This Player Took Masters Preparation to a New Extreme⛳
Bert Yancy's Obsession With The Masters
Bert Yancy attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and during the summer of 1960, his third year at the institution, he experienced what would later be termed a manic-depressive episode. He went from a nationally ranked star golfer, a member of the Dean's List and was proud to b e a West Point. In less than two weeks he was in a padded cell.
For nine months he was confined to a mental health hospital in Valley Forge, PA, and underwent two electro-shock treatments. Upon his release he played the PGA Tour briefly before taking a club pro job for two years. In 1964 he was back out on the Tour full-time and he played for a full decade.
His obsession was the Masters and every April he would return to the residence of the J.B. Masters family, his chosen place to stay during the week. Even the name of the family was perfect for his obsession. He built clay models of each of the greens at Augusta and the Masters family even decorated the room he used in a shrine for the tournament. Mrs. Masters made him a miniature green jacket.
In 1970 he shot rounds of 69 and 70 in the first two rounds to go into the weekend tied with Gene Littler. He finished with rounds of 72 and 70 to finish two strokes out of the playoff with Billy Casper and Gene Littler. Dick Schaap recounts that year's Masters in a great book called The Masters: The Winning of a Golf Classic where Yancy and his relationship with the Masters (both the tournament and the family) is documented. Read more about Yancy's battle with his mental disease in the Washington Post article by Dave Kindred.
Bert Yancy died of a heart attack at a PGA TOUR Champions event in Utah at the age of 56.
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