Tom Watson has the lead after first round of 2019 Watson Challenge

The first round of the 2019 Watson Challenge didn’t start as planned.

Severe weather delayed tee times by more than five hours on Friday, pushing the first group of golfers to 1:30 p.m. start at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in Overland Park.

By the time the first round came to a close, Kansas City golf icon Tom Watson was atop the leaderboard. Watson shot a 5-under 67.

Andy Spencer, a junior at KU, and Clayton Devers were tied for second place at 4-under par.

“It went very well for me,” Watson said. “I got the ball up and down, like a magician. I got the ball out of some awkward places … I watched (Spencer) overpower the golf course. He was hitting it 70, 80 yards past me.”

Weather permitting, the second round will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

Neither Watson nor Spencer said Friday’s weather delay affected them. For Watson, it’s obvious why: He’s considered one of the best golfers of all time, and with eight major championships, he’s anything but a stranger to adverse weather.

For Spencer, many years less experienced than Watson, the experience at KU has paid dividends.

“It is what it is,” Spencer said. “I wish I could control the weather, but I can’t. We deal with it in college all the time. We’ve played in some pretty bad weather. Our Big 12 Tournament, the first day got rained out, and we had to sit around all day. Yeah, I’m not as used to it as Mr. Watson is, but you’ve got to just let it go and take what Mother Nature gives you.”

Watson on Friday had birdies on holes Nos. 1, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 18.

Spencer logged birdies on Nos. 1, 4, 6, 10 and 11.

There’s something resembling a rivalry here. Spencer and Watson finished first and second, respectively, at last summer’s event, and Spencer also won the 2017 event. That year’s contest didn’t end as closely — Watson finished tied for 13th — but the two have battled things out for the past couple years, even though Friday was the first time the two had played together.

“We met at the dinner and stuff like that,” Spencer said. “First time we’ve ever played together. It was really fun. I enjoyed it.”

Per its website, The Watson Challenge “is the vision of Tom Watson with the purpose to determine the best player in the greater Kansas City golf community. The Watson Challenge has a field of 48 players, which is comprised of the best professionals and amateurs living in the greater Kansas City golf community.”

Let’s start with the founder.

Watson’s ties to Kansas City run deep. He was born in the city in 1949, and he remains a member at the Kansas City Country Club. He also designed the course at the National Golf Club in Parkville, and Missouri Highway 45, which passes the course, is named Tom Watson Parkway.

“I think it gets more players playing in the amateur tours,” Watson said of the challenge, “because they want to play in this event. And it really does with the professionals as well. They want to play. They want to get the points to play in this event.”

By now, you know Watson’s accomplishments: eight major titles, consisting of five British Open championships, two Masters and one U.S. Open title.

Those all came in the 1970s and ‘80s, when Watson was widely considered one of the best golfers on the planet.

Most recently, he was pleased to see Topeka native Gary Woodland secure his first major championship at the U.S. Open on Sunday. Woodland recorded a 3-shot victory at Pebble Beach, where Watson won the 1982 U.S. Open, the sixth of his eight major titles.

Watson had just stepped off a plane in Dublin, Ireland, when he received the news of Woodland’s victory.

“I was all smiles,” Watson said. “I was really happy for him.”

This story was originally published June 21, 2019 at 8:56 PM.