Tom Watson Is At It Again

The wounds haven't even healed from last July in Scotland, and here we are again. Tom Watson, now 60 years old, not 59, near the top of the leaderboard at a major, this time the Masters.

We can't go through this again, can we? Speaking for all Tom Watson fans, let me answer that question. No! It was just too painful, that 18th hole last summer at Turnberry in the south west corner of Scotland. One 9 foot putt from winning the British Open at 59 years of age.

On day one of the Masters Watson fired a five under par 67, and finds himself one back of another gray haired fellow by the name of Fred Couples. Watson is tied with Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang. They are all one shot ahead of a guy by the name of Tiger, who had his best ever first round at Augusta.

Sound like it might be a fun weekend?

One of the amazing things about Watson's round today is that it was bogey free. 5 birdies and 13 pars on a heck of a tough golf course.

Watson's best chance at another miracle this weekend would be no more rain. Tom needs this very long golf course firm and fast to have any chance. But then again, we've sold him short before, haven't we?

Watson was all smiles afterward. Part of those smiles might have been centered around the fact that his son was on the bag today as his caddy. Tom acknowledged this in the press conference after his round.

"A big part of my success today was having my son on the bag," he said, that familiar gleam in his eye. "It was special."

Here's hoping the sun shines all weekend in Augusta, for more reasons than one.