SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Tom Watson turned 50 last Sept. 4, and by the end of 1999 Lanny Wadkins and Tom Kite also came of PGA Senior age.
The infusion of new blood into a tour where Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino no longer ruled was eagerly anticipated -- not only by fans, but by the players themselves.Kite showed why on Sunday, beating Watson in a monumental, six-hole playoff to get his first senior win in the Tradition, the tour's first major.
"The time that we hit our prime did not really coincide," Kite said. "Lanny was the best early on. He had his really good years in the '70s. Tom came in in the late '70s and started winning and won throughout the '80s, and I really didn't hit stride until the '80s and early '90s. So even though we're contemporaries, we haven't had that many opportunities to go head-to-head."
Kite ended the 24-hole endurance test with a 1-foot birdie putt after Watson nearly birdied with a chip from behind the green.
Larry Nelson also finished regulation at 8-under-par 280, but missed his chance to win when he two-putted from 5 feet on the 18th green. Then he bogeyed the second playoff hole, leaving Kite and Watson to duel it out.
The playoff was the longest since the 1997 Pittsburgh Senior Classic and fourth-longest in tour history.
"I don't see that the Senior tour is in trouble, but certainly if that show out there today doesn't help, then it can't be helped," Kite said. "I mean, that was just an incredible exhibition."
Watson shot a 4-under 68 to make the playoff, Nelson fired a 69 and Kite, struggling with his putting, had a 72. He had two chances to win earlier when putts headed for the heart of the cup stopped short -- on No. 18, and on the fifth playoff hole.
The victory closed a gap for Kite, who won the 1992 U.S. Open and 18 other titles on the regular tour. He was the only one of the celebrated rookie trio who hadn't won.
He also had seen only modest financial success, with one top-10 finish. But the $240,000 first prize sent Kite's earnings to $311,426, enough to jump from 49th to sixth on the money list.
Watson won the second of two events he entered last season, and Wadkins won in Naples, Fla., on Feb. 13, beating Watson and two others in a playoff.
Watson was downcast after the Tradition, sponsored by Countrywide, but not because of the loss to his friend.
"I'm pretty happy about the way I played," the five-time British Open champion said, looking ahead to the Masters, which he won in 1977 and 1981. "I am not happy about the way I putted when I had to make something. My long game is pretty good, but my putting is going to have to be better."
Bruce Fleisher was fourth at 282, and Joe Inman followed at 283.
Gary McCord and Andy North were four shots off the pace, and John Jacobs was alone at 286.
The group of six at 287 included Nicklaus, who closed with a 67.
The playoff was conducted on the par-5 18th hole and the par-3 17th, a 194-yard puzzler that is the toughest hole on the Cochise Course. The stroke average there was 3.38, and Kite's final birdie was only the sixth it yielded in four days.
Nelson got his bogey there.
On the fifth extra hole, Watson made an extraordinary chip out of a sandy natural area to within 7 feet.
Kite then rolled his 30-foot first putt within six inches of the cup only to see it stop. He thought Watson had won, but Watson two-putted as well.
On the last hole, Watson bounced his tee shot over the green, while Kite dropped a 6-iron next to the cup. It stopped a foot away.
"That lets me know what I have to do," Watson joked with the crowd. Then he nearly did it, lofting a high, 30-foot chip that bounced once and hit the flagstick, rolling 2 feet to the side as the gallery erupted in applause.
"If it had caught the pin just right, it could have gone in. I scared him a little bit," Watson said.
Watson putted out for par, and Kite sank his birdie putt.
BELLSOUTH CLASSIC: Phil Mickelson beat a Nicklaus on a Georgia golf course in April. Too bad his victory in the BellSouth Classic didn't come with a green jacket.
Maybe that will happen this week, when Mickelson will try to take the momentum -- not to mention a short game that is getting better every week -- to Augusta National for another chance at his first major championship.
"The last few years, I've put myself in contention and almost won the Masters with the short game that has been less than I expect," he said Sunday after beating Gary -- not Jack -- Nicklaus on the first playoff hole when the final round was washed out by rain.
"I think that this year around the green, I'm as good as I have possibly ever been," he said. "I expect to do well next week because of that."
He didn't need much a short game Sunday, a soggy day on the TPC at Sugarloaf in which only two shots were required for Mickelson to bag his 15th victory -- a 9-iron into 18 feet on the par-3 16th and a birdie putt that really didn't matter.
He earned $504,000: each shot worth $252,000. It also made the drive east on Interstate 20 a little sweeter.
"I think Augusta provides a great opportunity for me to win my first major," he said.
That's true in at least one sense -- it's the next major.
Nicklaus never really had a chance as soon as his 8-iron came off a little heavy, a high price for such a small miss. The ball caught the bunker, stopped 4 inches away from a 10-inch lip that left Nicklaus virtually no shot.