Golf: GOLF....Legends set for Open ReRun

Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson will relive 1977's famous "Duel in the Sun" when they tee up in the Mastercard Senior British Open at Turnberry on Thursday.

The two American golfers will go out at 8.20am, paired alongside England's Carl Mason, some 26 years after producing one of the finest finales ever seen at an Open Championship.

On that occasion, Nicklaus closed with successive 66s - and lost by a stroke to Watson, who carded 66, 65. Watson rallied from two shots behind with nine holes left to go, the drama continuing right to the 72nd hole when Watson hit a glorious seven iron to 30 inches and then holed the resultant birdie putt to win.

"I hit it dead flush," Watson recalled.

"It was one of the best shots I ever hit. It's something I will never forget."

Watson comes into his second Senior British Open in fine form, having finished second at the recent Ford US Players Championship and tied 18th at the subsequent Open Championship at Royal St George's. However, the man in form is undoubtedly 50-year-old Craig Stadler who created history last weekend when he became the first Seniors Tour golfer to win on the regular US PGA Tour.

Stadler, a former Masters champion, turned 50 on June 2 and went on to win on his fourth start as a senior at the Ford US Players Championship. That victory netted him 375,000 US dollars and he added a further 540,000 US dollars to his bank balance seven days later when he closed with a 63 to claim his 13th US PGA Tour title at the BC Open in New York.

Tom Watson extended his love affair with the Ailsa course at Turnberry when he carded a four-under-par 66 to claim a share of the lead alongside compatriot Tom Kite after the first round of the Senior British Open.

The two Americans go into the second round one shot ahead of a large group, comprising of defending champion Noboru Sugai, Scotland's Russell Weir, Englishmen Denis Durnian and Carl Mason, Mark McCumber and Fuzzy Zoeller of America and Ireland's Des Smyth.

Watson makes no secret of the fact he has loved Turnberry ever since defeating Jack Nicklaus in the famous "Duel in the Sun" at the 1977 Open, and he certainly enjoyed his round on Thursday, which included five birdies and just one dropped shot.

The American made his first move when he birdied the 381-yard par-four second, but then dropped a shot at the par-three fourth.

However, he jumped to the top of the leaderboard with three successive birdies from the seventh and then consolidated his position with a further birdie on the 209-yard par-three 15th.

TURNBERRY, Scotland -- Tom Watson's bid to win his first major as a senior was upstaged by his playing partner Friday -- and it wasn't Jack Nicklaus.

The Senior British Open was billed as a rematch of the 1977 British Open, when Watson edged Nicklaus by one stroke at the same Turnberry links. Only someone forgot to tell Carl Mason.

The unheralded Englishman shot a bogey-free 6-under-par 64 to take a one stroke lead into Saturday's third round at 9-under 131.

Watson added a 67 to his first-round 66 and is tied for third behind D.A. Weibring, who had a 63 for 132. Tom Kite also shot a 67 and is tied with Watson and another American, Bruce Summerhays (65), at 133.

America's Tom Watson revived memories of his famous Duel in the Sun when he closed with a six-under-par 64 and then defeated England's Carl Mason on the second hole of a sudden-death play-off at the Senior British Open at Tunberry.

The 53-year-old Watson, who defeated Jack Nicklaus during that duel at the 1977 Open on the same course, seemed destined to have to settle for second place when he bogeyed the 72nd hole to finish on a 17-under-par 263.

But against the odds he got a second chance when Mason took six on the same hole and Watson grasped the opportunity with both hands.

Both men went on to card par fours on the first extra hole before Watson won the �157,800 first prize with a regulation four on the second extra hole.

Watson's win means that he has now won two Senior Majors to add to the five Opens, two Masters and one US Open he won in the 1970s and 1980s.

It also means that he has now won five Champions Tour titles, as well as 39 on the US PGGA Tour.