Nick Faldo, Tom Watson looking to spread some 'pixie dust'

With the setting on the perfect side and the timing a nice fit, Tom Watson and Nick Faldo are going to try to rekindle some old magic.

The two members of the World Golf Hall of Fame, who count 111 professional wins between them, including 14 major championships, are in the field for the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, S.C., which starts today.

While there are no delusions of grandeur playing against the kids, this is no victory lap of sorts, no ego-driven drive down memory lane.

They have earned the right to revive the golf bug on the course and set their sights on making the cut and just enjoying themselves.

"The problem is as you get older you can't run, jump or throw it as far as you used to," said Faldo, 56, who joked his preparation for the tournament was driving to it. "So you'd have to have pixie dust so I could play like Nick Faldo used to play. I'd rather be a golfer forever and a day. Things change."

Faldo's first victory on the PGA Tour came at Harbour Town in 1984, leading to a career that included six majors – three Masters and three British Opens. His last win came in 1997 (he last made a cut in 2006) and he eventually turned to the TV booth and is now the 18th tower analyst for CBS.

"I'm in a good place. This is a good thing. I can go and play," Faldo said. "You've just got to go out just go and play and see what happens. If it's a bad day, it's a bad day. Maybe I can shoot more than a couple of good holes.

"I thought Hilton Head is in theory perfect for me. It's through the trees. It's dead flat. I pick the flat courses now, because I've got dodgy ankles.

"So I thought, why not?"

Watson, who nearly won the 2009 British Open at 59, first came to these parts in 1971 when he failed to Monday qualify for the event. Eight years later he won here and added another in 1982, two of the 39 Tour titles he claimed, including two Masters, the 1982 U.S. Open and five wins in the British Open.

"I loved the golf course right from the beginning," said Watson, whose last Tour title came in 1998 and last made cut came last year at The Greenbrier.

"I still love it. I put it in my top-5 golf courses. It requires you to hit the ball the way you're supposed to hit the ball. You have to move the ball left to right, right to left. You have to work the ball into the greens, around some of the trees, over the trees. It has a tremendous amount of character to it."

Watson's mission this week is threefold – play, have fun and gather reconnaissance.

The U.S. Ryder Cup captain is collecting information leading up to this year's biennial tussle with Europe in September.

He'll play the first two rounds with Jordan Spieth, who last week fell just short of becoming, at 20, the youngest Masters winner. Last week he was at the Masters, where he missed the cut, and later this year he'll be at The Memorial, The Greenbrier, the British Open and the PGA Championship.

"I'll be really bearing down and watching (some players)," Watson said. "I'll be around them personally from now until the Ryder Cup … getting to know the players. And also getting to know what other people think about the players, such as the caddies, and other players think about them."

Faldo also has work on his schedule – unless he can avoid it.

"The best goal is to make the cut," he said. "That requires an awful lot of good, consistent golf. If you play nicely, you never know what you could shoot. But just go and play and don't scare myself. That's the goal."

And if he does make the cut and misses out on his duties in the 18th tower?

"Well, Jim likes talking," Faldo joked about his partner, Jim Nantz. "He can cover for me until I run in. I'm sure there will be a plan B. But we'll worry about that Saturday morning. I'll call Nantz and say, 'Hey, guess what?'"