For an organization founded in 1754 that hosts a golf tournament with 150 years of history, the rules are so set in stone they might as well carve 'em into the walls of one of those ancient castles that dot the British landscape.

Well, time to tear down another wall.

It would be easy to accuse Royal & Ancient officials of making up the rules as they went along, but there are times when results dictate policy change and, well, this certainly qualifies as one of those times.

Unless you spent the third week of this past July with your head in a greenside bunker, you either witnessed or at least heard about the valiant effort of one old-timer at The Open Championship. The condensed version: Tom Watson, 59 at the time, climbed the leaderboard at Turnberry, coming tantalizingly close to making history as the oldest golfer to claim a major championship title, only to see his dreams -- and those of so many observers -- dashed on Sunday afternoon. Needing to get up and down from behind the 18th green to secure victory, Watson made bogey and eventually lost in a four-hole playoff to Stewart Cink.

With the runner-up finish, he received a large chunk of change, a hearty pat on the back from the R&A folks and a promise that -- should he actually win the Claret Jug next year -- he was welcome back into the field for another decade.

Coming close, however, isn't the same as puffing on that victory cigar. While the R&A awards lifetime exemptions to all past champions through the year they turn 60, there are no such standards for past near-misses, meaning Watson didn't garner any extensions on his Open Championship career by contending for the title.

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Even though Greg Norman finished T-3 at Royal Birkdale in 2008, he won't be impacted by the ruling since he was already exempted into the Open Championship until he is 60 years old.

Until now.

On Monday, it was announced by the R&A that such circumstances will earn a player five more years of exemptions into the year's third major.

Here's the official wording from a statement released by the tournament's governing body: "A new exemption category has been introduced for the 2010 Open. Condition F(4) exempts from qualifying any past Open Champions who finished in the top 10 and ties in any of the previous five Open Championships, thus effectively providing them with a five year exemption into the Championship."

Call it the "Watson Rule," an intriguing policy change, though one which may take another 150 years to actually have an effect again.

Right now, though, the new rule will have an immediate impact. It was believed that Watson, who turned 60 on Sept. 4, would be competing in his final Open Championship next year at St. Andrews. Instead, the five-time champion is now guaranteed a spot in the field, should he choose to accept it, until the age of 64 in 2014.

The rule is so specific and so clearly-defined that it doesn't even affect Greg Norman, who at the age of 53 held the 54-hole lead at Royal Birkdale in 2008 before finishing in a share of third place. Sure, his run at the title last year likely helped cement this recent decision, but the Shark's past champion status already ensures him of entry into the field until he turns 60, which would trump the five-year exemption for finishing in the top-10.

In layman's terms, this change will impact only those past champions who finish 10th or better at the age of 56 or older. Those are a whole lot of variables which don't often take place at the Open. How rare is it? Other than Watson, the only other player who could be affected by this rule in 2010 is 1981 champion Bill Rogers, 58, who hasn't competed in the event since 1986.

Considering the unpredictable rallies by a pair of the game's senior members in recent years, the newest edition to the Open Championship eligibility requirements is sensible -- even if it never affects another past champion after Watson. It's nice to see that such a dyed-in-the-wool organization as the R&A can address current events by showing flexibility within its rules. And it will be even nicer to see Tom Watson competing on one of the game's grandest stages for at least a few more years.

Jason Sobel is a golf writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com.