Rodman Wanamaker: The Man Behind the Trophy

(Plucked and updated from the ARMCHAIR GOLF archives.)

HERE’S WHAT THEY’RE PLAYING FOR in the 93rd PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. (Plus $1.35 million, plus exemptions and endorsements galore, plus getting the major monkey off their back, if they’re Steve Stricker, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, or others.)

Ladies and gentlemen, behold the Wanamaker Trophy. Shiny, isn’t it?

Of course, as with anything that’s 93, there’s a story behind it. It’s named after Rodman Wanamaker, a Philadelphia-born man of means who took up the cause of professional golfers when they were considered to be lowly working class and not allowed in the clubhouse or locker room. Think Walter Hagen era.

Wanamaker thought the treatment of pro golfers was wrong, so he spearheaded the formation of the PGA of America and its pros-only tournament, the PGA Championship. He launched the effort with $2,500 and ordered the silver cup. Every pro who teed off on Thursday playing for the $7.5 million purse should say a word of thanks for Rodman Wanamaker, a Princeton grad who owned the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph newspaper and financed designs for experimental seaplanes that made aviation history.

The original Wanamaker Trophy was huge—more than two feet tall and two feet wide (handle to handle) and weighing 27 pounds. That’s a lot of silver to hoist. Today the PGA of America awards a smaller replica to the winner.

Multiple Winners

Beginning in 1916, the PGA Championship was a match-play tournament until 1958 when TV helped dictate the move to stroke play. With Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus topping the list, following are multiple winners of the PGA Championship.

Walter Hagen 5
Jack Nicklaus 5
Tiger Woods 4
Gene Sarazen 3
Sam Snead 3
Jim Barnes 2
Leo Diegel 2
Denny Shute 2
Paul Runyan 2
Byron Nelson 2
Ben Hogan 2
Gary Player 2
Dave Stockton 2
Raymond Floyd 2
Lee Trevino 2
Larry Nelson 2
Nick Price 2
Vijay Singh 2

Notable majors winners who didn’t win the PGA Championship and wish they had: Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Nick Faldo.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: kompuder, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Ghosts of Jean Van de Velde Spook Yani Tseng

THE TOURNAMENT WAS SEEMINGLY OVER. Yani Tseng stood on the 18th tee at Carnoustie Golf Links with a three-shot lead over Brittany Lang. In a matter of minutes Tseng could claim her second consecutive Women’s British Open and fifth major title at the age of 22 years, six months and eight days. No one had won five majors so soon, not even Tiger Woods.

That’s when she was visited by ghosts of the past, if just for a moment.

In 1999 French golfer Jean Van de Velde walked to the 72nd hole of The Open Championship with a comfortable three-stroke lead. Then he strolled into history, but not at all like he or the aghast onlookers expected. Van de Velde splashed into the Barry Burn with his approach shot. All he needed was a double-bogey six and his name would be etched on the Claret Jug. He made a seven and lost the four-hole playoff to Paul Lawrie.

Tseng thought of Van de Velde as she walked to the final hole on Sunday. Maybe that was a good thing. She still had to take care of business. It was no time to get sloppy.

“When you come on this golf course, you’re going think about him,” Tseng said. “But I did think about it a little bit.

“I had a three-shot lead so I’d better hit a good drive here to win the tournament. I thought, okay, let’s hit a good drive, finish here.”

And she did, leaving herself about 135 yards to the hole. Still, the ghosts beckoned.

“I hit a 9-iron, and I was thinking about Jean Van de Velde.”

But Tseng isn’t Van de Velde. The Taiwanese star flew that “juiced” 9-iron straight at the flagstick and sank the short birdie putt for a four-shot victory.

Tseng is the new dominant force, not just in women’s golf, but all of golf. With the LPGA Tour adding a major to put five on the annual calendar, Tseng is looking like a serious threat to catch Tiger Woods and even Jack Nicklaus. She is already on a record pace.

−The Armchair Golfer

Peter Jacobsen Is Recipient of 2012 Old Tom Morris Award

By Golf Course Superintendents Association of America

MULTIPLE PGA TOUR WINNER and golf course designer Peter Jacobsen has been selected to receive the 2012 Old Tom Morris Award by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). The award will be presented during the 2012 GCSAA Education Conference at Celebrate GCSAA! presented by Syngenta on February 28 in Las Vegas.

“Peter has done much for the game of golf, and he has been an advocate for golf course superintendents,” said GCSAA President Robert Randquist. “He is a perfect fit for the Old Tom Morris Award, and we look forward to recognizing him at the GCSAA Education Conference.”

GCSAA’s most prestigious honor, the Old Tom Morris Award is presented each year to an individual who “through a continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf has helped to mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris.” Morris (1821-1908) was greenkeeper and golf professional at the St. Andrews Links Trust Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland. Morris was a four-time winner of the British Open (1861, ’62, ’64 and ’67) and ranked as one of the top links designers of the 19th century.

Jacobsen won seven times on the PGA TOUR and owns two Champions Tour majors, the 2004 U.S. Senior Open and the 2005 Senior Players Championship. He played for the U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 1985 and 1995. In 2003 he was PGA TOUR Comeback Player of the Year after winning the Greater Hartford Open at the age of 49.

Jacobsen is president and CEO of Peter Jacobsen Sports, a sports marketing firm he created in 1988. He also co-founded a golf course design company with Jim Hardy (Jacobsen Hardy Golf Course Design) that has developed nearly 20 courses and renovated several others worldwide since 1995.

Jacobsen also has provided commentary for various TV golf broadcasts, including recent work as a commentator for NBC and Golf Channel at the 2011 U.S. Open.

