Unstoppable Watson-North three-peat in Raphael Division  PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A note to the rest of the field in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf's Raphael Division: y'all might as well just call it quits now, boys. Three-peat champs Andy North and Tom Watson say they are going to rule this tournament for a while.  Tom Watson (front) and Andy North have gone 108 Raphael Division holes without a bogey. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
"Hopefully, we can do this about another 15 times," said North, who has now won at this event an impressive five times, twice with Jim Colbert in the Legends Division in 2000 and 2001. "Our goal is to play [as a team] in the 70-and-above division here," Watson added, referring to the Demaret Division for golfers older than 70 that concluded in Savannah on Tuesday. North and Watson began Saturday at 8 under and two back of leaders Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie, but a barrage of birdies on the first four holes by Watson in the 36-hole, two-man, better-ball format gave the defending champions the early lead. After that, it was all North, whose well-struck shots on the back nine helped the team shoot 61 for the day and get to 18 under par for the tournament. North and Watson each earned $60,000 in unofficial money for their victory. "I drove the car for the first seven or eight holes. The rest of round, I was just sitting in passenger seat, looking out window and letting him do all the work," said Watson. Watson is still one of the top players on the Champions Tour, having earned his ninth victory earlier this year. North enjoys the opportunity to play each year with such a good player and friend. "To get a chance to play with maybe one of top 10 players to ever play, it's a nice place to start," said North. "We both understand how to play under adversity; neither of us ever gives up. Sometimes the most important thing is just to grind and get a par for your partner. I don't mind walking down fairway and clapping when he gets a birdie. Sometimes in team events, the ego gets in the way and players get depressed and down when not helping." Not these two, who work so well as a team. Typically, both play the holes with enough precision that each has an opportunity for birdie or eagle. And they've gotten this team thing down to a science, as it's been 108 holes since they made a bogey, even on fairways Watson described as "U.S. Open width." The Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf added an individual stroke-play format in 2002, but North and Watson have proposed a return to the old ways. After all, they seem to have a stranglehold on the Raphael Division team title. "We're hoping go back to all-team format next year, ages 50-59, 60-69, all playing together in the championship as started out to be," said Watson. "We said it last year, we'll say it again." And, if things continue on this pattern, Watson and North could be saying it again when they win their fourth straight in 2008. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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