The punishment felt cruel, unusual and unwarranted.</p><p>Tom Watson, golf fans and Stewart Cink did not deserve what happened Sunday afternoon at Turnberry.</p><p>For 71 holes, the 138th British Open conjured memories of the 1980 &ldquo;Miracle on Ice.&rdquo; </p><p>Fifty-nine-year-old Tom Watson made a fool of Father Time, conventional wisdom and playing competitors at least two decades his junior, arriving at the last hole of regulation an 8-foot putt away from authoring the greatest upset since USA Hockey beat a thought-to-be-unbeatable Soviet Union squad.</p><p>Had Watson drained the 8-footer for par, we would all believe in miracles again.</p><p>Now what? What are we to believe after he flubbed the putt, leaving it embarrassingly short and opening the door for Cink to win in a torturous, sad and one-sided four-hole playoff?</p><p>After watching a &ldquo;Miracle on Links&rdquo; for three days and 17 holes, the next hour conjured memories of a different, unforgettable 1980 sports memory.</p><p>Not since a 30-year-old Larry Holmes brutalized a 38-year-old Muhammad Ali for 10 straight rounds had sports fans witnessed a championship moment this tragic and gut-wrenching. </p><p>Tepid applause greeted Cink as he walked up the 18th fairway, ahead by 4 strokes in his playoff with the beloved eight-time major champion. Overcome by grief for Watson and the sadness of being robbed of witnessing history, the spectators at Turnberry welcomed Cink&rsquo;s emergence as a major champion with disinterest, saving their loudest cheers for the wounded legend.</p><p>Cink won the playoff by 6 strokes as Watson capped his disastrous playoff with a final 3-putt bogey and Cink slammed home a second straight birdie. </p><p>How? How could Watson play his best golf in 20 years and fall off a cliff when fate asked him to play four additional holes? </p><p>He found a bunker and bogeyed the first playoff hole, the par-4 fifth. He drove the ball way right on the par-3, 231-yard sixth hole, but he miraculously saved par with a terrific up-and-down. Watson came unhinged on the relatively easy par-5 17th, landing his tee shot in the tall grass and whacking the ball twice before reaching the fairway. He three-putted for a 7, and tears welled in his eyes and every sports fan with a heart.</p><p>He was 2-under par after four days of regulation play. It took 20 strokes for Watson to complete four playoff holes. </p><p>His unraveling began on his second shot at No. 18 in regulation. From the middle of the fairway, Watson&rsquo;s eight-iron sailed directly at the flag, skidded through the green and down a small slope. It was the perfect shot struck a smidgen too hard. His putt from off the green was imperfect and struck too hard, as well, leaving him 8 feet from a championship.</p><p>His potential championship-winner traveled 7 feet.</p><p>Multiply the disappointment you felt by 100, and then you&rsquo;ll have your answer to what happened to Watson in the playoff. </p><p>Holmes&rsquo; demolition of &ldquo;The Greatest&rdquo; inspired far more sympathy for Ali than respect for Holmes, who tried desperately not to humiliate the legend during their 1980 title fight. The bout did not damage Ali&rsquo;s legacy, but it did add a chapter to how we remember Ali.</p><p>We&rsquo;re going to remember the day Watson was Turnburied. </p><p>He didn&rsquo;t choke. It wasn&rsquo;t a Jean Van de Velde-like collapse. </p><p>Being 59 and way past his prime caught up with Watson the moment he realized he blew his sixth Open Championship on No. 18. </p><p>You ever experience the pain of losing something or someone you love because of your own foolish errors? It&rsquo;s devastating. It makes you want to crawl in bed, pull the covers over your head, curl up like a fetus and cry.</p><p>Golf is a lonely and transparent game. There&rsquo;s no place to hide, and no one to blame. Coaches don&rsquo;t call the wrong plays. The refs don&rsquo;t make a series of bad calls. Teammates don&rsquo;t screw up. </p><p>When Watson strolled to the 18th tee in regulation with a 1-stroke lead, there was only one person standing between him and a last bit of glory. It all went terribly wrong. The golfing love of his life, the Claret Jug, likely slipped from his grasp never to be seen again.</p><p>The rules of the game called for Watson to sign his scorecard, return to the course and a face a challenger who must&rsquo;ve felt like he&rsquo;d just cashed a winning lottery ticket. </p><p>I wish I&rsquo;d turned off my TV. I came to appreciate golf too late; I missed Watson&rsquo;s glory years.</p><p>Turnburied Tom is all I&rsquo;ll recall.