Past Winners

Arnold Palmer was the first recipient of the Old Tom Morris Award in 1983. Other winners include Nick Price, Judy Rankin, Greg Norman, Charlie Sifford, Jack Nicklaus, Rees Jones, Pete Dye, Tim Finchem, Nancy Lopez, Ken Venturi, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Fazio, Byron Nelson, Dinah Shore, Tom Watson, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Gene Sarazen, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Patty Berg, Gerald Ford and Bob Hope.

(Photo: Courtesy of GCSAA)

Steve Williams, Tiger Woods and ‘Fourteen Red Shirts’

WITH THE DISMISSAL OF longtime caddie Steve Williams, the dismantling of team Tiger Woods continues. Williams was on the bag for 13 of Tiger’s major victories, including the last win at Torrey Pines three years ago. In what was thought to be a temporary arrangement, Williams is now the permanent bag man for Adam Scott.

Tiger’s future remains cloudy. Who will be his new caddie? When will he be healthy and play again? Will he win more majors and chase down Jack Nicklaus?

Artist Steven Anthony Salerno has created a new limited-edition Tiger Woods print that depicts Tiger’s 14 majors. Salerno has intentionally left space in the last row for more “red shirts.” More details from the artist follow.

‘Fourteen Red Shirts’

The latest golf art release (at right) by artist Steven Anthony Salerno entitled “fourteen red shirts” is now available at SASgolf.com in the exclusive edition gallery. This art image, consisting of 14 small “swing portrait” paintings set in rows, highlights the 14 major championship victories of golfer Tiger Woods. The poses and even the various red shirts depicted are all from the final day of each corresponding championship event.

The artist purposely left some open space at the bottom of the composition to express his personal opinion that Tiger is certainly not done winning major championships.

“Fourteen red shirts” is a limited edition of just 100 signed and numbered prints. All of the artist’s golf art prints are printed on 100% cotton rag archival fine art paper with brilliant permanent pigment inks. The high resolution Giclee inkjet printing process used for the edition, sprays millions of continuous microscopic ink droplets with unsurpassed precision and color accuracy. This is the same reproduction process museums use to create print replicas of art in their collections.

For more information and a larger view of the “fourteen red shirts” print, visit SASgolf.com. You can read the artist’s blog post about “fourteen red shirts” here.

−The Armchair Golfer

‘TEE IT FORWARD’: Joint PGA-USGA Initiative Begins July 5th

By PGA of America

“TEE IT FORWARD,” A NEW national initiative to help golfers have more fun on the golf course by playing from a set of tees best suited to their abilities, kicks off on Tuesday, July 5, at golf facilities nationwide.

Launched in May at the Senior PGA Championship, the new initiative encourages all golfers to play the course at a length that matches their average driving distance. Golfers can enjoy the game more and potentially speed up play by using tees that offer greater playability.

“We are excited that TEE IT FORWARD has been enthusiastically received by both PGA Professionals and consumers,” said PGA President Allen Wronowski. “The PGA would like to thank the USGA and Barney Adams, founder of Adams Golf, for their efforts in helping generate the tremendous interest in TEE IT FORWARD.”

Through TEE IT FORWARD, amateur golfers can play a golf course at the same relative 18-hole yardage as a tour professional. Golfers tee off from distances that are aligned with their abilities, resulting in fewer shots, shorter distances traveled on each hole, and, potentially, fewer lost balls.

The PGA and USGA are providing TEE IT FORWARD information, including a suggested distance chart, to more than 11,000 U.S. facilities. Jack Nicklaus, Paula Creamer and Dustin Johnson are featured on the poster.

To see a chart that provides guidelines for aligning driving distance with total course length, visit PlayGolfAmerica.com/TEEITFORWARD.

TEE IT FORWARD Feedback and Sweepstakes

Golfers who TEE IT FORWARD are encouraged to provide feedback about their experience at PlayGolfAmerica.com/TEEITFORWARD.

A sweepstakes will be conducted of all eligible persons who submit their comments prior to July 17, 2011. One Grand Prize winner will receive a stay-and-play package for four at Kiawah Island (South Carolina) Golf Resort. One runner-up will receive two tickets to the 2012 U.S. Open Championship. A second runner-up will receive two tickets to the 2012 PGA Championship.

20 Major Champions Under Age of 25

GOLF.COM PUBLISHED A PHOTO GALLERY of “Notable Major Champions Under the Age of 25.” I’ve included their list below, but in a different order, from youngest to oldest. I’ve also added each player’s majors total. Plus I’ve included a handful of players (at bottom) Golf.com didn’t list.

(I’m not sure why they didn’t mention Ernie Els, who I believe won his first U.S. Open at the age of 24.)

(Photo: Morgan Pressel.)

Many of the retired players on the list went on to win five or more majors. So obviously it’s good to win early. Maybe you’ll win often. Tseng is the quickest to four. McIlroy has one and a world of potential. But there’s no guarantee you’ll win many or any after the first. Just ask Jerry Pate, who won his first and last major, the U.S. Open, at the tender age of 22.




