Surely, some aspiring screenwriter was cursing his rotten luck Sunday afternoon.

Instead of pitching the execs at Disney his surefire box-office smash “Turnberry,” starring Dennis Quaid as a golf legend winning one final major championship in the twilight of his career, he – and all of us – were faced with something more pedestrian than a Hollywood ending.

Reality.

Just when it looked as if Tom Watson was going to finish off the feel-good story of the year, if not the decade, by winning the British Open on the eve of 60, reality struck like the cold, blustery winds that blow off the Atlantic.

Watson’s can’t-bear-to-watch putting misadventure on the 18th hole, followed by his implosion in the playoff against eventual winner Stewart Cink, were crushing blows for everyone who enjoys seeing the underdog prevail but shouldn’t take away from the amazing run that Watson had during the tournament.

I don’t think anyone except for Cink and his family was rooting against Watson, one of the game’s greatest gentlemen, as he turned back the clock. But golf is a merciless game, and 71 solid holes can be undone on No. 72.

All week, Watson putted with military precision, but his final putt on 18 – after an overzealous approach shot that took him off the green – was AWOL. And you could pretty much see the writing on the wall from there.

“It would have been a hell of a story, wouldn’t it?” Watson said. “And it was almost. Almost. The dream almost came true.”

Sports don’t have many real, true, emotional moments anymore – everything has been carefully calculated, vetted and orchestrated – but you couldn’t help but be overcome, first at Watson’s pure joy on No. 18 on Saturday as he realized the magnitude of what he had done, and then Sunday as he stood teary-eyed with defeat at hand.

Watson may be a Hall of Famer, but what he did this week might be his one of his most cherished moments. The beauty of Watson’s run is that it gave amateur duffers to everyday Joes the belief that if you stick with things, who knows what will happen?

Just don’t always expect the fairytale finish.