When Tom Watson saw the crowd rise to their feet he knew his ball was close but when the threw their arms into the air, the five time Open Champion was certain the ball had gone into the hole.
The 61-year old American became the second person in two days to record an ace when he tee shot at the par three, sixth took one bounce on the green and disappeared into the hole.
There was wild celebration for the eight times Major Champion and Watson responded throwing both arms also in the air and then turning to the crowd in the stand at the back of the tee before bowing.
Watson had 169-yards to the hole but given there was a stiff breeze into his face, he chose a 4-iron for the 15th ace of his 40-year pro career.
“Well, that’s another one,” he smiled.
“It was ironic, this morning I was watching Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie on the TV discussing the various Open venues and what do they show?
“They show Gene Sarazen on the ‘Postage Stamp’ hole at Royal Troon making a hole-in-one with a 5-iron.
“I hit a 4-iron that was into the wind. It was a slam dunk. If it missed the flag it would have been 30 feet by. But it was lucky. They’re all lucky when they go in.”
It was Watson’s second ace in Major competition after recording a first on the opening day of the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol in New Jersey.
And Watson delighted everyone with the story of his first hole-in-one when he was either 11 or 12 years old playing the Kansas City Golf Club but by himself.
“The second hole was a short par-3 and I made a hole-in-one, and went to the pro shop, and the only guy there was John Cosnottie,” said Watson.
“He was the assistant pro, and told him I made a hole-in-one and I read in Golf Digest that if you made a hole-in-one with a Dunlop ball, you sent it in and you got it connected to a plaque.
“It was a No. 1 wooden plaque, and they sent it back to you.
“So I said, ‘John, I made a hole-in-one, I want to get this plaque’.
“John looked at the advertisement and he said to me: “Tom we have a problem. You have to have a witness. You have to have somebody that had been there for the whole round.”
Watson said his delight in a first hole-in-one turned to despair but Cosnotti walked over to the window and looked 400 yards down to the second hole.
“You know, Tom, I saw that go in,” said Watson.
So Cosnoitti signed Watson’s card and Watsons still has the No. 1 plaque with the Dunlop No. 4 still mounted.