Young Tom Morris, 17, 1868 British Open
Total majors: 4

Morgan Pressel, 18, 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship
Total majors: 1

Yani Tseng, 19, 2008 LPGA Championship
Total majors: 4

Francis Ouimet, 20, 1913 U.S. Open
Total majors: 3 (includes amateur titles)

Gene Sarazen, 20, 1922 U.S. Open
Total majors: 7

Bobby Jones, 21, 1923 U.S. Open
Total majors: 13 (includes amateur titles)

Nancy Lopez, 21, 1978 LPGA Championship
Total majors: 3

Tiger Woods, 21, 1997 Masters
Total majors: 14

Se Ri Pak, 21, 1998 LPGA Championship
Total majors: 5

Jack Nicklaus, 22, 1962 U.S. Open
Total majors: 18

Seve Ballesteros, 22, 1979 British Open
Total majors: 5

Rory McIlroy, 22, 2011 U.S. Open
Total majors: 1

Gary Player, 23, 1959 British Open
Total majors: 9

Brittany Lincicome, 23, 2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship
Total majors: 1

Paula Creamer, 23, 2010 U.S. Women’s Open
Total majors: 1

Annika Sorenstam, 24, 1995 Women’s British Open
Total majors: 10

Others who won a major early: John McDermott (19), Jerry Pate (22), Johnny Goodman (23), Ernie Els (24). (Feel free to help with this list of others, which is probably incomplete.)

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Move Over, Rory; Here Comes Yani

RORY MCILROY IS THE record-smashing U.S. Open champion and perhaps the next Tiger Woods. Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington tagged his fellow Irishman as the player to challenge the majors record of Jack Nicklaus. Rory mania pretty much sucked all of the oxygen out of the golf world last week.

But it’s a new week, so here’s a new fact: McIlroy is only the second-best 22-year-old golfer in the world. Yani Tseng is the best. It ain’t even close.

Tseng collected her fourth major title at the Wegmans LPGA Championship on Sunday, a crushing 10-stroke victory that must be disturbing to the women who compete against her. The women’s top-ranked player, Tseng has racked up four majors faster than anyone in golf history, male or female. The Taiwanese superstar now has won three of the last six majors and a total of eight LPGA events since joining the tour in 2008.

In a wire-to-wire win, Tseng kept her foot on the accelerator, firing 67 and 66 on the weekend and missing the tournament record by a shot. Hitting 57 of 72 greens in regulation, she carded 27 birdies against six bogeys and one double. She averages 270 yards off the tee and can putt the eyes out of a chipmunk.

Oh my gosh. How in the world will the women slow this talent down?

“We knew she was going to be good,” said Cristie Kerr, last year’s LPGA Championship winner. “I didn’t know she would be this good. She is pretty dang good.”

I’ll say.

“Now I’m thinking about a grand slam,” Tseng mentioned.

Uh-oh.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Champions Predict Greatness for Rory McIlroy

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece from Brian’s Irish Golf Desk is used with permission.

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

“CELTIC TIGER” RORY MCILROY roared to an incredible eight-shot US Open victory last night to give American golf the hero it badly needs. The 22-year old Holywood idol brushed aside all doubts about his ability to close when he fired a two under 69 to decimate the field with an amazing 16 under par total and smash the US Open scoring record of 272 held by the likes of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

It was a cool, calculated performance by the greatest talent to emerge in the game since Woods, and McIlroy, who broke multiple scoring records in Bethesda and jumped from eighth to world No 4, immediately set his sights on becoming a multiple major champion.

“Just to sit here, knowing that I’ve just won that trophy and following in the footsteps of one of my best friends, Graeme McDowell, last year at Pebble, you know, it’s a great feeling,” McIlroy said. “And I got my first Major Championship out of the way quite early on in my career, especially after what’s happened the last couple of months.

“It feels great. And just looking forward to putting myself in the picture for hopefully many more.”

Nicklaus Love

The hype surrounding McIlroy will increase to unprecedented levels over the coming months as the game looks to him to fill the void left by Woods over the past 18 months. And instead of Woods, Padraig Harrington reckons McIlroy has the talent and enough time to go on and beat Nicklaus’ record of 18 major wins.

The Golden Bear himself confessed last night that he is a huge fan of McIlroy’s, explaining: “I love his golf swing and I love his moxie and the way he walks like he is a little cocksure about himself. I think this kid is going to have a great career. I don’t think there is any question about it.

“He’s got all the components and a lot of people rooting for him. He’s a nice kid, he’s humble when he needs to be humble and he’s confident when he needs to be confident.”

Told that McIlroy was four months younger than he was when he won his first major, Nicklaus laughed and said: “Well, he’s ahead of my major pace.”

McIlroy’s win gave Northern Ireland back to back US Open wins, with the defending champion Graeme McDowell confessing: “The probability of two players from Northern Ireland winning back to back US Opens is lottery numbers or bigger than that. It’s just incredible.

“He’s an awesome player. He’s the best player I have ever seen. I didn’t have a chance to play with Tiger in his pomp but he’s the best I’ve ever seen, simple as that.”

It was a triumphal march from the moment he shook off his first tee jitters with a perfect three-wood down the middle, beamed a huge smile at manager Chubby Chandler and took his first steps towards a place in the history books with an opening birdie that ended the championship as a contest.

After flicking a wedge to just seven feet, the Irish prodigy stroked home the putt to go nine shots clear and set up Ireland’s fifth major win from the last 16 big ones. He got a massive roar from US fans as the putt dropped and is clearly what world and American golf has been crying out for since Woods, out injured, fell from grace and lost his game.

What Golf Needs

Even McIlroy’s new putting coach, two time major winner Dave Stockton, believes that the Ulsterman is now an all-American hero.

Stockton said: “He is what golf totally needs. He will be the sixth non-US winner in the last eight years and I’ve got to tell you that the American people love him so much that they are not going to care.”

McIlroy is also only the seventh wire-to-wire US Open winner in history and the first since Woods did it for the second time at Bethpage in New York in 2002. And with Woods out injured with knee and Achilles’ problems, McIlroy looks set to fill the power vacuum and hoover up the majors.

