Watson narrowly fails to pull off Miracle in the Sun

TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) - Tom Watson, who won the 1977 British Open's famous Duel in the Sun against Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry, blamed his approach shot at the 72nd hole for narrowly failing to pull off a 2009 Miracle in the Sun.

"I put myself in position to win and didn't do it on the last hole," said the 59-year-old after losing a four-hole Open playoff to fellow American Stewart Cink. "It's a disappointment to do what I did (all week) and lose the tournament.

"In retrospect I probably would have hit a nine-iron (for the approach shot) rather than an eight. I hit the eight just the way I meant to and sure enough it went too far," Watson told reporters.

"I then chose to putt it from the short rough (at the back of the green) ... decided I wasn't going to leave it short and I gunned it on by (eight feet) and then made a lousy putt (for par)."

However, the eight-times major champion was keen to put his defeat in perspective.

"This ain't a funeral, you know?," said Watson, who acknowledged tiredness may have got the better of him in the playoff which he ended in four over par against Cink's two under.

Asked if he had simply run out of fuel, the veteran said: "It looked like it, didn't it? It didn't feel like it but it looked like it.

"I hit a chubby (fat) five-iron for my second shot on the first playoff hole and I got stuck on the hybrid club I hit on the second.

"My legs didn't work on the drive at the third and that was about it. By that time Stewart had it pretty well in hand."

CEREMONIAL GOLFER

Watson, who started the day in the lead and was right in the thick of the title race all week, said he was glad to have gone through the whole experience.

"Damn right," he added. "I don't like to go to Augusta (for the U.S. Masters) any more because I feel like I'm a ceremonial golfer there.

"But here (in Britain) I have a chance ... and I knew I had a chance starting out so yeah, I'm glad this happened.

"Coming into this week I could have dreamed about winning, the way I was playing, and I knew how to play this course. The dream almost came true," said Watson.

The five-times British Open winner, who was attempting to become golf's oldest major champion, said he hoped the legacy he would eventually leave to the game would be a good one.

"When all is said and done, one of the things I hope will come out of my life is that my peers will say, 'you know what?, that Watson was a hell of a golfer," he said. "The old fogey almost did it."

(Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)