Hole In Two
At 5-5, 145 pounds, Gene Sarazen was the smallest of golf’s eminent champions. But he was solidly built and possessed a competitive heart. During his illustrious career, Sarazen accomplished golf’s rare career grand slam by winning the U.S. Open in 1922 at age 20, capturing the PGA the same year, going on to win the British Open in 1932, and completing the slam at the 1935 Masters.²⁵
On the fourth day of that tournament, Craig Wood led Sarazen by three strokes after 14 holes. Sarazen’s drive on the par-five 15th had distance, but the lie was unfavorable, and it was 225 yards to the green. Knowing he had to be aggressive, Sarazen rocketed a deadeye four wood that bounced off the front of the green and rolled into the cup for a 2. Because it allowed him to tie Craig Wood in regulation play and win the Masters in a playoff, Gene Sarazen’s celestial double eagle is the greatest hole-out in professional golf history. The “shot heard round the world” helped put the Masters on the map.²⁶
“That double-eagle wouldn’t have meant a thing if I hadn’t won the playoff the next day,” Sarazen said. “The aspect I cherish most is that both Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones witnessed the shot … “²⁷ (The larger-than-life Walter Hagen won four straight PGA tournaments in the 1920’s and was the first American to win the British Open.)
Legend Of Golf
Some veteran viewers remember Jimmy Demaret, along with his partner Gene Sarazen, as the witty co-host of one of the first television golf shows “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.²⁸ Demaret’s relaxed, but incisive, tee-and-greenside commentary was a joy, and his engaging between-holes interviews provided insights into the thinking processes of pro golfers. Wonderful names back then, too: Dow Finsterwald, Don January, “Champagne Tony” Lema. (Even the pro football names of the time stick: Vitamin T. Smith, Mac Speedie, Yelburton Abraham Tittle, Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch, Dick “Night Train” Lane.)
Jimmy Demaret was also a founder of the Legends of Golf Tournament. He was the first showbiz golf star and the reason, some said, that Bing Crosby invented the Pro-Am. But the sharp dressing (“If you’re going to be in the limelight, you might as well dress like it.”), ²⁹ high-living, and sweet-swinging Demaret was also a skillful shot-maker who had 31 wins on the PGA tour and a perfect Ryder Cup record
His greatest victory came in 1950. In a roaring finish on the last six holes, Demaret picked up seven strokes on third-round leader Jim Ferrier to become the first player to win three Masters. Ben Hogan said, “He was the most underrated golfer in Our Story. This man played shots I hadn’t dreamed of. I learned them. But it was Jimmy who showed them to me first. He was the best wind player I’ve ever seen in my life.”³⁰
Demaret was a fun-seeking character who loved to sing in nightclubs and made friends with countless celebrities. Jackie Burke, Jr. once said that Jimmy Demaret “was a jet-setter before there were jets.”³¹ He was immensely quotable, especially with lasting one-liners. His best was “Golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at them.”³²
On the Cusp
Twenty-four-year-old amateur Ken Venturi lead the 1956 Masters by four shots after three rounds, but he soared to an 80 on the final day. Jack Burke Jr. rallied from eight strokes behind to win the green jacket by a stroke.³³ Burke said, “There was a fifty-mile-an-hour wind. I shot 71 which was the low round of the day, and Venturi just couldn’t make it on the back nine and handed me the trophy. I thank him a lot for that.”³⁴ Like Jimmy Demaret six years earlier, Jack Burke Jr. made one of the lofty comebacks in Masters history. Note how often good things happen when athletes feel they have nothing to lose and play loose.
And the victory was no fluke. Jack Burke Jr. was a bona fide golfer who also won the PGA Tournament in 1956 and had 17 PGA Tour career wins. Burke went on, along with his partner Jimmy Demaret, to design majestic golf courses like Cypress Creek and Jack Rabbit. He was also a renowned teacher of the game, helping top players like Gary Player, Phil Mickelson, Hal Sutton, and Ben Crenshaw.³⁵
Despite Burke’s phenomenal final-day rebound, Ken Venturi’s brilliant performance in the first three rounds of the 1956 Masters showed that a major pro talent was about to emerge.
Pass the Hat
Dressed in his customary black, Gary Player trailed by seven strokes when he started the final round of the 1978 Masters. He shot a 69, with a sizzling 30 on the back nine. Player had seven birdies between the ninth and eighteenth holes to finish with a 278, one shot ahead of Rod Funseth, Hubert Green, and Tom Watson who all tied for second-place. At age 42, it was Player’s third and greatest Masters’ victory and the last of his nine major championships.
(Despite blustery winds during the 2008 tournament’s final day, Gary Player’s protege Trevor Immelman kept his game intact, beat Tiger Woods by three strokes, and South Africa had another Masters’ champion.)
Seven strokes down was Gary Player’s lucky number. He was seven down to Tony Lema with 17 holes to play in the semifinal match at the 1965 World Match Play Championships in Wentworth, England and won. (Colorful, humorous, and popular “Champagne Tony” Lema was a solid performer on the PGA circuit and winner of the British Open in 1964. Lema, age 32, and his wife were killed in a private plane crash in 1966. Ironically, the plane crashed onto a golf course.)
GARY PLAYER was the only golfer in the 20th century to win the British Open in three different decades: 1959, 1968, and 1974. He also had 24 PGA Tour victories and won each of the majors for a career Grand Slam.³⁶ The only others to do it were Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Ben Hogan. Like Hogan, Player was fit and practiced with unusual dedication. He had a bunker game that is considered the greatest ever developed and the ability to will himself to victory.³⁷
Absent his father’s devotion and persistence, Player may never have gotten to the United States. After Gary won the 1956 South African Open, his father wrote to Cliff Roberts and Bobby Jones, the founders of the Masters, explaining that he did not have the money to send Gary to the U.S. to play. But, he said, “If you would extend him an invitation, I will pass the hat here in Johannesburg and obtain the necessary funds.”
Bobby Jones wrote back a three-word note: “Pass the hat.”³⁸
Excerpted from the print and e-Book Guts in the Clutch: 77 Legendary Triumphs, Heartbreaks and Wild Finishes in 12 Sports, with a Foreword by Drew Olson of ESPN.
25 Courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame, http:www.wgv.com/hof/members/gsarazen.html, available as of 9/24/0526 WGHOF, Sarazen
27 Courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times, shttp://www.sptimes.com/News/110999/Sports/Sarazen_soars_on_doub.shtml, available as of 1/26/08
28 Courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame, http:www.wgv.com/hof/members/jdemaret.html, available as of 10/1/05
29 WGHOF, Demaret
30 WGHOF, Demaret
31 WGHOF, Demaret
32 WGHOF, Demaret
33 Courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame, http:www.wgv.com/hof/members/jburkejr.html, available as of 10/1/05
34 WGHOF, Burke
35 WGHOF, Burke
36 Courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame, http:www.wgv.com/hof/members/gplayer.html, available as of 10/3/05
37 WGHOF, Player
38 WGHOF, Player
