At age 59, Watson had the chance to win his sixth Open and become the oldest major champion in history during regulation play, but was unable to par the final hole and tied with Cink.

First 10 and anyone tying for 10th place in the 2008 Open Championship Robert Allenby (5,15), Stephen Ames (5), Paul Casey (5,6,7,19), Ben Curtis (3,4,5,15,19), Ernie Els (3,4,5,15), Jim Furyk (5,15,19), Pádraig Harrington (3,4,5,6,13,19), David Howell, Anthony Kim (5,15,19), Greg Norman (3), Ian Poulter (5,6,19), Henrik Stenson (5,6,14,19), Steve Stricker (5,15,19), Chris Wood 2.

Past Open Champions aged 60 or under on 19 July 2008 Mark Calcavecchia, John Daly, David Duval (4), Nick Faldo, Todd Hamilton (4), Paul Lawrie (4), Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard (5,15,19), Sandy Lyle, Mark O'Meara, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods (4,5,11,12,13) (Eligible but did not compete: Ian Baker-Finch, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Price, Bill Rogers) 4.

The first 50 players on the Official World Golf Rankings for Week 21, 2009 Ángel Cabrera (11,12), Chad Campbell (15,19), K. J. Choi (15), Stewart Cink (15,19), Tim Clark (15), Luke Donald, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Ross Fisher (6), Sergio García (6,14,15,19), Retief Goosen (6), Miguel Ángel Jiménez (6,7,19), Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson (12), Martin Kaymer (6), Søren Kjeldsen (6), Hunter Mahan (15,19), Graeme McDowell (6,19), Rory McIlroy, Geoff Ogilvy (11), Sean O'Hair, Kenny Perry (15,19), Álvaro Quirós (6), Justin Rose (19), Rory Sabbatini, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh (13,15), David Toms, Camilo Villegas (15), Nick Watney, Mike Weir (15), Lee Westwood (6,19), Oliver Wilson (6,19) 6.

First 30 in the PGA European Tour Final Order of Merit for 2008 Darren Clarke, Richard Finch, Richard Green, Søren Hansen (19), Peter Hanson, Peter Hedblom, James Kingston, Pablo Larrazábal, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Francesco Molinari, Colin Montgomerie, Charl Schwartzel, Anthony Wall 7.

Top 30 on the Official 2008 PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list Stuart Appleby, Briny Baird, Ken Duke, Ryuji Imada, Billy Mayfair, Carl Pettersson, Andrés Romero, Kevin Sutherland, D. J. Trahan, Bubba Watson 16.

First 3 and anyone tying for 3rd place, not exempt having applied above, in the top 20 of the FedEx Cup points list of the 2009 PGA Tour on completion of the HP Byron Nelson Championship Brian Gay, Charley Hoffman, Charles Howell III 17.

The leading 4 players, not exempt, in the 2009 Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic Ryo Ishikawa, Tomohiro Kondo, Kenichi Kuboya, David Smail 26.

First 2 and anyone tying for 2nd place, not exempt having applied (25) above, in a cumulative money list taken from all official 2009 Japan Golf Tour events up to and including the 2009 Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic Yuta Ikeda, Koumei Oda 27.

Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink, and Camilo Villegas started strong at 66, and notables at 67 included Calcavecchia, O'Meara, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, Mike Weir, and Vijay Singh.

The conditions were the worst during the morning, and the round's best of 68 belonging to co-leader Steve Marino and Ross Fisher, tied for fourth place.

Veteran Tom Watson continued his excellent performance; he struggled through the front nine, but holed long putts at the 16th and 18th, as he made three birdies on the back nine to tie Marino for the lead at 135 (−5).

[19] Other notables to miss the cut included Mike Weir (67–78=145), Ben Curtis (65–80=145), David Duval (71–76=147), and Geoff Ogilvy (75–78=153).

Mathew Goggin was one of only five players under par in conditions similar to Friday, and was just one stroke off the lead, tied for second with Ross Fisher.

[2][24] Amateurs: Manassero (+2) Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par Source:[25] Watson and Cink had tied at 278 (−2) during regulation play and entered a playoff for the championship.

With a four-stroke lead on the final hole, Cink hit his approach to five feet (1.5 m) and made birdie to triumph in the playoff by six strokes.