Watts is making his way back
Watts is making his way back

By John Rohde Comments 0
Published: July 18, 2008

It was 10 years ago when Brian Watts saved par from a greenside bunker on the 72nd hole to force a playoff at the British Open.

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Brian Watts lines up a putt during the final round of The Players Championship on March 29, 1997. Associated Press

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With his left foot firmly in the sand and his right leg bent at the knee and resting on the grass above the bank, Watts pulled out his 58-degree wedge and blasted a 25-yard shot to within a foot of the hole for a tap-in par to tie Mark O'Meara.

Watts had to be a bit of a contortionist to pull off the shot.

Sadly, his body has been contorted ever since.

"It became a downward spiral very quickly," Watts said earlier this week from his home in Westlake, Texas, just northwest of Dallas.

Watts went on to lose to O'Meara by two shots in that four-hole playoff at Royal Birkdale, where the British Open returned this week for the first time since.

The loss still pains Watts, a former four-time All-American at Oklahoma State.

If there is someone who understands pain — physical, mental and emotional pain — it's the 42-year-old Watts, who is now doing everything in his power to return to the PGA Tor so his peers someday can select him comeback player of the year.

Watts' downward plunge began with walking pneumonia and a left hip injury in 2000. Then came surgery to fix the torn labrum in 2001. Then came two herniated back disks, two hip injuries and a torn knee cartilage.

It was around this time Watts literally couldn't bend over to stick a tee in the ground.

Watts soon learned going to a doctor doesn't guarantee a cure, nor does attending every rehab session.

"There's a lot of people I'd like to blame, I just can't mention them," Watts said, biting his tongue. "I've tried a lot of different therapists, doctors and surgeons, all these people who were so special at fixing golfers, and it just hasn't materialized for me."

Staying committed to one rehabilitation approach is tough. Watts has stayed committed to seven. Or is it eight?

"I would try different theories, different scenarios, and you don't just try them for a week," Watts said. "We're talking three to seven months of dedicating yourself to some kind of a theory. If you do that seven or eight times, it adds up real quick to about four or five years."

Watts retired from golf in 2005. "All that therapy I had for 5½ years just didn't work for me," Watts said. "I worked hard to do what they asked me to do, and it just wasn't the right stuff."

In January of 2006, touring pro Paul Stankowski suggested Watts go see a local chiropractor.

"He set me up with somebody, and that led to somebody else, and then somebody else," Watts said. "I've got four great people around now who take care of me and it's been this way for almost 2½ years. That seems like a long time, and that I should be better after two years. But you've got to understand, five years of bad therapy is a lot to make up for."

More than once, Watts woke up in the morning not liking golf.

"There were a lot of days like that, I'll be honest," Watts said.

Watts rarely picked up a golf club two years ago, and when he did, he swung a wedge, maybe an 8-iron if he felt particularly bold.

"I would hit maybe 30 golf balls. Thirty!" Watts said in disbelief.

"All those years I thought I was getting better, I was actually getting worse. I developed some very bad swing habits. It's taken a very strong mind of mine to get out of those bad swing habits mentally. I made some bad golf swings and hit some bad golf shots. It's taken a lot for me to rid myself of those bad shots. It's been very challenging."

Watts estimates he has played 40 competitive rounds of golf since 2003.

Watts is walking and playing four or five rounds a week on his home course at Vaquero. He frequently shoots in the 60s, but knows plenty of work remains.

"I need to get back in the heat of the battle," Watts said.

Last month, he went to Japan and played three straight weeks for the first time since 2003.

Watts played the equivalent of a Nationwide stop, then played in the Japan Tour's Mizuno Open (an event Watts won three times), and finished with another Nationwide-level event.

He opened with a 69 at the Mizuno Open, but followed up with a 75 and missed the cut by one stroke. The top four in that tournament earned spots in the British Open.

All this time away from golf has allowed Watts to become a multi-faceted coach.

The blessing in his career derailment has been quality family time with wife Debbye, son Jason (11), daughter Kelsie (8) and son Kevin (5).

Watts has had coaching stints in hockey, soccer, football, baseball and, of course, golf.

Kevin scored his first legit par earlier this week, albeit it from the girlie tees. From 100 yards away on the par-3 17th hole at Vaquero, Kevin hit driver onto the green and two-putted.

Watts plans to watch taped coverage of today's British Open while doing therapy. However, he will miss Saturday' coverage thanks to four hockey games, the first coming at 8 a.m.

His Sunday schedule is open to watch the Open.

His future schedule is open to play in the Open.

"I'm on my way back," Watts said. "What that means, I couldn't tell you. I don't know if I'll be any good or not. I have no earthly idea."