Stewart Cink throws his arms in the air to celebrate his victory at the 2009 British Open golf championship. Cink beat Tom Watson, the oldest man in the field, in a playoff by the Irish Sea. Stewart Cink throws his arms in the air to celebrate his victory at the 2009 British Open golf championship. Cink beat Tom Watson, the oldest man in the field, in a playoff by the Irish Sea. (Peter Morrison/Associated Press)

Stewart Cink's first major championship victory may always have an emotional asterisk attached to it, simply for the history that was almost made on Sunday at the British Open in Turnberry, Scotland.

He did, after all, defeat Tom Watson, all 59 years of him, in a playoff to prevent the latter from becoming by far the oldest man to take one of golf's major titles.

Julius Boros, at 48, remains the record holder for his victory at the 1968 PGA.

Cink, 35, had a tough crowd around him, as the fans were solidly with Watson while the two golfers made their way through the four playoff holes, replaying four and five, 17 and 18.

The day essentially ended with Watson's tee shot on 17 that went way left into the heavy, heavy rough. All he could do was hack the Titleist 3 back onto the fairway — it took two tries to do so — while Cink, already a stroke up, waited.

Through 17, Watson trailed by four shots and would finish six back.

Cink shot 66-72-71-69-269 (minus-2 in the playoff). Watson was 65-70-71-72-269 (plus-4 in the playoff).

The winner admitted to mixed feelings.

"I had such an admiration for Tom even before this, but this week the way he's played, it's just blown everybody away, including me," Cink told ESPN.

"It was a little regretful that I ended up pitted against him in the playoff and the way it worked out. I'm elated to have won, but Tom was a gentleman this week and he was great right through to the very end."

Watson wasn't taking any moral victories from his late-day collapse.

"It was fun to be in the mix again, having kids who are my kids' age saying, 'What are you doing out here?' It was nice showing them you can still play," Watson said. "I'm sure I'll take some good things from it. But it's still a disappointment."

He had broken up the post-round press conference when, watching all the reporters troop silently in, he said, "Hey, this isn't a funeral, you know."

As close as could be

Watson had what would have been an astonishing victory for the ages in his hands in regulation when he came to the 18th tee with a one-stroke lead on Cink, who had birdied that hole about 20 minutes earlier.

But after rolling his second shot long and third shot out of the fringe 10 feet too far the other way, Watson missed what would have been the winning putt with a tentative effort, forcing the playoff.

Cink, who came through the final nine with four birdies and three bogeys, had a problem of his own on 17 when he marked and replaced his ball on the green just before putting for what would be a key birdie.

Picking his marker up he inadvertently moved the ball just a smidge, but after looking at the replay officials determined it had happened directly because of taking up the coin and would not count a stroke.

Englishmen Chris Wood and Lee Westwood finished one stroke back of the playoff participants, each at 279.

Ross Fisher, of England, who began the day fighting for the lead with the pressure of a golf tournament and his wife's impending childbirth on his mind, fell out of contention.

Matthew Goggin of Australia hung around the top for most of the final round, playing with Watson, but dropped off late.

History came calling

There was much on the line for Watson if he had been able to pull it off:

  • He would have tied the famous Harry Vardon for victories in the Open Championship with six.
  • He would have tied Ben Hogan and Gary Player with nine major titles (Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA), behind Jack Nicklaus (18), Tiger Woods (14) and Walter Hagan (11).
  • He would have become the third player to win a major in three decades, his being the '70s, '80s, a skip over the '90s and then a win in the 2000s.
  • He would have earned a five-year exemption to the Masters, U.S. Open and the PGA, and a 10-year exemption to the British Open. When the latter runs out, Watson will be 69.

Golf, a game of would haves and could haves, left Watson with one legacy for this day — he should have sunk that putt on 18 in regulation.