Romero miscues open the door for Watson’s victory

The Zimbabwe native won for the first time since 1984.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Denis Watson heard too often that he’d never play golf again. It took 23 years to prove everyone wrong.

Watson took advantage of Eduardo Romero’s late mistakes to take the Senior PGA Championship, his first U.S. victory since winning three times on the PGA Tour in 1984.

“This validates my golfing career,” Watson said. “It’s gratifying to know that I’ve still got it after all these years.”

Watson, from Zimbabwe, edged Romero by two strokes to become the first international Senior PGA winner since Gary Player in 1990.

The 51-year-old Watson was as a rising star in the 1980s when he won the Buick Open, World Series of Golf and the Las Vegas Invitational. The next year, he tied for second at the U.S. Open. Later in 1985, though, Watson’s rise ended when he hit into a hidden stump during a tournament in South Africa.

Nerve damage

Watson continued playing, but would eventually find out he damaged his neck, wrist, back and shoulders. There was nerve damage, too.

“I never played a decent round of golf [after that],” he said.

Watson’s had eight or nine surgeries, he says, been in a back brace for weeks and spent years in rehab. No less an expert than teacher David Leadbetter told Watson his swing was dead.

“Someone told me that I’d played 30 times in 14 years,” Watson said. “That’s not a lot of golf.”

Things began to turn this season, his first full year on the Champions Tour.

Comeback

Watson tied for second at the Turtle Bay Championship, then added three more top 10s heading into The Ocean Course, where he had to face Romero, who was still ahead by two shots after birdies on the 11th and 12th holes pushed him to 10 under.

That’s when things fell apart for Romero — and Watson took advantage. Romero followed a bogey on the 13th hole with a double bogey on the par-3 14th when his tee shot all but buried in soft sand.

On the 15th hole, Watson’s bogey sliced the lead to one. But Watson came back with birdie on the 16th to restore the margin.

Watson made pars on the 17th and 18th — he’d played the holes 6-over par the first three rounds — for a 68. Watson again pumped his fist when his final putt went in, removing his wide-brimmed hat as the gallery applauded.

“Words cannot describe the feeling,” Watson said. “Just to believe in my ability again.”