Fifty-nine is one of the magic numbers in the game of golf. In fact, it may be the most magical of all numbers associated with this great game and on Friday, in the second round of the 138th British Open at Turnberry, Tom Watson introduced the magic number of 59 to major championship golf.

Watson, who owns five Claret Jugs, posted a second round score of even-par 70 to share the halfway lead with American Steve Marino atop the leader board of the 2009 British Open at 5-under par.

Watson began his day on No. 1 with a birdie, only to follow that up with a bogey at No. 2 and a par at No. 3 to sit fairly stable at 5-under par through three holes of his second round.

That's when the living legend did something we all do at one time or another; he boarded the bogey train at No. 4 and didn't get off until he recorded a par at No. 8. The string of five bogeys in a six-hole stretch seemingly eliminated the sentimental favorite into the "Aw, too bad; it was fun while it lasted..." category.

Then Tom Watson did what all the greats seem to do when a round is going south; he dug in and regrouped. Watson stopped the downward spiral of his opening nine with a birdie at No. 9 and then added three more at Nos. 11, 16 and 18 to post a bogey free inward nine of 3-under par 32 and stand at 5-under par, 135 through 36 holes.

The magical 59 associated with Watson on Day Two of the 138th British Open?

Watson is the oldest 36-hole leader of a major championship at 59 years, 10 months and 3 days.

Wow: In the end, it wasn't enough. Tiger Woods came up three feet short on his birdie attempt on the 18th hole to exit a major championship before its conclusion for only the second time in his career. The only other time Woods missed the final 36 holes of a major was when he MC'd at the 2006 US Open shortly after his father's passing.

Woods followed up his lackluster first-round 71 with an uneven 74 that included three birdies, three bogeys and two double bogeys. To his credit, Woods never caved, never quit and rallied when it all seemed lost to post birdies on Nos. 16 and 17, giving hope that we were going to witness another Woodsian feat. But, it was not to be. Par was all the Striped one could muster at the 18th, falling one shot short of the cut line.

For Woods, 2009 has been a season of perception and reality. The perception is that Woods can seemingly will himself into the winners circle as he has at Bay Hill, the Memorial and his own event. The reality is whatever prep work he is doing in the off time between the last win and the next major isn't working. Following each of the big wins so far in 2009 came a big let down at the next event, which happened to be a major.

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