Watson's Idea: Match Young Against Old

Forever young Tom Watson has a good idea.

During a pre-tournament interview this week in advance of the Toshiba Classic on the Champions Tour, Watson suggested getting the top 30 players from the old guys tour and the top 30 off the the regular tour and having them play a tournament together.

Set the course up at 7,000 yards -- that's not too long for the best Champions Tour players -- and have a go at it.

It would be interesting to see what happens.

There's a bit of crossover at the Masters each year but Augusta National is so long and difficult now, it's not a fair test for the seniors.

But put the best players from both tours on a course that's fair to both groups and we might be surprised by how it turns out. The regular tour players would probably fill the top of the leaderboard but I think the seniors would do surprisingly well.

Watson nearly won the British Open last year. Fred Couples can still play. So can Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman and several others. The courses they play are set up differently than regular tour courses -- they're shorter and pins aren't tucked into invisible corners -- to encourage birdies.

If length isn't an overriding factor, talent becomes an equalizer. There is, however, the matter of old nerves.

Young against old. It would be fun, if nothing else.