Fans at Masters pay homage to golf great Tom Watson, who's in position to make the cut

Even on a blustery day at Augusta National on Thursday, the still air of finality hovered over Tom Watson’s every move at his last Masters.

“It’s a little bit sad,” said his wife, Hilary, managing a smile and adding, “But … all good things come to an end.”

Knowing that was why hundreds followed him the length of the course, some doffing caps or calling his name and being treated to a nod or a smile or a tip of Watson’s own cap.

Savoring the occasion was why Watson received not just the fine applause he always gets here but also rousing cheers as he made his way toward each green — including a standing ovation as he approached the 18th.

Appreciation of the scene was why Dax Johnston traveled from Oklahoma and Sean McDermott from Florida and, shazam, became friends as they met waiting to see Watson on the fourth hole.

Because Watson, to each, stands for how you’re supposed to act on a golf course.

“His manner, just the way he carries himself,” said Johnston, the 1996 Division II golf champion at Central Oklahoma. “If he shoots 80, it doesn’t matter to me. I just want to be here.”

But the 66-year-old Watson, in fact, is aiming to extend his farewell.

With a 2-over-par 74, a year after he became the oldest player to shoot under par at a Masters, Watson remains in contention for yet another distinction at the site where he won two of his eight major titles.

“Who knows what happens tomorrow?” Watson said, smiling as he finished an interview and adding as he turned away: “Be the oldest guy to make the cut.”

That was a statement, or at least a suggestion, not a question.

And wishful thinking notwithstanding, “who knows” remains the operative phrase after an intriguing day Thursday that reflected his will and resilience — and served at once to remind of his remaining capacity and limitations.

On one hand, Watson lamented once more that he no longer has “the tools” he needs to compete with the younger set.

He invoked his drive off the 18th tee as an example.

He didn’t strike it particularly well but also didn’t mangle it.

And there it sat, some 205 yards from the green … and about 60 yards behind Lee Westwood’s ball.

Then Westwood’s caddie, Billy Foster, told Watson, “There are guys who hit it 40 yards past Lee.”

“It’s a game of length,” Watson said, matter-of-factly. “When I was a kid, I was one of the longest out there. So I had my advantage. That’s the reason I played so well here at Augusta.”

The flip side of his day, though, is Watson generally offset that with few mistakes and by putting well most of the day.

That included sinking one from about 20 feet away on No. 17 and unfurling a spectacular, winding 45-footer on the third hole one shot after he’d emerged unscathed from a bunker.

The normally reserved Watson allowed himself some subtle celebration with that birdie, turning and grinning toward a whooping crowd.

“When you make a 45-footer and it breaks about 8 feet, you enjoy that putt,” he said, smiling. “It’s not like it was a straight uphill putt from 3 feet. … Felt like I was stealing a little bit on that hole.”

But, alas, he gave it right back with an inadvertent stroke on the seventh green: After a short putt, he brought his putter down behind the ball and made it move.

Watson grimaced, wiped his eye and looked off into the distance before taking a bogey.

The careless mistake, though, didn’t consume him.

He stayed on par through the next six holes before bogeys on 14 and 18 left him 2 over.

“You’ve got to just move on,” he said. “I learned a long time ago if you start whining and crying about things that happened to you in the past out here … you’re not going to be much of a success.

“You’ve got to just carry on.”

That dignified resolve of Watson’s and his embrace of the rules of the game are as much a part of his appeal to the masses here as the achievements that Jack Nicklaus would say made Watson among the top five or six golfers to ever live.

When Watson was asked the other day about what he hopes his legacy is, he said it was to be “remembered by my peers (as) … ‘that guy Watson, he was a hell of a golfer.’ ”

But he quickly added, “I hope that (it’s thought) that I’ve treated people the way they should be treated. Sometimes I haven’t. But most of the time I have, I think, and I think that’s important.

“It’s not setting examples. It’s just who you should be.”

So here was Watson on Thursday, being who you should be on a golf course for one of the last times.

Anyone who witnessed it Thursday was rewarded one way or another.

Perhaps it came in getting a glimpse of the serene look on his face.

Or even with eye contact as he occasionally peered into the crowd along the way.

Or seeing that brisk, purposeful stride he still has, or hearing him yell “good shot” to Westwood on the eighth hole.

Here passed a champion forever — and maybe one who can put off just a little longer this very good thing coming to an end.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Fans at Masters pay homage to golf great Tom Watson, who's in position to make the cut."