Why is the 1977 British Open so special? For starters, the field was spectacular, as star-studded as any before or since. In addition to Nicklaus and Watson, the master and the apprentice, also among the top 10 at the end were Hubert Green, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Arnold Palmer, Raymond Floyd and Johnny Miller, all of whom had won or would go on to win multiple major championships. Palmer, the 1961-62 British Open champ in a sterling career that included a U.S. Open crown and four Masters titles, wound up seventh, his final top-10 in a major.
Also in the field were five-time British Open champ Peter Thomson, four-time winner Bobby Locke and three-time titlist Sir Henry Cotton, then 70 years old, plus former major winners Roberto de Vicenzo, Tony Jacklin, Bob Charles, Tom Weiskopf, Gary Player and Jerry Pate. Greg Norman, who would go on to win two British Opens and, sadly, become even more famous for several majors he narrowly lost (8 runner-up finishes), was 22 and playing in his first major championship. Making their second appearance in a major were 19-year-olds Sandy Lyle and Nick Faldo. Lyle would later win the British Open and the Masters once each; Faldo, now a respected golf commentator, would go on to win three British and three Masters crowns.
Australian David Graham was entered, too. He hadn't done much up to then but would soon go on to post comeback victories in the U.S. Open and PGA.
The most talked-about, budding young star in 1977 was Spain's Seve Ballesteros. Though just 20, he had already been a runner-up in the British Open as a teenager the year before. He would go on to win three British Open trophies and a pair of Masters green jackets.
In all, the field at Turnberry that year included 23 players who wound up winning a combined 98 major championships.
At the top of the pack, though, were Watson and Nicklaus, two pros who grew up in the Midwest and were about to give the savvy British Open fans reasons to cheer. Tied at the halfway point, Watson, 27, and Nicklaus, 37, were paired together for the third round, when each player shot 65, and again were paired together in the final round.
While the rest of the field was quickly falling out of contention, Watson, who had won the 1975 British Open for his first major and nudged Nicklaus by two strokes earlier in 1977 at the Masters, and Nicklaus, seeking his 15th major victory, were tearing up the course. They matched each other nearly stroke for stroke, the difference coming when Watson two-putted for birdie at the par-five 17th hole and Nicklaus missed a short putt for birdie. At 18, Watson split the fairway, while Nicklaus drove in the rough.
After Watson's approach settled within three feet of the flagstick and seemed to settle matters once and for all, Nicklaus took a mighty swing from the gorse and was fortunate just to reach the edge of the green, leaving him 40 feet from the cup. But Nicklaus holed the putt for birdie, forcing Watson to make his short putt for birdie, which he did to post the second of his five British Open championships.
Nicklaus shot 65-66 on the weekend, only to fall one shot shy of Watson, who posted 65-65. At 268 and 269 for 72 holes, they were 10 shots clear of the field.
Hubert Green, whose closing 67 left him alone in third at 279, jokingly said afterward: "I won the tournament. I don't know what course Tom and Jack were playing."
For more on the 1977 British Open, read Mike Corcoran's "Duel in the Sun: Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus in the Battle of Turnberry," or check out the youtube links to the left of this column.
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