Watson claims title with closing 66

What do you get the star who's won everything? How about a new tour to conquer?

For Tom Watson, that could have started today with his one-stroke victory in the Senior Tour Championship that brightened up a good -- but not great -- rookie season on the Senior PGA Tour.

In baseball, Watson would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. His five British Opens in eight years are a feat we might never see again. His sincere, friendly style and wide, wide grin are a hit with fans of all generations.

But the man tour organizers pointed to as its can't-miss star for a new millennium hasn't been as dominating as he had hoped.

"We really haven't done all that well compared to what the buildup was,'' said Watson, who was winless since recording a victory in his second Senior PGA Tour start in September 1999 at the Bank One Championship. "We haven't taken the tour by storm."

He surged to front in this one, though, shooting 66 for an 18-under-par 270 to win $365,000 and finish the fall with the good taste of victory.

"It's like I was going to have dinner without dessert this year,'' said Watson, the first to add a Senior Tour Championship to his PGA Tour Championship title. "Now, I get to finish with a good dessert."

Watson had three front-nine birdies and a clinching eagle on the 14th hole at the Tournament Players Championship at Myrtle Beach to overtake third-round leader Leonard Thompson.

"He's good for the people, he's all about class. Tom Watson is as good as it gets,'' said John Jacobs, who had an eagle on the 18th for a 68 to end a stroke back in second.

Watson earned $365,000 to finish 20th on the money list with $781,361. Larry Nelson, who won a season-high six tournaments this year, shot his third 69 to finish at 7 under and lock up the earnings title at more than $2.7 million.

Thompson shot a 76 and was tied for third with Jose Maria Canizares and Mike McCullough.

Watson electrified the gallery, and even himself, on Saturday with six consecutive birdies on the back nine. His first-of-his-career feat moved him two shots behind Thompson.

Today, Watson made quick work of the his competitors, displaying the accurate irons and putting stroke that won him eight major titles on the PGA Tour.

Watson hit a wedge shot to 3 feet on the second hole for his first birdie. He hit a 6-iron to 20 feet on the par-3 fifth and made the putt to take the lead for the first time.

On the sixth, Watson's wedge shot carried a bunker and spun back to 6 feet for a third birdie. And two holes later, Watson rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt for a three-stroke lead.

"I don't know who these guys are who say he's got the yips," Jacobs said. "I didn't see anything like that.''

Thompson had said he wanted to win by facing down the best. But his game fell apart early with bogeys on Nos. 3-5. The last -- after he barely escaped a water hazard and missed an 8-footer -- followed a birdie by Watson, ending Thompson's chances.

"I had no feel out there today. My hands felt like 10 bananas,'' said Thompson, who suggested he might have had the flu. "But that's part of the business we're in."

Jacobs, a cigar-chomping free spirit who said he hit two trifectas in Saturday's Breeders' Cup, proved tougher to shake.

His first birdie on the 12th hole left him two shots behind Watson. But when Watson rolled in a 35-foot eagle on the 14th hole as Jacobs's birdie sat a few feet away, Jacobs knew he was done as he smiled and patted his friend on the back.

Watson says his game isn't close to what it was in the late 1970s early 1980s. He was a skinny, shaggy-haired star who pushed himself into the shadow Nicklaus cast on the PGA Tour.

These days, Watson hits his drives about 25 to 35 yards shorter and he calls his short game "ugly.''

But for a second afternoon, the crowds shouted his name as if he had just beaten Jack Nicklaus for the U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach 18 years ago.

Watson acknowledged them all. He waved and pumped his fist at his go-ahead birdie and politely thanked fans who shouted, "All right, Tom,'' and "Go get 'em, Tom."

"With Tom Watson and Tom Kite here, and some of the other great players coming, I think the best days of tour are ahead,'' PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.

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