William Martin Watt (1889 – 26 May 1954) was a Scottish

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. He won the

Scottish Professional Championship The Scottish Professional Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament which was open only for Scottish players. The final champion was John Higgins. History The Scottish Professional Championship was held in Edinburgh in Dece ...

in 1912 and tied for 8th place in the 1923 Open Championship.

Early life

Watt was born in 1889 in

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

, Scotland. He had four older golfing brothers: Jim, John, Robert and

Davie Davie is a surname and a form of the masculine given name David. It can refer to: Surname * Alan Davie (1920-2014), Scottish painter and musician * Alexander Edmund Batson Davie (1847-1889), Canadian politician and eighth Premier of British Co ...

Golf career

Watt enjoyed some success in the

before World War I. He won the championship in 1912, was runner-up in 1908 and 1914 and was third in 1909, 1911 and 1913. His success in 1912 was at Dunbar, where he won by 5 strokes from his brother

, winning the first prize of £25. He tied with Robert Thomson in 1908 but lost the 36-hole playoff by 7 strokes. The opening day of the 1910 Open Championship was abandoned because of rain but, when play resumed the following day, Watt started with a 74 and was tied for second place at the end of the first round. His second round of 82 dropped him down the field. He eventually finished tied for 32nd place. Later in 1910 Watt was runner-up in the first Perrier Water Assistant Professionals' Tournament at

Bushey Hall Golf Club Bushey Hall Golf Club, founded by Robert Stewart Clouston in 1889, is one of the oldest parkland golf courses in Hertfordshire. Originally opened as a nine-hole course, it was extended to the full 18 holes by 1893 and is now a 6,005-yard course ...

. The prizes for this tournament were "presented by the proprietors of

Perrier Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of natural bottled mineral water obtained at its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard ''département''. Perrier is known for its carbonation and its distinctive green bottle. Perrier was part of the ...

Water", the winner receiving 20 guineas (£21) and a gold watch. The event was organised like the

News of the World Match Play The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the ''News of the World'', and was commonly known b ...

with regional qualifying over 36 holes and a knock-out stage for the 16 qualifiers. Watt was the Scottish qualifier, although there were only 4 entries. He met Willie Ritchie in the final. Ritchie had won the Southern section qualifying by a clear 7 strokes. Watt was 1 up after five holes but lost the next four holes. Ritchie also won the 11th and 13th and eventually won 5&4. As well as winning the

in 1912, Watt was also runner-up in the Dunlop Cup at North Berwick, 5 strokes behind Robert Thomson, and taking the £5 second prize. Watt reached the semi-final of the 1913

Walton Heath Golf Club Walton Heath Golf Club is a golf club in England, near Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey, southwest of London. Founded in 1903, the club comprises two 18-hole golf courses, both of which are well known for having heather covering many of the areas o ...

where he lost 3&2 to James Braid. In late 1914 Watt moved south, becoming the professional at the new Woodcote Park Golf Club near

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. He remained there until he retired in 1947. He enjoyed some success in the early 1920s and finished tied for 8th place in the 1923 Open Championship.

Death

Watt died in May 1954 aged 64. At the time he was living in

Tournament wins

*1912

Results in major championships

''Note: Watt only played in The Open Championship.''
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

England–Scotland Professional Match The England–Scotland Professional Match was an annual men's professional golf competition between teams representing England and Scotland. It was played from 1903 to the start of World War I and was then revived in 1932 and played until the star ...

(representing Scotland): 1912, 1913

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Willie Scottish male golfers People from Dunbar Sportspeople from Epsom 1889 births 1954 deaths