While I personally agree with the bolded, it's a can of worms I try not to open. It's easier of course since it didn't actually happen, but trying to explain or debate its significance and compare it across sports with people who aren't golf enthusiasts wouldn't end well.

Aren't you allowed to push the grass down with the club when taking your address in the rough? I see guys do this all the time.

EDIT: I just found this example of exactly what I'm talking about from Kenny Perry (whose name has come up entirely too often in this thread recently): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKsioAyR9Fs.

Heh, I was just watching that video like a week ago.

Bubba on Tiger

"Tiger Woods is back, and on the prowl," noted Piers Morgan. "How you gonna beat him?"

"Hopefully he gets sick," joked the 34-year-old Florida native. "I don't think anybody knows how to beat him. It's one of those things where we want to go out there and play our best. I'm going to go out and play my best, and hopefully it's good enough to beat him. And hopefully he's not on his best."

Listening to Feherty let out a subtle sigh as he watches Perry chop away the exact "clump" he is in the middle of saying will pose a problem is pretty awesome.

I 100% agree with BO. That absolutely would have been the greatest story in the history of sports. We were ****ing robbed.

Its pointless to argue about but I dont see how one can even make an argument that it would eclipse the miracle on ice. I mean on one hand you have an old golfer competing for himself and no one else and on the other hand you have a hockey team representing an entire country in the Olympics. Not really close imo

Noboby outside golf would have cared.

You really think Tom Watson winning his 6th Open would be a bigger story than Michael Phelps? Or a number of other things?

Most people outside of golf would have said "a 59 year old won something? LOL golf. Nice sport ya got there."

It would have gotten much more press than Cink

Yeah this.

Duh

So this. It would not have been the biggest sports story of the day, let alone ever. It's easy to forget because we are golf nuts but golf is a super niche sport watched by practically nobody.

This forum sucks. No post in particular. Carry on.

My gosh, it never ceases to amaze me just how unbelievably stupid people can be. Golf is not a super niche sport, plenty of people watch, and if people don't care about a 59-year old winning the oldest golf tournament in the world, then they are sports ignorant beyond belief and can continue on with their lobotomized lives.

Just for giggles, please list a sports happening that was bigger than if Tom would have won the Open. I'll be happy to say that Miracle on Ice was on the same level, but not bigger.

Either a few in this forum are unbelievably stupid, or have nothing better to do but troll. Either way, just stop posting. With each post the human race is devalued in a bad way. I for one am extremely happy I'm not you.

I won't even use all caps here, you idiots aren't worth the extra keystrokes.

BO

A Watson win would have been no where close to the Miracle on Ice. It wasn't like he would have defeated an evil empire.

Watson winning would have been a huge, huge story, but not even close to Miracle on Ice or Phelps setting the Olympic medal record. C'mon guys.

Tiger winning his 19th major will be a bigger story than Watson winning would have been, and I don't think it eclipses either of those other two stories.

That's not taking anything away from Watson at all.

I realize you are nothing more than a pathetic troll so don't take this rebuttal as an invitation to a debate. I don't feed trolls. I was simply curious if my assumption was mistaken, which it was not.

If the top 50 watched sporting events of 2012 golf had only 2 at 27th and 39th (masters and us open). Golf typically has 3-4 million viewers whereas even hockey beats it. Basketball, baseball and football beat golf by orders of magnitude. When tiger is not playing the numbers are even worse.

Don't bring facts to a gut-feeling debate.

Should've, could've, would've, yet didn't happen which makes the discussion moot. The fact that Watson had a short putt to win was cool though. When that putt slid by, I knew he lost his chance and Cink would take the playoff easily. Tom just put all he had into the tournament proper and was done.

The thing with BO is his entire sense of self is built around his golf game and golf knowledge. He has figuratively hitched his entire life wagon to the sport of golf, pathetic as that may sound. Anything that attacks golf or what he "knows to be true" (like Jack is irrefutably the GOAT) he views as an attack unto himself and cannot deal with it so he gets all defensive and tells everyone else how bad they are at life.

It's actually pretty funny to see and he's remarkably predictable.

Sorry Jesse Owens, it was really cool and all when you won 4 golds in Germany in front of Hitler but you will not be remembered more than 10-20 years for doing so. But a 59 year old white man winning an event he's won 5 times? That's memorable.

Henry Aaron chasing the all-time homerun record while getting daily death threats from the good ol' Georgia boys? Sorry bro.

TOM ****ING WATSON.

Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt taking the world by storm in the same Olympics? Step aside, fools.

42-1 underdog Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson in Tokyo in 1990 a week after his mom died? Eat **** and die, Buster. You are no THOMAS WATSON.

David Tyree and Co. beating the undefeated, 14-point-favorite Patriots in the Super Bowl like 6 years ago? HAHAHA you guys will not be remembered very long! Nice try though!