MIND / BACKSPIN M
T his year is the 50th an- niversary of Gary Player’s greatest year in the majors, the only occasion he won two in the same year. He claimed a green jacket (or coat as it was called then) at Augusta National on April 14, and claret jug at Royal Lytham on July 13. It is fascinating to watch the two-hour CBS TV coverage of the final round of the 1974 Masters on YouTube. It came on air as the final pairing played to the ninth green. Click here to watch. Gary, aged 38, had shot 66 on Satur- day to be in this Easter Sunday pair- ing with Dave Stockton, the 1970 PGA champion. They were a vivid contrast, Gary wearing his trademark black outfit with black shoes and white cap, Stockton a bright yellow shirt, with paler yellow slacks. Other protagonists in a tense final nine holes were Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf and Hale Irwin. Six players were within a shot of the lead at one stage. The apparel reflected the decade, lots of checks and stripes, as did the long hair and smoking cigarettes. Men in the galleries were dressed much like the players. Not a pair of shorts to be seen. Players wore an array of headgear with no branding. Several were bare headed, including Nicklaus and a youthful Ben Crenshaw. When Nicklaus tees off at 13 it’s revealing to see a ball-washer be- hind him and bits of other course fur- niture you wouldn’t see today. The players showed little emotion. Gary would touch his cap when he holed a birdie putt. A handshake with his caddie at the end. Although Nick- laus did leap skywards when sinking an eagle putt on 13. It looked a very different game to the one we watch today where there is a barrage of birdies. Drives with persim- mon woods were generally straight but 50 years ago Gary wins the Masters and Open By Stuart McLean
removed his right shoe to shake out the sand. Nicklaus kept his right shoe on, but removed the sock, while submerg- ing his foot in the water hazard at 15, where he made a spectacular save. A thunderstorm was brewing as Gary putted out on 18 for a 10-under total of 278 (two ahead of Stockton and Weis- kopf), with a commentator talking about lightning in the area. No sirens and suspension of play back then. In 1974, Gary was still the only non- American to have won the Masters. It was in 1980 that Seve Ballesteros be- came the second. There’s an amusing moment at the end of the telecast in the Butler Cabin when Gary is helped into his new green blazer by 1973 champion Tommy Aaron. It’s on the large size, and Gary quips, “I haven’t found one that fits me yet.” Two months after the Masters, the US Open was at Winged Foot in New York, and Gary held a share of the 36- hole lead before shooting 77-73 on the weekend. He finished T-8 in one of the highest scoring modern majors, Irwin winning on +7. Then came the Open at Royal Lytham in Lancashire. In fierce winds, Gary led from the first round onwards in a dom- inating display (69-68-75-70) where he never relinquished the lead. Only three other players broke 70 all week. Even with three late bogeys in the final round, he won by four from English- man Peter Oosterhuis, with Nicklaus third on +3, becoming one of only three men to have lifted the claret jug in three different decades. This was the first Open where the larger-sized American ball was made compulsory. The final major of 1974 was the PGA Championship at Tanglewood in North
not long. Gary struck the longest drive of the final round on 15 and still had a fairway wood for his second to clear the pond short of the green. In 1974 the telecast is mostly of play- ers scrambling for pars other than on 13 and 15, the two par 5s. More putts were missed than holed, not surprising with small-headed putters and slow, grainy Bermuda greens. They were running at a sluggish 8 on the stimpmeter. Play- ers struck firm putts, and they didn’t run much past the hole. Bent grass was only introduced at Augusta in 1980. The Bermuda greens were also firm and difficult to hold, so players were over- shooting greens with their approaches. The par-3 16th was a tiger at 173 me- tres. Same Sunday pin in the left back corner as today, but players were miss- ing left in the water or greenside bunker. Curiosities include players keeping their glove on to putt, including Nick- laus, and dropping balls over their right
shoulder for a penalty. Ev- eryone had Augusta caddies assigned to them. A caddie in white overalls was posted at each green to instantly fix pitch marks, so the players never had to worry about finding them. Gary was in two green- side bunkers on the back nine, and both times failed to get up and down despite being the world’s best from the sand. On the tenth he
Carolina in August, and Gary was again in contention after a second round 64. He fin- ished seventh. This was only one of two years in which he had top-10 finishes in all four majors, the other being 1963. Gary’s stroke average for the four majors was 70.8. Nick- laus was 71.2. In September 1974 Gary and Jack were among 13 golfers inducted into the new World Golf Hall of Fame.
WINNING THE MASTERS AND OPEN IN SAME YEAR 1953 Ben Hogan
1962 Arnold Palmer 1966 Jack Nicklaus 1974 Gary Player 1977 Tom Watson 1990 Nick Faldo 1998 Mark O’Meara 2005 Tiger Woods
18 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
MARCH/APRIL 2024
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting