At Augusta National Golf Club a few hours later, he finally woke up with a sterling iron on the arduous par-3 fourth hole that led to his first birdie.
On Monday, he'll wake up with a second green jacket.
With firepower to spare and a gentle touch around the greens, the admittedly jittery Watson held his nerve after a poor start and ultimately put away playing partner Jordan Spieth and the rest of the field with a final-round 3-under-par 69 to win the first major championship of the season for the second time in three years. He finished at 8-under-par 280.
Watson, the 36-hole leader and the 54-hole co-leader with Spieth, toppled his young Texan adversary and Jonas Blixt (71) by three shots. Spieth, who had a two-shot lead going to the eighth tee, shot 72 as he tried to become, at 20, the youngest winner of the Masters.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, trying at age 50 to become the oldest major champion of all time, finished with a 71 and in fourth place.
Q: Live analysis of final round
Matt Kuchar, attempting to win his first major, grabbed a share of the lead early in the round but fell backward with a 74 and into a tie for fifth place with Rickie Fowler (73).
Watson drove into bunkers on his first two holes and bogeyed the third to fall out of the lead. But with an iron to 4 feet on the fourth, a birdie on the sixth and then two more on the eighth and ninth holes, he had the lead heading to the back nine.
While others fell off, Watson held steady on the back nine — keyed by 11 one-putt greens. As he left the 18th hole, he was holding his son, Caleb, in his arms. In 2012 when he won his first Masters, he wrapped the green jacket around a sleeping Caleb when he got home.
He might do the same thing again on Monday.
PHOTOS: Final round at the Masters
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