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Denis Watson

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For the political figure in Northern Ireland, see Denis Watson (politician).

Denis Watson
Personal information
Full nameDenis Leslie Watson
Born (1955-10-18) 18 October 1955 (age 69)
Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe)
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality Zimbabwe
ResidenceFort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
SpouseSusan E. Loggans
Children7
Career
Turned professional1976
Current tour(s)Champions Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Southern Africa Tour
European Seniors Tour
Professional wins9
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
Sunshine Tour2
PGA Tour Champions4
European Senior Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT27: 1987
PGA Championship33rd: 1984
U.S. OpenT2: 1985
The Open ChampionshipT15: 1982

Denis Leslie Watson (born 18 October 1955) is a professional golfer from Zimbabwe.

Early life and amateur career

Born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) Watson was educated at Oriel Boys High School, Chisipite. He represented Rhodesia at the 1974 Eisenhower Trophy in the Dominican Republic, in the same team as Mark McNulty, George Harvey and Teddy Webber. The team finished 14th and Watson best Rhodesian player.[1]

In August 1975, Watson, together with George Harvey, represented Rhodesia at El Rincon Golf Club in Bogotá, Colombia, among 18 two-man nation teams, competing for the Coupa El Rincon over 72 holes stroke-play. The Rhodesian team won, ten strokes ahead of Sweden, and Watson won individually on a score of 7-under par 281, five strokes ahead of Jan Rube, Sweden.[2]

Watson was awarded Rhodesian Sportsman of the Year in 1975[3] but would represent South Africa as a professional in the World Series of Golf in 1980 and 1982.[4] Watson had served in the Rhodesian military during what he described as a "terrorist war" in the early 1970s and would then immigrate to neighboring South Africa to pursue his golf career.[5][6]

Professional career

Watson turned professional in 1976 and played on the European Tour from 1978 to 1980. Relocating to the United States, where he joined the PGA Tour, he had his career year in 1984 when he won the Buick Open, NEC World Series of Golf, and Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational to tie for the most wins on the PGA Tour that season.

Watson finished tied for second in the 1985 U.S. Open, missing out on forcing a playoff by one shot, having incurred a two-stroke penalty earlier in the tournament. The penalty was assessed on the eighth hole in the first round, after he had waited longer than the allowed ten seconds for a putt that had hung on the lip of the hole to drop in. The ball did fall into the hole, but the birdie was disallowed and the penalty strokes added. The USGA and The R&A, the sports governing bodies, have since amended the penalty for this rules infraction to just a single stroke. Andy North eventually beat him by one shot.[7]

Watson's career came to a sudden halt when he was injured while playing in the 1985 Goodyear Classic in South Africa. While hitting his ball out of the rough with a 9-iron, he struck a tree stump that had been hidden from view causing damage to his wrist, elbow and neck. He went on to win the tournament, but his problems had just begun.[8] He required surgery on his wrist and neck, and was initially told that he would never play again.[5] He did, but was unable to consistently reach the high standard that he had previously attained and after several more operations he retired towards the end of the 1990s.[9][10][11]

After turning fifty, Watson joined the Champions Tour, and began to rediscover competitive form. He won the 2007 Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, a senior major, by two strokes over Argentina's Eduardo Romero, his first win in 21 years. He was voted the 2007 Champions Tour Rookie of the Year.[12]

Amateur wins

  • 1975 Coupa El Rincon, Colombia (team with George Harvey and individual)

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 12 Aug 1984 Buick Open 70-70-63-68=271 −17 1 stroke United States Payne Stewart
2 26 Aug 1984 NEC World Series of Golf 69-62-70-70=271 −9 2 strokes United States Bruce Lietzke
3 23 Sep 1984 Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational 69-66-68-70-68=341 −15 1 stroke United States Andy Bean

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 1982 Bay Hill Classic United States Tom Kite, United States Jack Nicklaus Kite won with birdie on first extra hole

