OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

It's the Wonder of Watson - but

can Old Tom keep it going

another day?

ASKS COLIN FARQUHARSON
Can the Wonder of Watson last just one more day - the final day of the 2009 Open championship at his beloved Turnberry where he scored arguably the most memorable - until now - of his five wins in 1977.
Tom Watson, now 59 but apart from the odd wrinkle, much the same man with much the same cheery smile and much the same crisp swing and gait, will start Sunday with a one-shot lead to protect or increase over the last 18 holes as he chases a would-you-believe-it? sixth Open victory.
Four of the five previous Open wins have been on Scottish links - Carnoustie (1975), Turnberry (1977), Royal Troon (1980) and Muirfield (1982).
Just when you think "Old Tom" has shot his bolt and he will now start to subside down the field, up he comes with birdies at two of the final three holes today for a third-round 71 and a 54-hole tally of four-under-par 206.
Forget about the one-time Kid from Kansas - there are those of us who can remember when Tom first came to the fore in the early 1970s, he was labelled as "choker" because he had a history of losing tournaments he should have won, which seems such nonsense with the benefit of hindsight.
But, as I say, if you stand back from the "Wow" factor of Watson this week, you have potentially one of the most "anyone-can-win" last days in the recent Open championship history. If this is what happens when Tiger Woods does not survive the halfway cut, it may be a disaster for him but it sure makes life very interesting for the rest of us.
For Aberdonians, it brings back memories of 1999 at Carnoustie when Paul Lawrie started the final day well off the pace after rounds of 73, 74 and 76 but shot a brilliant last round of 67 (seven better than Tiger Woods' last round) to force himself into a play-off with Justin Leonard and Jean Van de Velde before eventually winning it.
Lawrie, after a disappointing third-round 76, starts the final day at Turnberry on 220, some 14 shots behind Watson.
With Padraig Harrington 13 shots off the pace after a 76 for 219 and his dream of a hat-trick of Open titles now gone, the leading player from this side of the Atlantic is Englishman Ross Fisher whose pregnant wife might go into labour at any minute with all the excitement her husband is causing.
Fisher put together a fine par-matching 70 in conditions that were not so easy as Thursday but not so difficult as Friday, a cross wind testing the judgement of all the players.
Fisher and one of the lesser-known Australians, Mathew Goggin who had a 67 for 27, share second place, one shot behind Watson.
England's Lee Westwood and South African Retief Goosen are sitting two strokes off the lead.
American duo Jim Furyk and Stewart Cink are just behind on one under and are the only other players under par after another blustery day made low scoring difficult.
Only five players managed to card an under-par round and with the wind set to increase on Sunday, another unpredictable day is in prospect.
But Watson, who collected the last of his eight majors at the Open in 1984, has displayed a mastery of the conditions all week and on Sunday will draw on a wealth of links experience in his quest for a remarkable win.
Tom Watson's playing partner and compatriot Steve Marino salvaged a 76 when he looked at one stage as if he were heading for an 86.
The 29-year-old lesser light from the US PGA Tour dropped five strokes to par over his first five holes. His ball plugged in the side of a hill and the hole, a short one, cost him a triple bogey 6.
He missed a whole series of putts from within the 10ft mark that he had knocked in nonchalantly over the first two days in a 67-68 start.
But don't get the idea that Marino is there under false pretences. They guy can play. He had an eagle, nearly made another and closed with a birdie-birdie finish that kept him on the fringe of contention.
"Right now, I'm a little bit bummed out because I really hung in there in the middle of the round," said Marino whose six-over 76 included only seven pars. "It's amazing how fast you can let a pretty good round get away from you."
Padraig Harrington's chances of winning a third consecutive Open Championship were blown firmly off course in the third round.
Harrington, seeking to emulate Peter Thomson's Open hat-trick of 1954-56, made the cut by a single shot, the Irishman lying eight strokes off the pace on three over par following rounds of 69 and 74.
The 37-year-old got off to the perfect start in his third round with a birdie on the first from 10ft, but he then missed from similar range on the second, three-putted the third for bogey and dropped another stroke at the par-5 seventh.
A double bogey on the eighth took Harrington out in 38, and further bogeys on the 12th and 14th meant the three-time major winner was eight over par and 13 shots off the lead.
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Harrington, of course, came from six shots back going into the final round of his first Open triumph at Carnoustie in 2007.
There are only seven players under the 54-hole par of 210 - and any one of them can win it: Watson, Goggin, Fisher, Westwood, Goosen, Furyk or Goosen.
And the incentive for the next 20 players on 211 and 212 is that they too have the chance to do a Paul Lawrie or even a Johnny Miller, who shot a very low score on the last day to come out of the pack and win the 1973 Open at Oakmont.
One thing is certain before a ball is struck in the fourth round, 16-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero, who became the youngest ever winner of the British amateur title last month at Formby, will win the silver medal as the leading amateur in the Open.
TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) - Sixteen-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero will finish school before turning professional despite winning the silver medal as leading amateur at the British Open.
He is the only amateur still standing and with a three-round total of 213, he has done a lot better than quite a few professionals in the Turnberry field.
The best news is that he is going to complete his education, maybe even at a US college where he would have the pick of the best if he wants to.
"No, I do not want to turn professional (now), in three years when I finish school," Manassero said today after carding a two-over 72 in the third round.
Other winners of the silver medal, like world number 22 Rory McIlroy two years ago, and Scotland's Lloyd Saltman before that have turned professional after achieving success as amateurs at the Open.
"I must finish school, it is important to me," said Manassero.