Harrington certainly believes that McIlroy could turn out to be the man who eventually breaks the Golden Bear’s major records.

Harrington said: “If you are going to talk about someone challenging Jack’s record, there’s your man.”

McDowell hit a 69 to finish on two under par and conclude a stout title defence and hand the title to his best pal.

Before his final round, McDowell said: “He’s potentially the next Tiger Woods. He’s that good. It’s great to see him out there fulfilling his potential.

“Will he achieve what Tiger was doing around 2000, 15 major championships to date or whatever he’s got? Can he be that good? Yeah, potentially. He’s got that potential. He’s got the full package as far as his golf game is concerned—if his putter behaves itself.

“Tiger was something very special. He had it all, the mental capacity, the short game, the putter. If Rory can add a couple of weapons to his arsenal, yeah, he can be as good.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

(Photo: Courtesy of Titleist.com)

2011 U.S. Open: USGA Can’t Stop Low Scores

Editor’s note: I’m at Congressional Country Club this week covering the 2011 U.S. Open. Share your U.S. Open thoughts: Comment below or email me at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

PLAYERS WHINING ABOUT THE U.S. Open setup is nothing new. It’s been going on for more than a half century. Horace Rawlins, winner of the inaugural U.S. Open in 1895, probably would have griped about the Newport Country Club had he not won. But the complaints at the 111th edition of the national championship are strangely different.

Congressional Country Club is way too easy. This is not a U.S. Open test, an unfair fight to the finish. Rather, it’s a different kind of bloodbath, a sea of red on the scoreboard resulting from an onslaught of birdies. As one person in the media center put it, the Blue Course is handing out birdies like they’re Halloween candy.

Defending champion Graeme McDowell admitted as much after his 69 on Saturday.

“I’ve been a little disappointed with the golf course the last couple of days,” McDowell said. “It wasn’t as firm and fast as I would like to have seen it. The storms on Thursday night really softened the place. So it’s not a true U.S. Open test out there, to be honest. There were some tough pins out there, no doubt. I’d like to see it tougher than it was.”

World No. 1 Luke Donald, who at 7 over for the championship is not exactly lighting it up, said the rough is not as difficult as at past U.S. Opens.

“It has that different feel,” Donald said of the course. “It almost feels like the Firestone or something.”

Firestone, as in the home of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Due to the rain and cooler temperatures this week, Congressional is playing much softer than expected. The greens are receptive to approach shots, and are not the rock-hard, dry, brownish putting surfaces seen at past U.S. Opens. Rory McIlroy and others are, in effect, playing darts.

The USGA said it can’t be helped.

“I think it’s the oppressive heat we had last week that started us off on this dynamic of weather that we’ve experienced,” said the USGA’s Tom O'Toole, “and then of course making sure that we maintain the health of those greens by hydrating them and raising the cut of our mowing, not rolling, and the number of times we’ve mowed and rolled. So we’ve done all those things to maintain the health of Congressional’s greens.”

In its previous three majors (two U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship), Congressional has yielded scores of 276, 278 and 281. The winning scores ranged from 4 under at the 1997 U.S. Open won by Ernie Els to 1 over at the 1976 PGA Championship won by Dave Stockton.

This week the winning 72-hole total will likely be much lower and could break the U.S. Open record of 272 set by Jack Nicklaus and tied by Lee Janzen, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. Rory McIlroy needs a 72 in the final round to eclipse the U.S. Open standard of Nicklaus and Woods, golf’s two greatest champions. But what McIlroy wants more than anything is his name on the large silver trophy.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
Rory McIlroy Extends U.S. Open Lead to 8 Shots
Comeback Award Goes to Marcel Siem
2011 U.S. Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes

‘Tiger Is Down, But Is He Out?’

(Video: Part 1 of a 2006 “60 Minutes” interview with Ed Bradley. Remember this guy?)


I GOT AN EMAIL from a friend today who asked the question: “Tiger is down, but is he out?”

It’s a great question. Perhaps the question. How would you answer it?

If only Tiger had stayed home this week. A hobbling nine holes, an ugly 42 and another WD at the Players. What does it all mean? The speculation is endless.

Tiger is down, no doubt. Maybe we won’t see him for a long while. But is he out? I don’t think so. At least not as in finished. Yes, the road back looks a lot longer. There are so many physical and mental issues that apparently need to be addressed. It’s like Tiger is lost in the tall pines to the right of the 11th fairway at Augusta National, a place he’s visited all too often. Will he play a brilliant recovery or will he scuff it? Will he ever get back to the fairway?

That guy talking to Ed Bradley, above, is gone. I’ll call him old Tiger. We last caught a glimpse of him at Torrey Pines in 2008. I’m convinced we’ll never see him again. If you watch and listen to him, I think you’ll agree. He sounds and looks nothing like the new Tiger.

The world belonged to old Tiger, but since that Ed Bradley interview it has been one huge loss after another: first the death of his father Earl, then his physical sturdiness (knee problems), then Y.E. Yang, then his wife, then his image and aura, and then, inevitably, his swagger, his game and his confidence.

Much of the last five years, especially the last two, has been about devastating loss for Tiger, both on and off the golf course.

This new Tiger is clearly not as good as the old Tiger, and never will be. No one has ever been as good as that guy. But can he be good enough to win again on the PGA Tour, win majors and chase Jack Nicklaus?

There’s no strong evidence right now to suggest that he can. If Tiger’s legs can carry him, I think it will come down to what’s inside him, that intense competitive fire. If he still has that, then he has a shot. I think it’s still in there.

