The USGA apparently is dithering on whether to offer Tom Watson a special exemption to play in the US Open this June at Pebble Beach, where he won in 1982 with his now-famous chip-in at 17. Such an announcement, if any, would be made in May.

It shouldn’t be that hard. Watson is a legend, and he can still compete. In case anyone forgets, he was a chip away from winning last year’s Open Championship. And it was no fluke. He recently had a top ten finish against a strong field in Dubai. This isn’t Gary Player hanging on at Augusta to make sure he has an unbreakable record of starts. Watson missed the cut for the 2007 Masters by one shot. Watson is for real.

An exemption is granted by the USGA to the runner up of the US Amateur. I can’t believe that the Open Championship runner up doesn’t get equal treatment. At the very least, Watson would be more competitive than any player he might replace from the bottom of the list.

The USGA could energize the golfing world by inviting Tom Watson. It would be good for the competition. It would be good for golf.

In the wake of Y.E. Yang’s victory at the 2009 PGA Championship, a GolfBlogger reader asked if one Major Championship had produced more “one-hit wonders” than another. That depends, I think upon your definition of a one-hitter—and that’s a very subjective mark. Still, I looked at the last twenty years of major winners, and came up with a list of winners that could fall in that category.

PGA
Shaun Micheel
Rich Beem
Wayne Grady

The Masters
Zach Johnson

US Open
Michael Campbell
Steve Jones

Open Championship
Todd Hamilton
Ben Curtis
Paul Lawrie
Ian Baker Finch

I’m sure I’ll get a lot of arguments about this. All of these men are fine players, and all have more than one tour victory. Still, I’d have to say that the ones on this list didn’t (or have not yet) lived up to the stature of a major championship winner.

This past season may be one time when people actually will remember the runners-up in the Majors.

Kenny Perry at the Masters, playing for his legacy.

Phil Mickelson at the US Open, playing for Amy; David Duval, trying to make a comeback.

Tom Watson at the British Open, playing for all time.

Tiger Woods, choking for the first time.

Leave a coment or two or three about this weekend’s US Open. I’ll start with a few:

) Lucas who?

2) I was really pulling for David Duval and Phil at the end. Phil, because I feel sorry for the guy who’s always the bridesmaid, never the bride. And David because it would have been the best story in golf in a decade. What I REALLY wanted was a playoff between those two guys.

3) Tiger who?

4) This Open may go down as one of thc craziest of all time. Rain, shifting schedules, a Monday finish and a victory by a guy most have never heard of.

5) I think that the USGA could improve things by sending people off in groups of three on days when the weather is iffy.

Is it just me, or does the US Open this year feel a bit like a fall golf tournament? Much of the leaderboard today belongs to guys who usually are playing in the fall in an attempt to keep their Tour cards. The only difference is that Tiger and Phil both are lurking—and those two guys wouldn’t play in a fall series event unless one of their big name sponsors insisted.

The best part of this Open, however, is that David Duval is still in striking distance. As I’ve said before, a Double D US Open victory—eight years after his last win—would be the biggest story in golf in a very long time.