David Howell: Thomas and Tom tower over all others at KLM

What a good event the KLM Dutch open was last week, played over the old-fashioned links of Kennemer Golf Club in front of big crowds in nice weather. Belgium’s Thomas Pieters ran out the winner once again, following on from his victory in Prague a couple of weeks ago.

Confidence is everything in golf, a point proved by the fact that the man in second place was last week’s winner Lee Slattery, who sadly bogeyed the 72nd hole to hand victory to his opponent. Still Lee will take that disappointment in his stride, I am sure. Having started the year without a full Tour card he has transformed his next couple of years in two brilliant weeks.

Pieters is a real talent, one of the longest hitters on Tour, it hasn’t surprised me that he has broken through into the winners’ circle. Twice in three weeks is quite a way to do it, however, and fair play to him, striking while the iron is hot is definitely what you need to do on Tour. We all play so many events when we are not on top form, so capitalising on your good weeks is what it is all about.

I always think that the national titles have a little something special about them. Maybe it’s the history that comes with them. The Dutch open is an old title with many great names etched into the silverware, but this week was certainly a nice one on the schedule. Sadly, it’s the last time for at least three years that we will play at Kennemer, with the tournament moving to a new venue called the Dutch, a modern course built for the Ryder Cup bid a few years back. With the infrastructure needed to host a big event, things will certainly be easier for the promoter next year. None the less, the players will always look fondly on the years at the seaside.

One player who made the trip last week was one of the world’s golfing legends, and definitely the best player in the world aged over 60. Tom Watson, of all people, lit up the event from start to finish. A birdie on the 35th hole saw him through to the weekend, and two more below-par rounds saw Tom finish on seven under par, in 47th place. What another remarkable performance!

If there is a man playing the game that is more respected by the players then I know not who he might be. Tom improved the week of so many people, and I hope he himself enjoyed it.

Let’s start with my old friend Jason Hempleman, who I learned to play golf with from the age of ten. Jason caddied for me for ten years, then did stints with Monty and Francesco Molinari, and now seems to come out on tour only when he gets a decent offer. So last week he answers his phone to someone who says “Jason, we need a caddy for Tom Watson next week. Do you fancy it?” Enough said! Jason, I know, just had one of the best weeks of his life.

On Tuesday morning, Mark Foster popped out for 18 holes of practice only to be met by Tom who asked if he could join up. Funny question… hey, I wonder if anyone has ever said no? Mark tells me he witnessed preparation as if it were his first ever major, no stone left unturned in his pursuit of playing quality golf.

On Tuesday night, the representative of Tom’s Management company, Sean Webster, rang Tom to say “me and a few of the lads are popping out for a pizza, do you fancy coming?” Cue the most enjoyable Tuesday night on Tour for Lee Slattery, Andy Sullivan and their caddies. They didn’t stop talking about it. I’m sure the fact that Max Cunningham, Lee’s caddie, is of a similar age to Tom helped the great man feel at ease.

On Thursday, a few of the players looked over in the players’ lounge at one of the oldest tables ever assembled in such a place. On it were Paul McGinley, Paul Lawrie, Thomas Bjorn, Stephen Gallacher, your’s truly, and the youngster Scott Jamieson – still in his thirties is Scott. What they noticed was how these stalwarts of the European Tour were hanging on every single word spoken by the eldest of the group, Tom Watson. He made our day – 2,700 Tour appearances between us and I don’t think any of us had ever enjoyed lunch more.

As for the crowds… well, as is only right, they followed Tom from start to finish. A Saturday morning tee time of before 8am meant his following grew as the round went on, and they were rewarded by watching someone trying to hole a putt on the last green to shoot his age, what a pity it didn’t drop.

Amazingly, outside of the majors Tom didn’t play an awful lot in Europe, but thankfully he made the trip last week and the golf world was a better place for it. That’s what legends can do, brighten up everyone else’s day.

What a remarkable position to be in, when everyone he meets is not so much in awe,but just incredibly interested to hear what he has to say.

Maybe it’s not so easy a position to be in, but it’s one that he handles with class and, from the outside at least, one he seems to revel in. When he finally retires, the golfing world will miss him. So congratulations to Thomas for winning and to Tom, for just being Tom.

*This article was originally published in TGP on September 16

Tagged David Howell, European Tour, KLM Open, Thomas Pieters, Tom Watson