−The Armchair Golfer

My Happy Ignorance of Delayed Honda Coverage

ON SUNDAY AT 4 P.M. Eastern Time I tuned in to final-round coverage of the Honda Classic. This is pretty typical for me. I’m a lot like the guy who tunes in to the final quarter of an NBA game. I’m most interested in the back nine on Sunday, especially from 14 or so to the clubhouse. Besides, most weekends I’m just not able to invest long hours in front of the tube (unless it’s the Masters or U.S. Open or British Open or Ryder Cup). If I could devote that much time to golf viewing, then my daughters would already be at college and I’d be pondering my Medicare prescription plan.

I read this morning that some people were miffed about the tape-delayed coverage of the final round. As Mostly Harmless pointed out, this has been the case for most of the last decade at Palm Beach Gardens. The sun sets at around 6:30 p.m. in early March in Florida. Tournament organizers want to make sure the event concludes on Sunday. NBC has other obligations and wants to stick to the normal 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. time slot.

It had no impact on this armchair golfer. I wasn’t online so I didn’t know ahead of time that Rory Sabbatini held off Y.E. Yang to win his sixth PGA Tour title. I try to unplug on Sunday, a digital day of rest.

I was totally ignorant as the gentler, kinder “Sabo” survived the Bear Trap and his orange friend, Yang, to claim a one-stroke victory. I thought I was watching live television when Rory tearfully told Dottie Pepper how much he looked forward to Maui in January. (I, too, would shed crocodile tears if I could go to Hawaii in the dead of winter.)

I watched the Jackfest (Jack Nicklaus in the booth with Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks). That was nothing new. Johnny and Jack are like my golf uncles. I feel like I’ve heard every one of their stories many times. (Which must mean I’m really old.) It’s like a golf family reunion with Uncle Johnny and Uncle Jack.

Those shirts threw me, though. Johnny and Dan were wearing polo shirts adorned with Golf Channel logos. I know about the new partnership between NBC and Golf Channel. And I’ve seen the “Golf Channel on NBC” tagline. But I guess I still don’t get it. Not entirely. I certainly didn’t expect to see Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks wearing blue Golf Channel shirts.

Maybe I need to re-read that Golf Channel press release.

−The Armchair Golfer

The Original Home of the Tournament of Champions

HERE’S A BRIEF HISTORY of the event currently known as the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the PGA Tour’s season opener. The tournament that features an all-winners field has been played in early January at Maui’s Kapalua Resort since 1999. Prior to that, the event spent three decades at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California (outside of San Diego). I used to go to the tournament in the 1980s and once caddied in the pro-am. The feisty Raymond Floyd was our pro.

But did you know the original home of the Tournament of Champions was Las Vegas, Nevada?

It began in 1953 at the Desert Inn Country Club. Las Vegas was in the midst of a development boom, but Las Vegas golf was nowhere near what it is today. Al Besselink won the first edition. (You get bonus points if you’ve heard of Besselink, who I saw last year in North Carolina.) Art Wall Jr. won in 1954. Then Gene Littler reeled off three straight victories in the desert. In those days the Tournament of Champions was played in late April just before the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. The event moved down the Las Vegas Strip to the Stardust Country Club in the mid 1960s.

Nearly a half century after Littler’s win streak, Stuart Appleby snagged three consecutive trophies in Hawaii. Jack Nicklaus leads with five TOC titles, claimed from 1963 to 1977.

The Desert Inn Country Club is gone. Built in 1961, the Stardust Country Club is now the Las Vegas National Golf Club. Of course, today there are dozens of new Las Vegas golf courses. And all bogeys, double bogeys and “others” made in Vegas stay in Vegas.

−The Armchair Golfer

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Will Tiger Regain His Dominant Form?

WILL TIGER WOODS EVER BE the same? That’s a burning question as Tiger begins his 16th season on the PGA Tour this week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. It has been nearly 500 days since Tiger last won on the PGA Tour. It has been two and a half years since he won his 14th major at the same course where he begins his 2011 campaign.

The boys are not afraid of Tiger. They give him respect, as they should, but they believe he is beatable. The boys are very good. And there are more of them. This will make Tiger’s latest comeback harder.

I expect Tiger to groove his new Sean Foley swing, especially with the irons. I’m in the wait-and-see camp when it comes to his driver. Even when Tiger’s swing was at its best through the years, he hit far too many crazy-wild drives. They appeared out of nowhere. I think he’s a head case when it comes to the driver. Foley can’t solve that.

My hunch is that Tiger will not reach the same dizzying heights in golf. He’ll still win, but not as much.

Will he catch and pass the majors record of Jack Nicklaus?

I’d put that at even money. I won’t be shocked either way. I’m leaning toward no. I just don’t see Tiger being as dominant. That’s not a knock, especially when you consider the run he’s had.

One of Tiger’s short-term problems is regaining his confidence. Winning breeds winning. Not winning breeds frustration and despair. Whatever you point to as the reasons—and there are plenty—Tiger hasn’t won in a long while. It has eroded his confidence. He is human, after all.

Finally, I’ve noticed for nearly three years that Tiger doesn’t have the same magic on the greens. I’m speaking primarily of the majors. I think I first detected it at the 2008 Masters. Except for his epic playoff victory at the U.S. Open that same year, Tiger’s putter has been suspect at recent majors.

Last year, I was aghast when Tiger complained about the greens at Pebble Beach. Can you imagine the 2000 Tiger griping? That kid rolled in everything on Pebble’s crusty putting surfaces.

