ROAD HOLE WRECKS WATSON'S RECORD ATTEMPT In 1984 at St. Andrews, Tom Watson had the chance to win his third British Open in succession and his sixth overall to tie the record set by Harry Vardon way back in 1914. As he stood on the tee of the treacherous Road Hole on the final afternoon, he knew that only Seve Ballesteros in the pairing ahead was capable of stopping him. They both stood at 11 under par. The key to finding the wickedly narrow green at number 17, as it angles and undulates between the road and a deep pot bunker, is to place the tee shot into the extreme right side of the fairway, by flying it over a chunk of out-of-bounds hotel grounds. So close to the perfect line was Watson's drive that he stood for agonizing seconds with arms outstretched, waiting for a signal that the ball was safe. In the first two rounds he'd dropped three shots at 17, but made a two-putt par in the third after a magnificent 2-iron to the green. Although a little less than 200 yards from the green, Watson again chose the 2-iron, and with it attempted a slight draw against the wind to get the ball to roll up the frontal slope of the green towards the pin. But the shot flew straight and was clearly overhit, eventually bounding across the green and the road beyond to finish on the grass verge close to a stone wall. Tellingly, Ballesteros had hit only a 6-iron from almost exactly the same distance but from the rough on the left, had found the green, and made par. Watson bumped the ball back across the road but could get no closer than 30 feet. As he lined up the vital putt, a tremendous roar from the 18th green told him that Seve had holed for a birdie three. Now Tom had to hole this putt and finish with a birdie to make a playoff. Not surprisingly, it was beyond him, and a record-equalling victory was denied him by one of golf's cruelest holes.