Jay Haas charged past Tom Watson to win the Senior Players Championship by a stroke, birdieing the 18th hole yesterday to match the course record with a 6-under 64 in the final Champions Tour major of the season. Watson, 60, was tying to become the oldest major winner on the 50-and-over tour. But after making only one bogey in the first three rounds at Baltimore Country Club, he had three in the final round en route to a 70.

Tom Watson celebrated his one-year anniversary from left hip surgery by shooting a 6-under 64 and building a four-stroke lead yesterday at the Senior Players Championship. Watson, 60, bidding to become the oldest major winner on the Champions Tour, attacked the Baltimore Country Club course and put together a bogey-free round—he’s made only one during the tournament—with six birdies to finish at 12-under 198 and four shots clear of Loren Roberts (65), John Cook (65) and Mark Wiebe (66).

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Shortly before former NFL quarterback Steve McNair’s mistress killed him and then herself, he recorded a public service announcement that urges young people thinking about suicide to call a hot line and “live to see better days.“ The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities shelved the announcement after McNair’s July 4 death, and it never aired. The state released three versions of it to The Associated Press this week in response to a public records request.

Phil Mickelson is adding the PGA Championship to his schedule. Event organizers confirmed that Mickelson will play in the season’s fourth and final major, which starts Aug. 13 at Hazeltine in this community southwest of Minneapolis. Mickelson is expected to return to the PGA Tour next week at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.

SUNNINGDALE, England - Four days after his heart-rending playoff defeat to Stewart Cink at Turnberry, Tom Watson shot a 3-under 67 yesterday to begin his pursuit of a fourth Senior British Open title. The 59-year-old Watson, who almost became the oldest major champion at the British Open last weekend, was three shots behind leader Fred Funk.

Tom Watson has taken the title at the Senior British Open every other year, in 2003, 2005 and 2007. SUNNINGDALE, England—Tom Watson is ready to start picking on guys his own age again. After coming within an 8-foot putt of becoming golf’s oldest major champion at the British Open last weekend, Watson is displaying reserves of stamina unexpected from a 59-year-old as he tries for a fourth Senior British Open title.

TURNBERRY, Scotland - Tom Watson was among the British Open champions whom the R&A consulted when it decided the game was getting younger and it was time to lower the age limit to 60 for winners of golf’s oldest championship. It might be time to reconsider. Imagine how much different that conversation would have been had the Royal & Ancient seen a performance for the ages at Turnberry, where Watson, 59, was in the lead the final three days and came within an 8-foot putt of winning.

TURNBERRY, Scotland Maybe when the disappointment wears off—for both Tom Watson and the millions of fans cheering him on—everyone will take a larger message from his remarkable performance along the Scottish coast. Age, indeed, is just a number. Let’s not put these geezers out to pasture just yet. From George Foreman to Dara Torres, from Lance Armstrong to Mark Martin—and now, Watson—these geriatric athletes pop out of their rockin’ chairs from time to time, reminding us that youth may win out most times, but it’s not always served.

One putt from 8 feet was all that separated Tom Watson from a moment no one imagined possible until he was close enough to make it happen with one final stroke.

TURNBERRY, Scotland—Tom Watson has a plan to win the British Open. It no longer reads like a fairy tale. Even as he slipped out of the lead yesterday in the testing breeze of Turnberry, the 59-year-old didn’t blink. He fired off two late birdies to complete another amazing day with a 1-over 71 for a one-shot lead, putting him 18 holes away from becoming golf’s oldest major champion.

TURNBERRY, Scotland—Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus starred in the famous “Duel in the Sun,“ one of the most compelling final rounds in major championship history. Thirty-two years later, one of them earned a chance to win another British Open at Turnberry at age 59. The other was playing tennis. Nicklaus, 70, said yesterday he finished playing tennis at home in South Florida in time to watch Watson play the back nine at Turnberry.

TURNBERRY, Scotland—Who was on base when Bobby Thomson hit his famous homer? Who doled out all those assists the night Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points? They could probably relate to Steve Marino. The unheralded former University of Virginia star got into the British Open as an alternate, had to fly his dad to Florida to send along his passport and found himself with the 36-hole lead at golf’s oldest major.

“I kept compounding my problems out there,“ Tiger Woods lamented after missing the cut. TURNBERRY, Scotland—In one unforgettable hour, as nostalgia gave way to disbelief, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods walked off the 18th green at Turnberry headed in opposite directions few could have imagined. The oldest player at the British Open was leading.

first round Miguel Angel Jimenez drives a ball on the 16th tee. He claimed the lead at 6 under. TURNBERRY, Scotland—On the eve of the British Open, Tom Watson got a modern-day text message from Jack Nicklaus’ wife. Then it was time to turn back the clock at Turnberry. Thirty-two years after his epic “Duel in the Sun” with the Golden Bear, Watson took advantage of pristine conditions on the very same course to shoot a stunning 5-under 65 yesterday. He held the lead until Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez stole it late in the day with a 64, one shot off the record for lowest score in any major championship.