The Masters bids farewell to Tom Watson and Ian Woosnam

What shall we do next April?

25 years after his famous Masters triumph, Ian Woosnam says he’s calling it a day. 

“I am in pain all the way round so it’s time to say bye-bye really,” said the 58-year-old, the only Welshman ever to win a green jacket. 

“There’s not much they can do. I have ankylosing spondylitis  and I can’t play with all the slopes here. I was swinging it beautiful before I came here. I am always taking painkillers just to play golf but it’s just too tough here for me. I said in the past that if I started shooting in the 80s I would call it a day.”

Woosnam shot rounds of 82 and 81 to miss the cut, but did finish with a flourish, birdieing the 15th and making an excellent par on his final hole. 

“That was a great way to finish,” he said. “The 18th was as well as I played this week. It’s just getting really tough. That’s my last go. I am not fit enough to play with my bad back. Every time I play this course it just seizes on me and I can’t swing the club properly. It’s time for me to sit back and watch. I’ll still keep coming to the tournament obviously. It’s a shame to finish off playing like that but you can only do your best. Never mind, I’ve still got a green jacket.”

He has indeed. Here’s how Woosnam took the 1991 Masters, holding off Jose Maria Olazabal and Tom Watson:

Tom Watson, who won a green jacket in 1977 and 1981, also bid farewell to the Masters yesterday.

The fiercely competitive 58-year-old had hoped to make the cut after an opening-round 74, but a second-round 78 left him eight-over, two shots off the cut line. 

Watson also signed off with a par, to a huge ovation from the crowd. 

“The fans were really very generous with their applause, it was a pleasure,” said eight-time major champion Watson. “I hope that over the period of my career, I’ve been able to show the crowd some great golf.”

Watson, who bid farewell to The Open at St Andrews last year, says he simply cannot compete with how far today’s top players hit the ball. 

“There’s more finality in this walk here, because I really have made the decision that the kids hit the ball too far. I can’t compete against the kids,” he said. “This course really shows the difference. You’ve got to hit the ball a long way to play this golf course.”

We couldn’t find any footage of Watson’s 1977 or 1981 victories, but here he is explaining the secret to the golf swing, which he says he discovered in 1992, by which time he’d won eight majors.