Tom Watson slates Carnoustie as being unfair

Tom Watson, winner of the last Open at Carnoustie 24 years ago, described the course as "unfair" today after labouring to an 11-over-par 82.

"This is the toughest course I have ever played," said the 49-year-old American. "And it's unfair - the fairways are too narrow for the penal rough.

"This is actually the easy wind for the course. It's even harder when it comes from the other direction."

Asked how much harder he felt it was compared to the 1975 tournament, Watson remembered that he had scored a 67 then and said: "Fifteen shots."

A crumb of comfort would have been a par at the short 16th - something he failed to do in five attempts (four rounds and the play-off) when he captured the first of his five titles in nine years.

But Watson is still waiting for that milestone. "I had a 20-foot putt and I thought I had made it, but it stayed out," he said.