It’s elementary for Watson

At tournaments Tom Watson plays in now, most people will come up to him and tell him how much of an inspiration he has been.

Watson has seen all the letters written to him, thanking him for showing how to defy odds, how to rekindle magic at age 59.

He can actually smile, though it was such a disappointing finish when he lost in a four-hole playoff to Stewart Cink in the British Open. The appreciation from fans has apparently been some consolation.

“The gist of many of the letters I’ve received say, ‘You gave me hope,’ and that age is just a number,” said Watson, now 60. “How I played gave people a different look at how they look at themselves when they are at an older age.

“I was humbled. It has all been simply very humbling.” Still, Watson left the British Open with frustration and disappointment. He was an eight-foot putt away from becoming the oldest player to win a major.

He knows he can play at such a high level late in his career. He learned he still has a great passion to win. He plans to bring that competitiveness to Newport Beach, where he’ll play in the 16th annual Toshiba Classic, March 5 to 7. Events, including pro-am, leading into the tournament begin Monday.

Watson was at Newport Beach Country Club last year. He was returning to form, as he rehabilitated from hip surgery.

The pain in his hip kept him awake at night, forcing him to have surgery in 2008.

He finished tied for 22nd in last year’s Toshiba, scoring 68-72-69—209 on the par-71 course.

No victories came in 2009, none on the Champions Tour, zero on the PGA Tour. But Watson, who has 39 PGA Tour wins, including the British Open in 1977, opened 2010 with a victory on the Champions Tour, for golfers who are 50 or older.

He won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, Hawaii on Jan. 24. He’d also won the Wendy’s Champions Skins Game with Jack Nicklaus in Maui on Jan. 17.

“I finally got a victory, which was something I didn’t have last year,” Watson said. “If I win a golf tournament, that’s the way I look at my year. Winning gives me a great start to the year. I went to Dubai and finished eighth. That was a continuation of good play because I got off to a very good start this year.” Watson is still showing that he can bring it. He tied for eighth at the Dubai Desert Classic on Feb. 7, when he was up against the fourth-strongest field this year.

He’s up for consideration to receive a special exemption to play in this year’s U.S. Open. The PGA will make that decision in May.

Until then, Watson continues to compete and try to show that he can still play with the best of them.

That ability showed at last year’s British Open. He said he discovered a new technique for his putting early in the week at Turnberry. He already felt something special about the Open and believed he could win.

Watson needed to make an eight-foot putt on the 18th, the 72nd hole of regulation, to win. But his putt never had a chance. And he never recovered from it, as Cink took over in the four-hole playoff.

“During the play of the tournament, I was just trying to win,” Watson said. “But it was still a very disappointing finish for me.” Watson laughs at the thought that the British Open is his best runner-up finish of his grand career.

“I never really ever thought runner-up finishes as being very good,” he said.

He wants to win. That could be seen at a young age. At 6, his father, Ray, introduced him to the game.

When he was a kid growing up in Kansas City, Watson already knew how to hook the ball, how to slice it. At age 14, Watson says, that’s when he knew he wanted to become a pro. His dreams started to become real.

“I ended up wining a competition at 14 years old, the Kansas City Match Play, and my dad was in it,” he said. “I think that tournament more than anything solidified my dreams of becoming a pro golfer.” Watson said he was especially nervous before that Kansas City tournament. But then again, he still gets anxious to play.

“I always get nervous playing in a tournament,” he said. “There always seems to be a certain level of nervousness.”

He’ll try to calm those nerves while at the Toshiba Classic.