KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii » As Tom Watson eyed his 5-foot birdie putt to win the $1.8 million Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, last year's British Open came plainly into view.

Young challenger Fred Couples had just missed a 14-footer for birdie that put Watson in the cross hairs of fate once again. Make this putt and he would end an 0-for-33 drought in Hawaii that dates back to a missed opportunity at the Hawaiian Open in 1973.

The world was watching last July when Watson needed an 8-footer for par to win the British Open at age 59, an accomplishment that nobody on planet Earth would have even thought possible. He missed it and wound up losing to Stewart Cink in a playoff, a disappointment that might have forced most men to put the clubs away for good.

But not Watson.

He was back at it at in this week's opening event on the Champions Tour. The largest gallery ever to see this event ringed the 18th green 10 deep as the setting sun shone over his shoulders as he settled in for the putt.

It was a surreal setting, similar to that of Bagger Vance, vog in the air, giving it an eerie movie-like quality, a dream come true. All around were members of the Champions Tour, quietly hoping that Watson would sink this putt and send home a crowd happy that might have watched Watson win for the final time in a storybook career.

With a wry smile on his face, Watson walked up to the putt, studied it one last time and then rapped it in for the 13th win of his career on the senior circuit, but more importantly, chasing away the demons that kept him from capturing more than the eight majors he did.

What was he thinking as he stood over that putt?

“;I was thinking don't make a stroke like I did with the 8-footer at Turnberry,”; Watson said. “;Make a good stroke like I thought I was going to do at Turnberry. I said, 'I can do this. I can make this.'”;

And he did, much to the delight of the crowd of about 2,000, whose roar woke up the humpbacks swimming only 1,000 yards away in the Pacific. Watson closed with a 7-under 65 to finish at 22-under 194.

Couples, who did all he could do with his final-round 64, came up a shot shy of winning his first Champions Tour event in his inaugural try. When the putt went in, Couples walked up the long, roped-off alley to the scorer's tent, not overly disappointed, but still sad he didn't get it done down the stretch.

The 50-year-old Couples held a one-shot lead at the par-3 17th, only to see Watson stick a 6-iron 8 feet from the cup after Couples played it safe on the tricky ocean hole that tripped up Watson in a playoff loss to Dana Quigley in 2005.

“;I bailed out on 17,”; Couples said of his two-putt par from 35 feet. “;I figured let him try and make a birdie. He hit left of the flag and made a nice little putt.”;

Tied at the 18th, Watson hit his drive into the right rough as Couples found the fairway with a 3-wood. Watson's shot was a typical flier out of the rough, something made more difficult with the new grooves required by the USGA.

“;I remembered how to hit fliers,”; Watson said, then smiled. “;I played the shot the way I used to play it. I hit it 147 yards with a pitching wedge. I couldn't put any spin on it at all. I hit it up in the air right at the flag and the ball just kept running and running and running. Kind of like my 8-iron at the British Open last year, except it didn't roll over the green.

“;I waited for Freddie to putt (Couples had hit his second shot to within 14 feet for birdie) and he just missed it. He gave me the opportunity to win the tournament and I did.”;

As Watson walked to the scorer's tent, numerous peers waited to shake his hand. Nick Price, Tom Lehman, Andy North—they were all there to show their love for one of the most famous golfers ever to swing a club.

Many members in the gallery had tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces as they poured out their emotions unabashedly. It was a moving moment, something Watson appreciated from the bottom of his heart.

“;That's what I live for, that shot right there at the 17th,”; Watson said. A reporter reminded him that he stared it down as it landed 8 feet from the hole, a birdie he had to have if he was to catch Couples, who took the lead with a birdie at the 16th.

“;Yeah, I liked that shot,”; Watson said with half a growl in his voice. “;That was a good one.”;

Moments later, he was back at Turnberry once more.

“;After the British Open last year I had a lot of people,”; said Watson, who had to pause to hold back the emotion building up at the memory. “;It was humbling how many people said how inspirational (the British Open) was.

“; 'I gave up on myself,' they said. 'And watching you do what you did I've turned the corner. There's no reason why I can't do it. If you can do it, I can do it.' I had a lot of people write me serious, heartfelt letters about that. 'You give me inspiration.' It was humbling. And it was unexpected for a guy finishing second in a golf tournament.”;

Second wasn't part of his vocabulary yesterday. Do golfers ever wonder when the last victory will come?

“;You know the old saying that old soldiers never die, they just fade away,”; Watson said. “;It applies to golfers, too.”;

Or as Couples so aptly put it:

“;It wasn't over, until he said it was.”;