Best Round For Nicklaus?
Jack Nicklaus shoots two rounds in the 1975 Sea Pines Heritage Open that could qualify as his best rounds ever.
What a Masters! Congratulations to Jon Rahm who started the day two strokes off the lead set by Brooks Koepka. He then went two under in the first eight holes while Koepka went two over, and he was in total control the rest of the way in. He won by four strokes over Koepka and a rejuvenated Phil Mickelson.
Of utmost interest was how the 18 LIV Golf players who qualified would play and whether their interaction with the PGA TOUR players would be contentious. I think what we learned was that this wasn’t about the LIV Golf tour. Or the PGA TOUR. It was about great players coming together to play for a shot to go down in history. With what is going on in professional golf, every player who qualified for the Masters, including the amateurs, were not playing for money as much as they were playing for a spot in history.
The fact that the LIV Golf players performed so well doesn’t mean that LIV Golf is a successful business model, or that the PGA TOUR is failing. It just means that those players elevated their games because they were playing for something more than money. It is also notable that the LIV Golf players that played so well were all past major champions. Mickelson, Kopeka, and Reed, have been there before and were able to tap into what is needed to prepare and play well in majors.
One thing is for certain; the majors have all the power in the dynamic that is professional golf now. For at least a year, it will be the majors, and the majors alone, that bring together the strongest players on the planet. Can’t wait for the PGA Championship.
In our poll last week, 70% of you love thought that the LIV Golf players who qualified should have been invited to the Masters, while only 20% of you thought it would be too disruptive to have them there. This week, weigh in on the major rules controversy at this year’s Masters. Was Brooks Koepka, and his caddie, offering advice to Gary Woodland in violation of the rules? Let us know what you think in the Tour Backspin Poll.
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This week, the PGA TOUR is in Hilton Head, SC at the Harbour Town Golf Links for the RBC Heritage. This tournament dates back to 1969 when it was known as the Heritage Golf Classic. In 1971 it became the Sea Pines Heritage Classic, in 1977 it changed to the Heritage Classic, then went back, for one year in 1979, to the Sea Pines Heritage Classic. Then it was known as the Sea Pines Heritage until 1987 when it became known as the MCI Heritage Golf Classic. In 1995, it became the MCI Classic, and was then known, for two years starting in 2001, as the Worldcom Classic - The Heritage of Golf. In 2003 it went to the MCI Heritage, in 2006 it was known as the Verizon Heritage before reverting back to the Heritage, for one year, in 2011. Finally, in 2012, it became the RBC Heritage.
We’re going back to 1975 when Jack Nicklaus battled Tom Weiskopf for his second win of the season. He would add the Masters and a PGA Championship later in the year that would see him win a total of five events. Scroll down to learn more.
It was 1975. It was a little cuckoo. Listen HERE.
We’re highlighting Tom Weiskopf’s sweet swing in the Swing Like a Pro feature. View one of the greatest swings of all time. Scroll down to view.
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If you like golf history, check out the Your Golfer’s Almanac podcast. Host Michael Duranko celebrates birthdays, milestones, and other accomplishments that occurred on the day in golf history. Listen HERE.
Congratulations to David Rihm, the winner in last week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? The featured hole was #13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA. The photo was taken in 1973. David beat out 11 other players who came up with the correct answer. Check out the new 2023 leader board and scroll down for your chance to win in this week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT?
We’re playing 1975 PGA TOUR Trivia this week in the Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
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Larry Baush
Nicklaus Warms Up For Masters at Harbour Town
It is Thursday, March 27th, 1975, and Jack Nicklaus has an awful, nagging earache that required a visit to medical tent at the Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, SC where the opening round of the Heritage Golf Classic was underway. The other golfers in the field had nagging headaches due to the severity of the 6,550-yard course and the chilly, gusty winds that accentuated the dangers of the plentiful hazards around the course.
“I’ve had some pretty good rounds but, yes, considering the conditions, that was a good round of golf. I’m pleased.”
Jack, who helped design the course working with Pete Dye, and was coming off a win in his last start at the Doral-Eastern Open, wasn’t fazed by the wind or the difficulty of the course. All he did was shoot an opening 66 for a three-stroke lead. Upon completion of his round, Nicklaus was asked by the press if this round ranked among his best efforts of the past couple of years. Nicklaus pursed his lips, gazed into the middle distance, and paused before he answered.
“Well,” he began, “I’ve had some pretty good rounds but, yes, considering the conditions, that was a good round of golf. I’m pleased.”
The same could not be said about the other leading names in the tournament who were all in the field to tune their games up for the Masters, just two weeks away.
“What can I say? I just played lousy. I did everything bad.”
“Terrible,” is all that Arnold Palmer could say after a round of 74 that included four three-putt greens.
“What can I say?” asked Johnny Miller. “I just played lousy. I did everything bad.”
Miller, the hottest golfer on tour with three wins under his belt, opened with a 73.
Despite a 41 on the back nine and a score of 73, Lee Trevino was not upset with his round.
