It was 1975 at the famous links that Watson, then 25, secured the first of his five Open titles.

His return to the links for the British Senior Open last week was greeted by large galleries and he responded by delighting the crowds with some excellent play, although he was largely disappointed to end up with a three over 74 on the final day.

"I struggled with my golf game. It was a walk down memory lane. I had a lot of good memories from 1975 and I remembered a lot of the shots. Wish I could create some of those shots, and some of the shots that I played," said the 60-year-old after completing his fourth round with an aggregate total of six over 290.

The veteran who almost won The Open a year ago, losing out in a play-off to Stewart Cink, had an up and down day, making an eagle at six and recording birdies at 10 and 14, but a double bogey at 11 and a few others meant he finished three over for his round.

"I made an eagle, holed an 8 iron at six today for a three. I had 129 into the wind, a beautiful shot right at the hole and took one hop and it went right in the hole. It was a nice shot," he added.

"And then not too many good shots after that. Although I finished on a bad note on 18 with a fat sand wedge into the burn. That's not a good way to finish.

"I enjoyed turning 35 years into some memories. That was a good time. I wish I had played better. I just wish I had played better."

Watson says he will continue to play as long as he is competing, but won't put a timescale on his career or on whether he'll be back on these shores.

He said: "I'm still just trying to compete. I'm doing what I'm always doing, just trying to play my best out there and I didn't do it. Still get frustrated.

"So I leave with frustration, but there's always next week at the US Senior Open.

"I really can't say I'll play it again. Sometimes I can see in the future where the level of the game might not be good enough to come over and play. Frankly that's when you have to make a decision whether to do it or not. I'm not quite there yet, although my level of play the last two weeks wasn't very good."