Capelle On Golf

During last week’s Open sportscaster/former pro golfer Peter Alliss offered the opinion that Tom Watson is “the greatest links golfer. Peter Alliss is dead wrong.

Yes, Watson has won five Opens to Jack Nicklaus’ and Tiger Woods’ three, which makes him most prolific Open champion of the Modern Era. But this alone does not make him #1 at links golf.

Watson’s triumphs came at five different venues, adding considerable weight to his corner. Meanwhile Nicklaus won at only two venues, but one was St. Andrews, the home of golf where Watson never won. Nicklaus was also a strong contender at the four courses where Watson won, but he didn’t, finishing 2t, 2 (to Watson at Turnberry), 4th, and 2t, proving he had mastered each layout’s unique challenges.

When the best is not winning, he should be contending, which carries a lot of weight as Watson showed us at this year’s Open. On this score, Watson is woefully deficient, recording only two seconds (1984-2009) a fourth and a seventh among his non-winning top 10s.

In contrast, Nicklaus’ name was a fixture on the leaderboard for two decades with his three Claret Jugs and seven Silvers Medals. Perhaps more amazing is Nicklaus’ streak of 15 consecutive top 6s from 1966-1980. In his 12 non-winning efforts during this time he trailed the winner by an average of only 3.67 shots!

Nicklaus won in gale force winds at the 1970 British Open and he forged a record for consistent high performance that will never be equaled. He also won twice and finished second four times using the small ball (which was abandoned in 1974) which, according to five time Open champion Peter Thomson, is much more difficult to handle. Could Watson or Woods have won with the small pellet? We’ll never know, but Nicklaus could and that’s a point in his favor.

So, while Watson had amassed more titles, Nicklaus’ overall record clearly makes him number 1 at links golf.

Woods Far Back
As for Woods, he has three wins like Nicklaus, and he has contended a couple of other times, but that’s about it. The media is impressed by those wins, but they are one dimensional in nature as Woods has never won in British Open weather. In addition, his third Open came on at Hoylake, a track so bad that Woods could play it without using a driver, his weakest club. What’s next? An Open at a pitch and putt where Tiger can take advantage of his short iron play? In 12 appearances as a pro, Tiger has finished out of the top 10 in five Opens while Nicklaus did not record his third non-top-10 until his 20th season.

Top 4s in the Open
15  Jack Nicklaus
8  Tom Watson
5  Tiger Wooods