Eight-time major champion Tom Watson, the latest big-name commitment for the Greater Gwinnett Championship, is one of the most popular players in professional golf. But Watson remembers playing the role of villain when he was trying to win the Atlanta Golf Classic in 1981.
Watson was dueling down the stretch with Tommy Valentine, a native of Gainesville and the choice of the fans who wanted to see their favorite son prevail. Watson, who had won the Masters two months earlier, beat Valentine in a playoff at the Atlanta Country Club.
“There weren’t too many people out there who wanted Tom Watson to win. They were wanting the other Tommy,” Watson said during a teleconference this week. “But I’ve had some wonderful experiences in and around Atlanta and to the east of Atlanta about 120 miles.”
Watson also has a footprint in Atlanta as an architect; he designed the Manor Golf and Country Club in Alpharetta.
A two-time Masters champion, Watson will play in the tournament for the 40th time this spring. He will then play the Greater Gwinnett Championship at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth before heading down to Savannah for the Legends of Golf, completing the Georgia Swing.
“If you don’t play in competition, your game suffers,” Watson said. “It gets a little ratty around the edges.”
Watson is excited about being named captain of the 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup team. One format change will give Watson only three captain’s selections instead of four. Watson agreed with the change and said the players should have another opportunity to earn the position on merit.
Watson, 63, became a little animated when he talked about critics who claimed he was too old and out of touch with the PGA Tour players to be an effective captain.
“I say hogwash to that,” he said. “These players know I’ve been there before as a player and a captain and I know what the players are going through. That’s all that needs to be known. I’m there to put players together to win the Cup back. That’s my only goal.”
On the Tours: Alpharetta's Heath Slocum returns to his native Louisiana this week for the Web.com Tour's Louisiana Open. It's the first domestic stop on the tour after three events in Latin and South America. … Georgia Tech grad Cameron Tringale finished third at the Tampa Bay Championship, the best showing of his career. The key was his accuracy. Tringale hit 70.8 percent of greens in regulation, third-best in the field, and was 9-under on the par 5s at the Innsbrook Resort's Copperhead Course. … Another Tech grad, Stewart Cink, bounced back from a poor 5-over 76 in the first round to shoot three consecutive rounds of 68 and finish tied for 14th. …
Stacy Lewis won the LPGA’s Founders Cup and vaulted past Yani Tseng and into the No. 1 spot in the Rolex World Rankings. The Arkansas grad becomes only the second American to hold the top spot; Cristie Kerr was No. 1 for a brief time in 2010.
Etc.: Martha Kirouac has been promoted to acting executive director of the Georgia State Golf Association. Kirouac, the organization's senior director of course rating and member services, replaces Matt Hooper. Kirouac won the 1967 Women's Intercollegiate, the 1970 U.S. Women's Amateur and was captain of the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup team in 2004. She joined the GSGA staff in 1996 and was the first women elected to the executive committee. Kirouac, who lives in Norcross, was elected to the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 2006. …
Georgia State freshman Jonathan Grey continued his strong season with a win at the Mission Inn Spring Spectacular in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. Grey closed with 67, tying a career low, and won by five shots. It was his third win of the season and added to his case for inclusion on the freshman All-America team. … Riverdale’s Mariah Stackhouse, a freshman at Stanford, notched her second victory of the season at the Julie Inkster Spartan Invitational. Stackhouse won by three shots.
