Closing in on his 60th birthday and still coming to terms with a hip replacement, Tom Watson admits to feeling frustrated about what he can now achieve.

Take Augusta National, where he won the Masters in 1977 and in 1981. As protection against the new breed of super-fit young golfers able to exploit the latest high-tech clubs and balls, it has been lengthened into a beast Watson can no longer tame.

The American great admitted: "You have to categorise it as a bomber's course. They've made it long enough to be commensured with the distances the players are hitting now. Augusta is out of my league, I'm at such a disadvantage there."

Turnberry is a different matter. In spite of his age and that new left hip, Watson genuinely believes he can be a contender for this week's 138th Open Championship, held over the Ailsa course.

If 53-year-old Greg Norman was able to prove at Royal Birkdale last summer that golden oldies can still hack it with the best of them, then it is certainly not beyond Watson to post four challenging scores.

He has history, and a little local knowledge, on his side. Watson won the second of his five Open titles at Turnberry in 1977, outgunning Jack Nicklaus in the gripping 'Duel in the Sun', and six years ago he returned to triumph again in the Senior Open.

"I can play links golf courses," he said, "I can get the ball running, I can hit the proper shots into the greens. I have a belief in myself that I can still do that, and if I'm hitting on all cylinders, I can make a run. I believe in that, too.

"Any time you see the big white hotel up on the hillside, it makes the memory banks release some great memories.

"Obviously, the time in '77 was the greatest. Jack says he doesn't remember anything about the last day. I remember every one of his shots. And every one of mine."

The duel was one of the greatest head-to-heads in golf championship history. At the time, Nicklaus was the undisputed No1, having already won 14 of his career record 18 majors.

But Watson - at 27 he was 10 years younger than his rival - had proved his mettle on Scottish links by lifting the Claret Jug at Carnoustie. And a few months before coming to the first Open to be hosted by Turnberry he had beaten Nicklaus by two shots in the US Masters.

Over the first three rounds they returned identical cards of 70, 68 and 65. On the final day, played out beneath a blazing sun, Nicklaus and Watson were level with two holes to play.

With stewards struggling to control galleries that knew they were witnessing something special, Watson birdied the par five 17th, but Nicklaus missed his own birdie putt from five feet.

At the last, Nicklaus made amends with a stupendous 40ft birdie putt for a 66 and four-round total of 269, the lowest in Open history.

But it was a record that lasted barely a minute. For Watson, who had sent a seven-iron to two feet from the pin, tapped in his own birdie for a 65 and a championship-winning total of 268.

Watson recalled: "I was at the top of my game, basically firing on all cylinders. Going into the tournament was one of the few times in my career I really felt I had a great chance of winning. I really felt it was my tournament to win."

Nicklaus admitted it was one of the most thrilling one-on-one battles of his career and although it ended in defeat Watson remembers how his compatriot remained a true sportsman to the end.

Watson said: "In the throes of defeat, Jack was the most gracious competitor. When we walked off the 18th green he put his arm around me and he about broke my neck, he squeezed me so hard. He said, 'Tom, I gave it my best shot but it wasn't good enough. Congratulations.' That's Jack."

It would be typical of Nicklaus, now retired from major golf, to send his old foe another message of congratulations should he fare well this week.

But whatever happens at Turnberry there will be no respite for Watson, who will immediately head south for next week's Senior Open Championship at Sunningdale. It will be the first time the tournament has been hosted by an inland course, yet Watson has no qualms about the break with tradition.

He said: "I've played Sunningdale once, and thoroughly enjoyed the golf course. It had a lot of links character to it. It's going to be a wonderful venue."

But this master of links golf - besides Carnoustie and Turnberry, his other Open victories came at Muirfield, Royal Troon and Royal Birkdale - stopped short of lending support to the game's most prestigious tournament also moving away from the coast.

"I would hope that never happens," he said. "I would never like to see The Open go to an inland course.

"Links golf is the real fabric of the Championship. There is no other golf like it."