Congratulations to Stewart Cink

After being captivated for four days watching Tom Watson heading for what appeared to be history-in-the-making at the 2009 British Open, Georgia resident Stewart Cink, when nobody was looking, sneaked up and stole the whole show, and won his first major golf tournament in the process.

Very well played, Mr. Cink.

As for Tom Watson, when he missed that putt on the 72nd hole so badly, I was almost sick. It was a huge disappointment for me, as I grew up watching the man play, and I cannot recall ever seeing him lose his nerve like that.

Even so, Tom Watson is among golf's greatest champions, and has not diminished himself in my mind in any way. What he accomplished this week was perhaps one of the greatest feats in golf history, even though he came up one short at the very end.

After all, his name is etched on that coveted Claret Jug five times. 99.998% of the professional golfers out there won't see their name on it even once.

I grew up watching Watson and Nicklaus play week in and week out. They were my two favorite players back then, and are the two biggest reasons I became interested in playing the game in the first place.

This was far and away the greatest British Open I have ever seen played, and among one of the best tournaments I have ever watched.

As a Georgia resident, the Masters will always be No. 1 with me, but the British Open is a close second.

A very close second.