GUY RAZ, host: Drama on the golf links today. Fifty-nine-year-old Tom Watson had the chance to become the oldest golfer ever to win a major tournament. He was on the 18th and final hole, leading by a stroke, just an eight-foot putt away from history and his sixth victory at the British Open. Then this:</s>Mr. MIKE TIRICO (Newscaster, ABC): Evened it up there. It's all over. Four-hole playoff with Tom Watson and Stewart Cink. Watson bogeys the 72nd hole.</s>GUY RAZ, host: That's ABC's Mike Tirico. That bogey left Watson in a tie with a man 23 years his junior. Cink dominated the playoff that followed and won his first British Open. Still, by leading for most of the Open's four days, Tom Watson became a hero for graying golfers everywhere. And to a somber crowd at the post-tournament press conference, he said:</s>Mr. TOM WATSON (Golfer): This ain't a funeral, you know.
Today's British Open finale was (almost) one for the ages. NPR's Guy Raz recounts the story of 59-year-old Tom Watson, who was just one putt away from becoming the oldest man to win one of golf's majors. He missed that putt and lost a playoff to Stewart Cink.