Beard Chases Down Nicklaus and Lema
Frank Beard wins largest check of his career in the 1966 Greater New Orleans Open
Another designated event, and another great finish. Congratulations to Matt Fitzpatrick who went 63-68 on the weekend battling Jordan Spieth head-to-head down the stretch before winning on third extra hole in a playoff in the RBC Heritage. Fitzpatrick almost holed his approach shot to the 18th hole (the third playoff hole) before tapping in his winning birdie putt. Jordan Spieth came tantalizingly close to making the winning putt on both the 72nd hole and the second playoff hole. Both kissed the edge and if either could have fallen, Spieth would have defended his title. Another great designated event field tournament.
Rory McIlroy withdrew from the RBC Heritage making it the second designated event that he has missed. The PGA TOUR allows a player to miss one designated event this year, but missing a second incurs a fine. McIlroy will forfeit $3 million, or 25% of his $12 million Player Impact Program bonus. On next year’s schedule, players will have more options when it comes to missing a designated event.
One of the highlights of the fourth round coverage on CBS was having Jon Rahm in the booth. He killed it.
In our poll last week, 92% of you thought that Brooks Koepka, and his caddie offered advice to Gary Woodland when they informed Woodland of what club they had just hit, and that it was a clear violation of the Rules of Golf. Only 8% of you thought it was no big deal, that it is something that happens every week on the tour.
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This week, the PGA TOUR has a non-designated event in New Orleans, the Zurich Classic, played at the TPC Louisiana in Avondale. This tournament has been held annually since 1958. In 2017 the event became a team event with fourball (best-ball) being played in the first and third rounds, while the alternated shot format is used in the second and final rounds.
We’re going back to 1966 when the Greater New Orleans Open featured a strong field with all the top names on the money list. The 1966 PGA Tour schedule was plagued by bad weather, and the rains continued in New Orleans. Scroll down to learn how Frank Beard held off Jack Nicklaus and Tony Lema to capture the largest check of his career to that point.
With Tony Lema in the mix this week, it’s time for a shameless plug of my biography of him, Uncorked, The Life and Times of Champagne Tony Lema. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can read the Kindle version for FREE HERE. You can order the paperback from Amazon HERE, or an author signed paperback copy HERE.
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Frank Beard Wins in a Monday Finish in New Orleans
The 1966 PGA TOUR was stymied by the rain. By the time it made its way to the Greater New Orleans Open the second week of May, seven rounds had been rained out. And that didn’t even count the rainout of an entire tournament. The week before the New Orleans event, rain made the Champions Golf Club a quagmire resulting in a postponement of the Houston Champions International until the last week of November.
The same storm that brought heavy rains to Houston made their way east in tandem with the touring pros. Rains lashed the Lakewood Country Club course, but officials reassured everyone that the course drains well and that it had just about dried out and was “in perfect condition.”
“Probably the best round I’ve played in six months.”
On Wednesday, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer arrived together on Palmer’s plane and were scheduled to tee off in the pro-am, playing one group apart, around the noon hour. Their arrival underscored the strength of the field in New Orleans which featured a $100,000 purse. In addition to Palmer and Nicklaus, the field featured the year’s leading money winner, Doug Sanders, Tony Lema, Bob Goalby, Billy Casper, and Julius Boros. Defending champion, Dick Mayer and Frank Beard were also in the field.
It looked like the same old story when a heavy shower halted play in the first round for 34 minutes. Once resumed, the first round was completed and Jack Nicklaus set the pace shooting a four-under 68. He was tied at the top of the leader board with Tony Lema, Bob Goalby, Frank Beard, and Charles Coody.
Lema, who was trying to play out of a slump caused by a sore elbow, hadn’t won in eight months, said about his round, “Probably the best round I’ve played in six months.”
Lema and his wife Betty, had introduced a neighbor, Pat Roberts, to Frank Beard at the 1965 Greater New Orleans Open and the two married later that year. They arrived in New Orleans expecting their first child.
Arnold Palmer hit his drive off the 14th hole, his fifth hole of the day having started on the 10th hole, and almost went down to his knees. He wrenched his back but was able to finish the round shooting a 71 and then immediately sought treatment from a specialist.
Nicklaus sprayed his ball all over the course in the first round. He hit only two of his first 13 fairways but was able to make some sensational recovery shots. He shot a front nine 37 before blazing back on the back nine with a 31.
“I didn’t play good, but it’s very difficult to complain about a 68.”
“I didn’t play good, but it’s very difficult to complain about a 68,” Nicklaus said after his round.
On Friday, Bob Goalby, searching for his first victory since 1962, fired a 69 and took a one-stroke lead over Nicklaus. Both Lema and Beard shot 71, two off of the lead and tied with Harold Henning and Kel Nagle.
Palmer added a second 71 for a total of 142, five-strokes off the lead, but his back was still bothering him. He again went for treatment on his back and it was reported that he was stiff and in extreme pain. There was some question of whether he would be able to tee it up in Saturday’s third round. He returned to his hotel room and said he would decide about continuing to play in the morning.
Doug Sanders added a 70 to his first round 71 and was four strokes off the lead. The cut line was at 147 and 87 of the original field of 144 made the cut, the largest number of players to make the cut so far in the 1966 season.
“In a great deal of pain.”
So far, the event had escaped the ravages of the weather, and luck held out for Saturday’s third round. Nicklaus and Lema, two of the largest stars on the tour, muscled back into the lead at 208 with Nicklaus shooting a 70 and Lema shooting a 69.
The big news concerned a 39-year-old player who was also dealing with back pain for most of the year, Gardner Dickinson. Dickenson started the day at even-par 144 but shot up the leader board shooting a blazing 66. His round included seven birdies, but it was a bogey at the 16th, a tight dogleg par four, that perturbed him.
