INCAgolf All you ever wanted to know about golf (well almost)

TURNBERRY, Scotland (AP) — Tom Watson shot a 1-over 71 that kept the him out front heading to the final round at a blustery British Open, where the scores kept going up, but the 59-year-old never faltered on Saturday.

Three years shy of qualifying for retirement pay and playing on a surgically replaced left hip that’s less than a year old, Watson showed the kids how it’s done. He pulled off several brilliant par saves, played it safe when he needed to and shook off a string of bogeys that briefly cost him the lead.

“That’s been the game plan,” Watson said. “I’m pretty close to it.”

At the end, pure magic for the second day in a row.

Watson followed Friday’s 75-foot birdie putt at No. 16 by curling one in from 30 feet away at the same hole, pulling even with Australia’s Mathew Goggin and England’s Ross Fisher.

“The putt I made at 16, I was about ready to make all day,” Watson said. “When I hit it I said, ‘I’ve got it right on the line I want. Let’s see if it breaks.’”

It did. The crowd went crazy.

http://www.pga.com/openchampionship/2009/news/wrapup_071809.cfm