US Ryder Cup row still rankles with Tom Watson

Five-time Open champion Tom Watson will say goodbye to the game’s oldest major this week but it was the Ryder Cup row with Phil Mickelson rather than his legacy that rang out at St Andrews yesterday.

The 65-year-old accused Mickelson of “sour grapes” at Gleneagles last September, when his USA side were crushed by Paul McGinley’s Europe and Mickelson bitterly criticised his captain after being left out entirely on the second day.

Asked about his treatment by the left hander as he gave a press conference at the Home of Golf yesterday, Watson said of Gleneagles: “That was a disappointment to me.