Tom Watson has the shanks

By John Garrity Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated Published: July 23, 2008 TROON, Scotland — If you are impressionable or sensitive to use of the S-word, you might not want to read the following. It concerns Tom Watson, the defending champion at the British Senior Open, and his confession that he ... well, that he's been ... Oh hell, I'll just say it: He's got the SHANKS. "I'm shanking the ball more than I used to," Watson said this afternoon after practicing at Royal Troon. "I hit three shanks last year, and I think I've had one shank this year." He was grinning when he said this, gallows humor apparently suiting his senior-golfer temperament. Personally, I'd have rather heard him admit to a passion for cross-dressing. The shank — defined as "a severe mishit in which the ball is struck by the hosel of the club" — is the... [read full story]