Sunshine Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 20 Feb 1982 Holiday Inns Pro-Am 268 −20 4 strokes South Africa Fulton Allem
2 21 Dec 1985 Goodyear Classic 282 −2 1 stroke Namibia Trevor Dodds, South Africa David Frost

Champions Tour wins (4)

Legend
Senior major championships (1)
Other Champions Tour (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 27 May 2007 Senior PGA Championship 71-71-69-68=279 −9 2 strokes Argentina Eduardo Romero
2 26 Aug 2007 Boeing Classic 69-69-69=207 −9 Playoff United States R. W. Eaks, United States David Eger,
United States Gil Morgan, Japan Naomichi Ozaki,
United States Dana Quigley, United States Craig Stadler
3 16 Mar 2008 AT&T Champions Classic 73-71-65=209 −7 Playoff United States Brad Bryant, United States Loren Roberts
4 4 May 2008 FedEx Kinko's Classic 67-70-69=206 −10 1 stroke United States Scott Hoch, United States Tim Simpson,
Zimbabwe Nick Price

Champions Tour playoff record (2–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2007 Boeing Classic United States R. W. Eaks, United States David Eger,
United States Gil Morgan, Japan Naomichi Ozaki,
United States Dana Quigley, United States Craig Stadler 		Won with eagle on second extra hole
Eger, Morgan, Ozaki and Quigley eliminated by birdie on first hole
2 2008 AT&T Champions Classic United States Brad Bryant, United States Loren Roberts Won with birdie on third extra hole
Bryant eliminated by birdie on second hole

Playoff record

Other playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1984 Tallahassee Open United States Kermit Zarley Lost to bogey on fourth extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament T53 CUT T27
U.S. Open T2 T12 T36
The Open Championship T41 CUT T15 WD T47 CUT
PGA Championship CUT 33 T40 71 T40 T48
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open WD
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1980 Open Championship)
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2
U.S. Open 0 1 0 1 1 2 4 3
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 3
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5
Totals 0 1 0 1 1 3 20 13
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (twice)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Senior major championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship Winning score Margin Runner-up
2007 Senior PGA Championship −9 (71-71-69-68=279) 2 strokes Argentina Eduardo Romero

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2012.

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Senior PGA Championship 1 T26 CUT CUT CUT DQ
The Tradition T9 T52 T50 61 T45 62
Senior Players Championship T31 T27 72 T11
U.S. Senior Open T5 T52 T52 T53
Senior British Open Championship T16 T8 T41
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
DQ = Disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

Amateur

  • Eisenhower Trophy (representing Rhodesia): 1974
  • Coupa El Rincon, Colombia (representing Rhodesia): 1975 (winners and individual winner)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Record Book 1974 World Amateur Golf Team Championships" (PDF). World Amateur Golf Council. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  2. ^ Jansson, Anders (February 1975). "Svensk fullträff i Sydamerica: Andra plats i "par-VM"" [Swedish success in South America: Second place at "World Amateur Pair Championship"]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 7. pp. 34–35, 46.
  3. ^ "Brendon de Jonge, Nick Price impress". The Herald. 16 January 2012.
  4. ^ Urquhart, Craig (1 September 2013). The Kings of Swing: Behind the Scenes with South Africa's Golfing Greats. Penguin Random House South Africa. ISBN 9781770226333 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ a b Blockus, Gary (28 August 1984). "Denis Watson prefers golfing". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. p. C1 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Blockus, Gary (28 August 1984). "Watson". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. pp. C4 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Pye, Steven (15 June 2017). "The golfer who didn't win the US Open because he waited for his ball to drop". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Spander, Art (27 October 2007). "Watson's all good after years of failure". East Bay Times.
  9. ^ "Watson living proof that perseverance pays off". PGA of America. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  10. ^ Shapiro, Leonard (3 July 2008). "Paying the Price". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  11. ^ Mell, Randall (11 February 2009). "Watson's dreams include win, family". Sun Sentinel.
  12. ^ Kroichick, Ron (27 October 2007). "Denis Watson relishing life". San Francisco Chronicle.
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