“I gambled when I shouldn’t,” Dickinson said after his round. “I used a driver. It hit the top of a fairway bunker. I had to stand on my head to get it out and just topped the ball out.”
Dickinson’s back troubles had plagued him for most of the year and he blamed the pain for losing some early round leads. After the Masters in April, he dropped off the tour and began using a “special pill” to manage his pain. The Greater New Orleans Open was his first tournament back since the Masters. Both Sandy Koufax and Tony Lema were taking a new experimental drug, most likely ibuprofen, for soreness in their arms, and this is what the “special pill” being taken by Dickinson could have been.
Dickinson was tied with Casper and Nagle at 210, while Goalby and Beard were one-stroke off the lead set by Nicklaus and Lema.
Arnold Palmer, stating that he was still “in a great deal of pain,” withdrew before his Saturday round and cancelled all of his scheduled appearances for at least a week.
“It popped my neck. It was sore for a while but feels okay now. I just hope it doesn’t get stiff tonight.”
Sunday was a fiasco for the tournament no matter how you looked at it. To start, Nicklaus was involved in a fender-bender on his way to the course. He reported that his car was hit from the rear just after he had gone through a traffic light.
“It popped my neck,” he told reporters. “It was sore for a while but feels okay now. I just hope it doesn’t get stiff tonight.”
Then it was the weather that threw a wrench into the proceedings. Both Nicklaus and Lema had started their rounds making it to the fourth hole. Nicklaus was in the last group while Lema was in the penultimate group. Nicklaus birdied the first hole, while Lema birdied the fourth hole to regain a share of the lead. Then the clouds opened with a drenching rain that stopped play. Both Nicklaus and Lema retreated to a house near the fourth green to wait out the delay. Eventually, word came that the round would be postponed until Monday. On the walk back through the rain to the clubhouse on the soggy course, Nicklaus soaked the one pair of comfortable shoes he had.
Nicklaus started the rescheduled fourth round on Monday with a birdie on the first hole. He appeared to be ready to walk away with the tournament until Frank Beard eagled the fifth hole which gave him a huge lift and the lead. The next big moment came on the ninth hole where Nicklaus dropped a long putt for what looked like a share of the lead. But Beard had an answer to Nicklaus’ birdie.
“I managed to get a birdie too and stay ahead,” Beard told reporters after the round.
Both Nicklaus and Lema faded down the stretch on the back nine, while Dickenson couldn’t quite keep up with Beard. Beard’s final round of 67 gave him a total of 276, while Dickinson finished at 278 after a final round of 68. Nicklaus and Lema both shot final round 71s at were tied at 279 with Bob Goalby and Miller Barber.
Even though the PGA TOUR’s bad luck with the weather continued, the Greater New Orleans Open was completed and in the books. It featured a head-to-head battle between two of the biggest stars of the tour, but it was Frank Beard who was able to capture the title with a great fourth round. Beard won a check for $20,000, the biggest check of his career. That would come in handy for the couple just starting out raising a family.
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Bonus Story
Frank Beard had quite the history in New Orleans. In 1964 he played in the Greater New Orleans Open and didn’t make any money. Worse, he contracted encephalitis—a killer disease sometimes called the sleeping sickness.
He almost died. He was administered the last rites by a Roman Catholic priest.
Pat Beard recalled for reporters what happened to her husband back in 1964.
“He played in the pro-am and then slept for 17 hours, got up and played in the 1964 tourney.”
Beard finished out of the money, but continued playing even though he felt he could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. He won $1,500 at the Doral Open three weeks after the tournament in New Orleans and then headed by car to his parents house in Louisville, KY.
“He told me he couldn’t drive for more than 45 minutes without stopping to sleep,” Pat related.
As soon as he reached his parent’s house, Beard fell into a coma.
“They gave him three kinds of antibiotics,” Pat continued. “They don’t know which one worked. The doctor said his being an athlete helped pull him through.”
Pat also stated that her husband was very religious and that she thought that accounted for the miraculous recovery.
The next year, in 1965, Pat was introduced to Frank by Tony and Betty Lema. Pat was a neighbor of the Lemas in Dallas, TX. The two hit it off and got married and arrived at the 1966 Greater New Orleans Open expecting their first child.
From a near death experience to a growing family. All at the Greater New Orleans Open.
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Tour Backspin Quiz | Rank The Purses
Rank these purses from the 1966 PGA Tour for largest to smallest:
Greater New Orleans Open
Bing Crosby National Pro-Am
Carling World Open
Texas Open
U.S. Open
Answer below
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Are you into gambling on golf? How do you do your research Let us know in the comments section below. In the meantime, here’s a resource that might help you. Read it HERE.
Swing Like a Pro
Tom Watson swing sequence circa 1975 (photo: Golf Digest)
What is Hip?
Celebrity fashions on the golf course, circa 1966 from Golf Digest.
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Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Carling World Open ($175,000), U.S. Open ($150,000), Bing Crosby National Pro-Am ($104,500), Greater New Orleans Open ($100,000) and the Texas Open ($80,000).
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Final Thoughts
How good was the shot that Patrick Cantley played from the railroad ties on the 13th hole at Harbour Town in the final round?
How cool would it have been to be a fly on the wall at that house near the fourth green at Lakewood Country Club during the rain delay in the final round of the 1966 Greater New Orleans Open when Jack Nicklaus and Tony Lema sought shelter from the storm?
Was the 1966 Greater New Orleans Open field as strong as any Designated Event you’d find on today’s tour?
What a surprise to receive your Lema Biography in the mail. Plus, it fits perfectly amongst many other
books in my golf collection. Even my wife was impressed, and that ain't easy! Mucho thanks! Andy Brown