I'd pick to win this week but he would be in my top three.'

More importantly for a player who has suffered innumerable agonies on the greens since his last Open victory in 1983, his touch with the putter appears to be returning. Watson played several rounds with Lee Trevino in Ireland last week during which the Mexican advised him to make a slight change.

Watson would not say what the alteration was but he did say: 'It feels comfortable now. I admit I've been thinking about this tournament a lot, I feel I am playing well enough to win. For years I've not been making the putts that were really necessary when I needed them. Now I'm making a better impact on the ball.'

Shades of the late Seventies and early Eighties when Watson won five times in nine years, and there were distinct reminders about his greatest win of all yesterday. The sun beat down on Turnberry, recalling the first Open on the Ailsa Course in 1977 when Watson and Nicklaus played the final two rounds together in arguably the finest climax the championship has seen.

Watson then went round the par-72 course twice in 130 shots and still required a birdie on the final hole to win. It was strokeplay turned matchplay and they were first and second, 10 shots and a mile ahead of anyone else. 'I won the event I was playing in,' Hubert Green, the third-placed player said at the time, 'the tournament for mortals.'

'The duel in the sun' it was called at the time and only the finest line separated two men playing at the peak of their powers. Yesterday the margin of victory was wider, a fact that raised the eyebrows given the quality of the opponents who were beaten.

In near perfect conditions, Watson and Nicklaus shot somewhere in the mid-60s, and their better-ball score was a 10- under 62 that left their opponents speechless. 'We birdied the 10th and there was complete silence,' Watson said, comparing it to the earlier chatter of Norman and Price. 'We birdied the 11th and the noise was less than silence.'

The practice pairing that allowed Turnberry's gallery to wallow in nostalgia yesterday owed a lot to accident. Watson had planned to spend the dress rehearsal day with Lanny Wadkins, but when he dropped out Watson approached his great rival of 17 years ago. 'Tom phoned me in my hotel room and said, 'I've got two pigeons to take money from on Wednesday',' Nicklaus said. 'When he told me it was Greg and Nick I then told him, 'Thank goodness, I thought we were going to meet someone who was tough'. We won the money, though.'

Nicklaus was asked how much. 'Enough,' he replied. 'Let's say my wife can go into the exhibition tent here and buy' - he paused for effect -'about a sleeve of a jumper at their prices.'

Howard Clark will tee off in today's Open with the threat of a fine hanging over him. The 39-year-old Ryder Cup player has been reported to the European Tour by a member of the public for allegedly using 'foul and abusive' language during the Jersey Open last month.

Full guide to the Open, page 38