HOW THEY STAND AFTER THREE ROUNDS
Par 210 (3x70)
206 Tom Watson (United States) 65 70 71.
207 Mathew Goggin (Australia) 66 72 69, Ross Fisher (England) 69 68 70.
208 Lee Westwood (England) 68 70 70, Retief Goosen (South Africa) 67 70 71.
209 Jim Furyk (United States) 67 72 70, Stewart Cink (United States) 66 72 71.
211 Bryce Molder (United States) 70 73 67, Richard S Johnson (Sweden) 70 72 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 69 72 69, Boo Weekley (United States) 67 72 72, Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 69 70 72, Steve Marino (United States) 67 68 76.
212 Thomas Aiken (South Africa) 71 72 69, Paul McGinley (Ireland) 71 71 70, GraemeMcDowell (Northern Ireland) 68 73 71, Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 71 70 71, Francesco Molinari (Italy) 71 70 71, Justin Rose (England) 69 72 71, Chris Wood (England) 70 70 72, John Daly (United States) 68 72 72, Branden Grace (South Africa) 67 72 73, Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 66 73 73, James Kingston (South Africa) 67 71 74, Vijay Singh (Fiji) 67 70 73, Kenichi Kuboya (Japan) 65 72 75.
213 Justin Leonard (United States) 70 70 73, Nick Dougherty (England) 70 7 73, Martin Kaymer (Germany) 69 70 74, J B Holmes (United States) 68 70 75, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 64 73 76, Mark Calcavecchia (United States) 67 69 77, Luke Donald (England) 71 70 70, Steve Stricker (United States) 66 77 70, Oliver Wilson (England) 72 70 71, David Howell (England) 68 73 72, Peter Hanson (Sweden) 70 71 72, Matteo Manassero (Italy) (amateur) 71 70 72, Ernie Els (South Africa) 69 72 72. .
214 Nick Watney (United States) 71 72 71, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 69 72 73, Soren Hansen (Denmark).
215 Thomas Levet (France) 71 73 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 68 76 71, Billy Mayfair (United States) 69 73 73, Kevin Sutherland (United States) 69 73 73, Davis Love (United States) 69 73 73, Andres Romero (Argentina) 68 74 73, Anthony Wall (England) 68 72 75, Richard Sterne (South Africa) 67 73 75, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 70 69 76, Jeff Overton (United States) 70 69 76.
216 Johann Edfors (Sweden) 71 73 72, Paul Broadhurst (England) 70 72 74, Tom Lehman (United States) 68 74 74.
217 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 69 74 74, David Drysdale (Scotland), 69 73 75, Robert Allenby (Australia) 69 74 74.
218 Graeme Storm (England) 72 72 784, Paul Casey (England) 68 76 74, Sean O'Hair (United States) 68 75 75, Kenny Perry (United States) 71 72 75, Zach Johnson (United States) 70 71 77.
219 Stuart Appleby 71 72 76, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 69 74 76, Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 70 72 77, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) 71 70 78.
220 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 71 73 76, Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland) 71 71 78.
221 Mark O'Meara (United States) 67 77 77 , Paul Goydos (United States) 73 72 77.
222 Ryuji Imada (Japan) 74 69 79, Daniel Gaunt (Australia) 76 67 69.