Indeed, the putter may be Tiger’s biggest long-term problem. He wouldn’t be alone. All the greats eventually lost their mastery of the greens, except for the man Tiger is chasing. Nicklaus putted exceptionally well throughout his long career. Tiger will need to regain his clutch putting touch if he hopes to overtake Jack.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

‘Tiger vs. Jack’ and Other Golf Titles

A QUICK LIST OF golf books that have landed in my mail and email boxes in recent days.

Tiger vs. Jack: Golf’s Greatest Rivalry
By Phil Capelle
A book devoted to the rivalry between Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, golf’s two all-time greatest players, including in-depth analysis of their games, records and the eras in which they competed. Capelle is the author of Capelle on Golf, a golf blog. More

Golf Sonnets
By James Long Hale
A small book that puts Shakespeare on the golf course, with 18 entertaining 14-line sonnets that convey the wonders and trauma of the ancient game. More

The Intelligent Golfer: How to Play a Civilized Game
By Scott Martin and Bryan Curtis
A book that teaches what someone needs to know to play golf—especially handling the social nuances and getting the most enjoyment from the game both on and off the course. More

Golf Style: Homes and Collections Inspired by the Course and the Clubhouse
By Vicky Moon
Advertised as the most comprehensive book for lovers of golf and its iconic style. Includes more than 500 photos and in-depth stories about characters, courses, clubhouses, traditions, innovations and historical moments. More

Mr. Hogan, The Man I Knew
By Kris Tschetter with Steve Eubanks
Kris Tschetter is an LPGA player who chronicles her amazing friendship with, and lessons learned from, the great Ben Hogan. More

Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything
By Kevin Cook
A biography of the colorful Alvin “Titanic” Thompson, a legendary gambler and con man. Thompson became an adept golfer who pocketed thousands on the golf course playing from both sides of the little white ball. More

−The Armchair Golfer

Q&A: Arnold Palmer

I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY to talk to Arnold Palmer the week before Thanksgiving. In a telephone interview (he was in warm Orlando and I was in chilly Virginia), we covered a handful of topics, including the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills. This year marked the 50th anniversary of Arnold’s famous (and lone) U.S. Open victory, considered to be one of the greatest ever played. Arnold charged by 20-year-old amateur Jack Nicklaus and 47-year-old Ben Hogan, who still had plenty of game but faltered on the final holes.

The 1954 U.S. Amateur champion, Arnold turned professional and joined the tour in 1955. His first of 62 PGA Tour wins came at the 1955 Canadian Open. Following is a portion of our conversation.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: When you came out as a rookie, who were the players that you really admired and looked up to?

ARNOLD PALMER: I think Nelson and Hogan and Middlecoff and Mangrum and Snead.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: There were a bunch of good players, weren’t there?

ARNOLD PALMER: Yes, there were.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I wonder if you remembered Harvie Ward?

ARNOLD PALMER: I played against Harvie in college. (Arnold attended Wake Forest University.)

ARMCHAIR GOLF: He was at North Carolina, wasn’t he?

ARNOLD PALMER: That’s right. The first time I played Harvie Ward, he shot 67 and I dusted him 5 and 4.

(Me laughing.)

ARMCHAIR GOLF: What kind of player was he, Arnold?

ARNOLD PALMER: He was a great player. He was a good friend and a great player.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: That’s what others have told me, too. And he continued to compete as an amateur but I’ve had people tell me that he was one of the best players in the world as an amateur in the mid 50s.

ARNOLD PALMER: That’s right.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I wanted to ask you what life on tour was like when you first came out. I talked to Rossie [Bob Rosburg] a couple of years ago before he passed. He said he traveled with you and there was a lot of camaraderie and it was just a whole different scene back then. Can you tell me a little bit of your impressions of life on tour back in the 50s?

ARNOLD PALMER: We drove everywhere, first thing. For the first year I was on tour, I pulled a trailer. That was interesting in itself, with my wife, going from the West coast to the East coast and then up to my home. My wife said to me, “I love you and I’ll do anything you want, but I’m not going to live in a trailer ever again.” (Chuckling.)

ARMCHAIR GOLF: It was not an easy thing to do, was it?

ARNOLD PALMER: No, it sure wasn’t. It was tough.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I look at purses where the total purse was 15, 20, 25 thousand dollars.

ARNOLD PALMER: Hell, there were only 15 money places on the tour. At every tournament, the max was 15. And 15th was $100. So, you think about that. And if you won and it was a pretty good tournament, you won $2,000.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: That was a different era, for sure. There was a nice celebration at Cherry Hills this past summer to celebrate the 50th anniversary of your [1960 U.S. Open] win there. Can you tell me what that was like for you?

ARNOLD PALMER: It was wonderful. I’m trying to think who all was there. Some of the guys that played in the Open were there. Cherry Hills did a wonderful job of putting on a big affair. The membership was sold out. We talked about the Open and some of things that happened. It was very nice.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: You probably remember quite a bit about that Open.

ARNOLD PALMER: I wouldn’t say I could give you all the details, but I remember some of things that happened. I thought I played pretty well for three rounds and nothing happened. I was just sort of in limbo. Then the last round, it all happened.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I’ve gone over that front nine you shot on the fourth round, where you birdied something like six out of the first seven holes. I know you shot 30 on the front nine of that final round.

ARNOLD PALMER: Right.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Do you remember when you reached that point where you thought I’m right in this and I can win it?

ARNOLD PALMER: In those days, I kind of played like I could win whatever, from anywhere. And I played a little bit that way.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Do you think you were a little bit more focused and a better player when you played from behind?

ARNOLD PALMER: Let’s just say I never ruled out the possibility of winning. Until it was figuratively impossible, I always thought I had a shot.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I think you were playing right behind Hogan and Nicklaus during that final round.

