tor, Hall of Fame golfer Lee Trevino. His victory at
the Masters in 1981 was by two shots over two great
champions, Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller. In
1983, Watson almost won consecutive U.S. Open ti-
tles, finishing second by one shot to Larry Nelson at
Oakmont. Watson again finished second at the U.S.
Open in 1987, behind Scott Simpson. Also in 1987,
Watson won the first-ever season-ending tour cham-
pionship tournament, his first tournament win in
three years.
Impact Tom Watson was voted six times as the
United States Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA)
Player of the Year, including in 1980, 1982, and 1984.
He was a member of the United States’ Ryder Cup
team in 1981, 1983, and 1989. In 1987, he received
the Bob Jones Award, the United States Golf Associa-
tion’s highest honor for distinguished sportsman-
ship in golf. In 1988, Watson was inducted into the
World Golf Hall of Fame.
Further Reading
Campbell, Malcolm.The Encyclopedia of Golf.3ded.
New York: DK, 2001.
Watson, Tom. “The Thinker Tom Watson.” Interview
by Lisa Taddeo.Golf Magazine, October, 2006,
80-87.
_______.Tom Watson’s Strategic Golf. New York: Pocket
Books, 1992.
Alan Prescott PetersonSee also Golf; Sports.Watt, James G.
Identification Secretary of the interior from
January, 1981, to November, 1983
Born January 31, 1938; Lusk, Wyoming
Watt’s business background and the perception that he was
pro-development made him a lightning rod for criticism
during his brief tenure as head of the Department of the In-
terior.
James G. Watt served as secretary of the interior un-
der President Ronald Reagan from January, 1981,
until November, 1983. Born in Lusk, Wyoming, he
graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1960
and from that university’s law school in 1962.
In 1962, he became the deputy assistant secretary
of water and power in the Department of the Inte-
rior, and in 1975, he was made vice chairman of
the Federal Power Commission. Before being ap-
pointed to Reagan’s cabinet, Watt was the founding
president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation,
a conservative organization that sought to protect
and advance the interests of businesses involved in
oil, timber, mining, and other natural resource de-
velopment fields.
With his pro-business and pro-development back-
ground, Watt was immediately controversial as the
choice to head the Department of the Interior, al-
though he was quickly confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
As secretary, Watt led the way in implementing Presi-
dent Reagan’s environmental policies. Reagan
sought to apply cost-benefit analysis to environmen-
tal regulations, to determine whether the cost and
the impact on jobs and the economy outweighed the
value of the regulations. Reagan also promoted “en-
vironmental federalism,” which involved transfer-
ring the responsibility for many decisions on envi-
ronmental matters back to the states. Many of Watt’s
appointees within the Department of the Interior
were recruited from the business community, oftenThe Eighties in America Watt, James G. 1033
Tom Watson.(Ralph W. Miller Golf Library)