Monday, June 16, 2014

Five-Time Open Champ Tom Watson Recounts Near-Miss at Turnberry on In Play with Jimmy Roberts

In Play Also Celebrates the 25-Year Anniversary of Golden Tee, and Explores Story of 62-Year-Old LPGA Hopeful who Underwent Gender Reassignment Surgery in 2010

(ORLANDO, Fla.) – Thirty-two years after one of the most compelling final rounds in Open Championship history between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson – what has since been referred to as the “Duel in the Sun” – Watson found himself in a familiar position in 2009, stepping up to the tee on the 72nd hole leading the Open Championship at Turnberry once again, this time at the age of 59.  The unlikely, turning back-the-clock effort put the eight-time major champion in position to become the oldest player to win a major in the history of the game.

Airing Monday at 9 p.m. ET on Golf Channel, the next installment of the Emmy Award-nominated series In Play with Jimmy Roberts examines next month’s five-year anniversary of Watson’s epic final-round showdown with Stewart Cink. The 2014 Ryder Cup captain reflects on his unexpected return to the spotlight and the magical week that almost was, as In Play travels to Turnberry to celebrate four days that still resonate in the golf world, with an in-depth series of interviews featuring the characters that defined and witnessed Watson’s near-miss.

Additional stories scheduled for Monday’s episode are:
* Golden Tee’s 25-Year Anniversary: Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Golden Tee, the iconic pay-to-play golf video game that can be found in almost any sports bar across the nation.
* Bobbi Lancaster’s unique journey:  In Play travels to Phoenix to visit with Bobbi Lancaster, a 62-year-old semi-retired physician and LPGA hopeful who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2010, transitioning from a married father of three into a woman.
* Then and Now - Forrest Fezler: The man who is remembered most not for winning the PGA TOUR rookie of the year in 1973, or for finishing runner-up at the 1974 U.S. Open, but instead Forrest Fezler is best remembered for challenging the USGA’s dress code, and changing into shorts at the 1983 U.S. Open.
* Golf Detective: In Play’s slightly defective “Golf Detective” Matty Blake explores the invention of the golf pencil.

Host and managing editor Roberts, a 13-time Emmy Award-winner, has drawn critical praise for telling some of sports’ greatest stories during his distinguished career at NBC Sports, ESPN, ABC News and ABC Sports, which includes covering 15 Olympics.  Described as “an enterprising new original series” by Sports Illustrated and a “gorgeously shot magazine show” by CableFAX Daily, the Emmy Award-nominated In Play with Jimmy Roberts chronicles stories ranging from celebrities to everyday people who are all unified by golf.

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