ARNOLD PALMER: Yeah, you’re right.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: You saw Hogan hit into the water on 17?

ARNOLD PALMER: I did. I was standing in the middle of the fairway when he hit into the water.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: And then you were probably thinking a couple of pars and you’d be in pretty good shape.

ARNOLD PALMER: I knew that I had a shot if I didn’t screw up the last two holes.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Did you like the golf course?

ARNOLD PALMER: Cherry Hills? Very much, yes.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: And 280 ended up winning the Open, after all, Arnold. You did it.

ARNOLD PALMER: Right. (Chuckling.)

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image courtesy of Golf Channel)

The Genius of Johnny Miller

HATE HIM OR LOVE HIM, Johnny Miller is a lightening rod in the television tower and was an immensely talented player who could match shots with the best players of his generation, including Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino.

In The Genius of Johnny, Jaime Diaz profiles Miller for Golf Digest (December issue). Here’s an interesting tidbit that I didn’t know (or had forgotten). John Miller was told by his agent, Ed Barner, to go by “Johnny” to promote his image. But he grew up being called “John” and signs his name without adding the “ny.”

I remember Johnny as a player who literally knocked down the flagsticks in the mid 1970s at PGA Tour stops such as Tucson, Phoenix and Palm Springs. Sometimes faulty, my memory served me well. Diaz reports that Johnny “… did crazy-good things, like hitting the flag 10 times with iron shots while winning at Tucson.”

My favorite player was Jack Nicklaus, but Johnny Miller was the best iron player I ever saw. From January 1974 to January 1975, Miller won 10 times in a career that produced 25 PGA Tour victories, two of them majors, the 1973 U.S. Open and 1976 British Open. Johnny slumped after the mid 1970s blitz and has said he lost his desire to excel on tour as he and wife Linda raised six children.

Here’s what a couple of Johnny’s peers told Diaz.

Lanny Wadkins: “Johnny was the best I ever saw at hitting pure golf shots. I was very fortunate to play with a lot of the true greats: Jack and Trevino and Tiger, sure, but also Snead, Hogan and Nelson, who might have been past it, but not so you couldn’t see what they could do. But I can’t imagine that anyone in history has ever consistently hit the ball as solid and as close to the pin as Johnny did.”

Lee Trevino: “Johnny’s advantage was damn-near perfect mechanics. He had that extremely weak grip like Hogan, and he would set it going back and then just release it as hard as he could with total confidence. He didn’t have to re-route it or hold onto it or practice like hell, like most of the rest of us. Maybe because he grooved it so young, he was basically on automatic, where hitting the ball hard and straight and solid was actually easy. He got to a very rare place.”

Among others things, Johnny says one of his regrets is not winning the Masters, where he finished second three times. Wherever you stand on Johnny, Diaz’s profile is a worthwhile read. You’ll probably learn something you didn’t know about him.

−The Armchair Golfer

Afternoon Tea With Gary Player

SINCE GARY PLAYER TURNED 75 on Monday, I thought I should share a story about the Hall of Famer and one of the Big Three along with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

The problem is, I don’t have a Gary Player story. I haven’t met golf’s first globetrotter. I have seen him play on a few occasions. Author friend John Coyne had a terrific Player story, though. He told it to me when we attended the 2008 Masters and watched Player walk up one of Augusta’s fairways.

It’s 1969. You’re traveling through South Africa and decide to pick up the phone book and find the listing for Gary Player. There it is. You call and the South African golf great and five-time major winner (at that time) invites you over for tea. No kidding, that’s how it happened.

Here’s the story in John’s words:

I interviewed Gary years ago at his home in South Africa when I was visiting all the countries I hadn’t seen when I was with the Peace Corps. Gary invited me to his farm for tea one Sunday afternoon.

His father was there, a retired mine worker, as well as his step-mother. Gary’s wife was playing in a golf tournament. She, too, was a fine player, a South African women’s champ.

Gary had designed his ranch home so that each room was a collection of items he had picked up from around the world. For example, he had a Western Room full of saddles, horse gear, and wild west paintings from America. There was a Spanish Room, as well as an Asia Room.

In the doorways of his kids’ rooms he had a bar installed so that his boys (Vivienne and Gary have six children) could do one or two chin-ups entering and leaving their bedrooms. It is not for nothing that Gary is nicknamed Mr. Fitness. (He is also called the Black Knight for his history of always wearing black when playing tournaments.)

Gary was a poor kid who lost his mother when he was 8 or so, and started to play golf at 14 when his father took out a loan to buy him a set of golf clubs that he could play with. His father worked in the gold mines of South Africa. Gary had a brother who is a famous environmentalist.

Gary only finished secondary school and then turned pro. His father wrote a letter to Bobby Jones more than 50 years ago asking him to invite young Gary to the Masters, saying how great his son was, and it worked!

When I visited Gary back in 1969, he kept talking about the “winds of change” coming to South Africa as he led me around the farm and introduced me to his African workers, all of whom he knew by name. I was there, of course, during the apartheid years. It took over 20 years before apartheid finally ended in South Africa.

Player later said his views about apartheid began to change as he traveled the world. Nonetheless, many assumed that he supported the system. He had said so in his book in the mid 1960s.

At the 1969 PGA Championship in Dayton, Ohio, someone threw water in Player’s face. At the 1971 U.S. Open at Merion, he received death threats. That same year, Player invited Lee Elder to play in the South African PGA Championship in Johannesburg. It was the first integrated golf tournament in South Africa’s history.

In 2004, Charlie Sifford, the first black man inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, asked Player to handle the introduction. In his speech, Sifford called Player “my man forever.” A product of a racist system, it seems to me that Player had a genuine conversion.

