Golf Alarab · Player profile
Tom Watson
Eight major championships and five Open titles built on aggressive, precise golf.
Tom Watson became one of the defining players of the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning 39 PGA TOUR events and eight major championships. Five Open Championship titles, two Masters victories and his 1982 U.S. Open win form the core of a career marked by sustained excellence and dramatic finishes.
From Stanford to the top of world golf
A fast, attacking style and precise iron play powered Watson’s rise.
Tom Watson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on 4 September 1949. He played college golf at Stanford University and turned professional in 1971. His first PGA TOUR victory came at the 1974 Western Open, and in 1975 he won the Open Championship, the first of five titles in the event.
Watson’s peak arrived between 1977 and 1982. In 1977 he won the Masters and Open Championship, with the Open at Turnberry remembered for his duel with Jack Nicklaus. He won the Open again in 1980, then captured both the U.S. Open and Open Championship in 1982. He added another Open title in 1983, finishing with five victories in the championship.
Across his PGA TOUR career, Watson accumulated 39 wins, eight major championships, six PGA TOUR Player of the Year awards and five leading money-winner titles. His career continued into the Champions Tour, where he collected 14 wins, including six senior majors. At 59, he came close to an unprecedented sixth Open Championship in 2009, losing a four-hole playoff to Stewart Cink at Turnberry.
The achievement that defines the record
Five Open Championship victories
Watson won the Open Championship in 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983. The 1977 title at Turnberry featured his celebrated head-to-head duel with Jack Nicklaus; in 2009, at the age of 59, Watson returned to Turnberry and came within a playoff of winning the championship again.
Career timeline
The championships and seasons that defined Watson’s career.
Turns professional
After playing college golf at Stanford, Watson began his professional career.
First PGA TOUR victory
Won the Western Open, opening his account on the tour.
First Open Championship
Won The Open, taking his first major title and beginning a long association with links golf.
Masters and Open champion
Won the Masters and Open Championship; the Open duel with Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry became one of golf’s best-remembered contests.
Third Open title
Won the Open Championship again and continued a period of dominance in the game.
Second Masters victory
Won the Masters at Augusta National, adding another major to his record.
U.S. Open and Open double
Won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the Open Championship in the same year.
Fifth Open Championship
Won The Open for the fifth time, completing a run of five titles across nine seasons.
Senior-tour success
Won 14 times on the Champions Tour, including six senior major championships.
Turnberry at age 59
Held the lead late in The Open and reached a four-hole playoff before finishing runner-up to Stewart Cink.
Signature achievements
The major titles and season awards most associated with Watson.
PGA TOUR
39 wins
Won 39 official PGA TOUR events during a career that began in 1971.
Major championships
Eight titles
Won five Open Championships, two Masters Tournaments and the 1982 U.S. Open.
Open Championship
Five victories
Won in 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983.
Player of the Year
Six awards
Named PGA TOUR Player of the Year six times and led the money list five times.
Champions Tour
14 wins, six senior majors
Continued winning in senior golf after moving into the over-50 division.
2009 Open
Near miss at 59
Came within a playoff of a sixth Open title at Turnberry, before losing to Stewart Cink.
Playing style and legacy
A major champion whose competitiveness lasted across generations.
Watson was known for an aggressive approach, reliable iron play and a willingness to attack when a tournament was on the line. His rivalry with Nicklaus, especially at Turnberry in 1977, gave golf one of its most memorable major-championship duels. His five Open victories also made him one of the most successful American players in the championship’s history.
His 2009 performance at Turnberry added another chapter. At 59, Watson led deep into the final round and required only a par at the final hole to secure a sixth Open title, but his closing bogey led to a playoff that Cink won. Watson’s career remains defined by eight majors, 39 PGA TOUR wins and an ability to contend long after his prime years.
