Tom Watson, ESPN, and the Open

Sure, Tom Watson is in the field at the Open Championship, at Birkdale - where he won his fifth title. But, he doesn't seem too confident about being able to make the weekend since he is planning on spending some time in the booth with the ESPN/ABC crew on Saturday and Sunday.

From the USA Today story:

ABC/ESPN will formally announce Monday that the five-time Open winner will join lead announcers Mike Tirico and Paul Azinger on ABC's weekend Open coverage.

Watson says ABC/ESPN, which no longer covers much golf, went to him about working a few events. "I said no. I'm not good at it," says Watson, who's had "no more than a handful" of TV jobs. "I have a difficult time talking over somebody talking in my ear. It concerns me. I could start stuttering."

But he says he couldn't resist working the British Open: "There's no better venue to give this a try."

Interesting that he gets in the booth arrangement, but still thinks that he can compete in the Open.

His best golf days behind him, Watson insists that given the right course conditions, he can compete this week against a field that includes "players that weren't even born when I won my first Open title."

The first reaction has to be that at least Chris Berman isn't in the booth. My second is that Azinger will eat him alive. My third is that I would love for Watson to contend.