Gary Player was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He has 165 professional wins, including 24 PGA Tour victories and nine majors.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Images: Keith Allison/Flickr)

Jack Nicklaus Has No Use for World Golf Ranking

JACK NICKLAUS THINKS THE OWGR (Official World Golf Ranking) is nonsense. The OWGR didn’t exist during Jack’s playing days. (Actually, it came into being in 1986, the year he won that improbable Masters, his last major.) The only math the Golden Bear cared about during his career was wins and majors. No one needed the OWGR to know who was the world’s best golfer in those days.

“I don’t think it [the OWGR] means anything,” Jack told Edgar Thompson of PalmBeachPost.com last week. “How could it mean a lot? Tiger [Woods] is No. 1 and hasn’t won a tournament all year.”

Hmmm. You know, Jack has a point.

“To me whoever is playing the best right now is the No. 1 player,” he said, “not a bunch of computer rankings.”

That sounds way too sensible. Give me a formula that churns out a points average to the second decimal point.

Whatever Jack thinks, Lee Westwood is set to replace Tiger atop the world golf ranking on Halloween. And Westy has yet to win a major. Another hmmm. I think Lee will be the first non-major winner to hold the top spot in the world. But it’s a story because Tiger has been No. 1 forever. King of the golf hill is now murkier and slightly more interesting.

I think the OWGR matters to the modern player. Some players may say it doesn’t, but I’m not buying it. I’ve never understood the math (or tried to). Here’s an explanation from the OWGR site, if you’re interested. I do think the OWGR serves a purpose, providing a way to compare players who compete in various events on a number of worldwide pro tours.

On the other hand, it’s silly arithmetic if you won 18 majors.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: memoflores/Flickr)

Lee Elder, Jack Nicklaus and the American Golf Classic

AS THE RAIN FELL this morning at the Ensure Classic at Rock Barn, I talked with 76-year-old Lee Elder, a four-time PGA Tour winner and the first African American to play in the Masters. I told Lee one of my earliest memories of watching golf on television was when he squared off against Jack Nicklaus in a sudden-death playoff at the American Golf Classic.

(If you are of a certain age, you may remember it. It was played at Firestone Country Club, the site of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Before the American Golf Classic, the Firestone event was called the Rubber City Open.)

I was a kid, it was 1968, and we had a portable black-and-white Zenith set with rabbit ears. Today, Lee reminded me about some of the details of that long-ago duel. He said what most people don’t remember was that the playoff included Frank Beard until Lee and Jack birdied 16 and Beard dropped out.

Who is Lee Elder? That’s what I wondered at the time. Everyone knew who Jack was. Jack was the man. It was Lee’s rookie season on the PGA Tour and he didn’t blink during his five-hole showdown with Nicklaus. Jack won. But Lee’s play made enough of an impression on me that I still remember it more than 40 years later.

Elder would wait six more years for his first PGA Tour win, the 1974 Monsanto Open in Pensacola, Florida. It put him into the Masters, finally breaking the color barrier at Augusta National. Lee was also the first black to play in the Ryder Cup when he qualified for the 1979 team.

And Beard, the forgotten man in that 1968 playoff, won the American Golf Classic two years later.

−The Armchair Golfer

Cary Middlecoff, Golf’s Greatest Slow Player

I STOPPED BY THE World Golf Hall of Fame today. Not in St. Augustine, Florida, but at the website. I was looking up something and stumbled onto the page of Hall of Famer Cary Middlecoff. I know a fair amount about Middlecoff, nicknamed “Doc” because he was an actual dentist who ventured out on the PGA Tour. Fred Hawkins has told me stories about Middlecoff; they were pals on tour and socialized off the golf course.

Today I ran across a couple of stories I hadn’t heard or simply forgotten. I’ll get to them momentarily, but let me start with a bit of background. The first thing you need to know about Cary Middlecoff is that he was a great player. He never took a lesson and had a swing that made Bobby Jones swoon. “I’d give the world to have a swing like that,” Jones once said. Middlecoff won 40 tournaments on the PGA Tour, including three majors (two Masters and a U.S. Open). Those are Phil Mickelson numbers. Doc had six-win seasons in 1949, 1951 and 1955.

The second thing you need to know about Middlecoff is that he was a slow player. How slow? “Glacial” is the adjective the World Golf Hall of Fame uses. It fits.

When Doug Ford played Middlecoff in the 36-hole final of the 1955 PGA Championship, Doc lit a cigarette when he got to the green and didn’t putt until the entire cigarette was gone. “The gallery really got on him,” Ford said, “but you couldn’t rush Doc. I didn’t care.” The reason Ford didn’t care was because he sat in a chair while he waited. His son brought it along for the final against Middlecoff. Ford won.

At the 1957 U.S. Open, defending champion Middlecoff closed with a pair of 68s at Inverness to make up eight shots on Dick Mayer and force an 18-hole playoff. Guess what Mayer did. He brought a camping stool to the playoff. Maybe it didn’t bother Doc, but something did. He shot 79 to Mayer’s 72 and missed his opportunity to be one of only a handful of players to win back-to-back U.S. Opens.

Golf writer Dan Jenkins once joked that Doc had to quit the dentistry because no one could hold his mouth open that long. Middlecoff was even known to stop at the top of his backswing.

So I’m tagging Cary Middlecoff as golf’s greatest slow player. I know there have been other slow pokes. Jack Nicklaus could be a tortoise. But I feel comfortable with Middlecoff as my pick. In fact, Doc is probably holding up play in the afterlife as I write this.

−The Armchair Golfer