“This is the toughest golf course in the world,” Trevino said. “I played good. I’m not unhappy.”
Bruce Crampton, Don January, Andy North, Tom Kite and Hale Irwin were three shots off the lead while Tom Weiskopf and John Mahaffey were the only other players to break par, shooting 70, and Gary Player, playing in his first American start of the year, was at 71.
Nicklaus again visited the medical tent after his round to try to find some relief to his earache.
The weather did not improve much for Friday’s second round with continued chilly winds. Nicklaus lit the course up as he threaded the tight fairways with his drives and found the small, well-guarded, greens with his high lofted iron shots that were deadly accurate. His 63 stretched his lead to six, over Tom Weiskopf who shot a 65 including a 30 on the back nine. Johnny Miller shot a 73 and missed the cut.
“This was a better round than the 64 at Augusta.”
Again, Nicklaus was asked if this round ranked with some of his best. He again took a moment to give it some thought.
After a pause, he said, “This was a better round than the 64 at Augusta.”
He was referring to the course-record 64 he shot in the 1965 Masters.
As confident as Nicklaus was, it was hard to imagine anyone being able to overtake him and his six-stroke lead; which made Saturday’s round such a shock. Maybe his ear was still bothering him.
The weather improved somewhat on Saturday with mild temperatures on a hazy and breezy day. On the back nine, Nicklaus turned a runaway into a race as he gave away strokes and Weiskopf was more than happy to reel him in.
It started with Nicklaus hitting it into the water on the 10th hole resulting in a double bogey. He missed the green and bogeyed the 13th. He bogeyed the 14th after a weak and uncertain chip. Weiskopf tied for the lead after making a short birdie putt on the 16th hole but it was short-lived as Nicklaus birdied the same hole to recapture the lead.
“For me to get this close,” Weiskopf said, “I had to play good, and Jack had to play bad. That’s just what happened. If he had shot 68, he’d of run away with it.”
The national broadcast of the tournament then cut away, so viewers missed Nicklaus’ bogey on the long and difficult 18th hole. Weiskopf and Nicklaus were tied at 203, 10-under-par.
“For me to get this close,” Weiskopf said, “I had to play good, and Jack had to play bad. That’s just what happened. If he had shot 68, he’d of run away with it.”
“Every time I made a mistake, I really got nailed by it,” Nicklaus said.
Dull and dreary weather met the golfers as they arrived for the final round on Sunday. Nicklaus and Weiskopf remained deadlocked after the first nine holes. Then, Nicklaus made a slight adjustment on the tenth hole.
“I was playing it just a little too loose and relaxed and I had the clubface opened too much,” he explained to reporters after the round.
He immediately began to pull away from Weiskopf. He birdied the 11th hole after hitting his approach shot to six or seven feet. Weiskopf bogeyed the 12th hole that gave Nicklaus a two-stroke lead. At that point, it was just a matter of getting to the clubhouse. Nicklaus finished with a solid 68 while Weiskopf finished with a 71.
“It’s hard to say if this is the best. My game was awfully good in ’65. I don’t know what my record may have been as far as wins are concerned, but it seemed that every time I teed it up it was a 66 or a 68 or a 67.”
Nicklaus was asked to compare the state of his game going into Augusta with previous pre-Masters seasons. He returned to 1965.
“It’s hard to say if this is the best,” he began. “My game was awfully good in ’65. I don’t know what my record may have been as far as wins are concerned, but it seemed that every time I teed it up it was a 66 or a 68 or a 67.”
He set a Masters record in 1965. With his confidence and his hot play that produced two victories while shooting a 63, a pair of 66s, a 67, a couple of 68s and three 69s in the last couple of weeks, it was almost a guarantee that he would be a force to reckon with in two weeks at the Masters. Not even an earache could keep him down.
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Bonus Story
The Heritage Classic was the first tournament of the year on the American schedule for Gary Player, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been playing. The globetrotting Player won the Masters and Open Championship in 1974. He also won eight other 72-hole tournaments around the world including the Brazilian Open where he shot a 59.
Player had a front row seat to the exhibition of fine golf that Nicklaus put on in the first two rounds at the Heritage as they played together. And he was impressed.
At a cocktail party after the second round, Player said, “That is only the best golf Jack has ever played.”
Nicklaus played so well that the woman carrying his scoring standard apologized to him after he got to 10-under, saying, “I’m sorry, Mr. Nicklaus. I don’t have any red numbers beyond 11.” Nicklaus threw his head back and laughed uproariously.
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Tour Backspin Quiz | Masters Trivia
How many titles did Tom Weiskopf capture in 1975?
Answer below
Check it Out
Check out a film clip of the RBC Heritage showing the early days. Watch it HERE.
Swing Like a Pro
Tom Weiskopf talks about tempo in this video from our friends at The Golf Library
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Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Tom Weiskopf won twice on the 1975 tour at Greater Greensboro Open and the Canadian Open.
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Final Thoughts
When did the RBC Heritage go from red jackets to plaid jackets for the winners?
How much power do the four majors now hold as they will be the only tournaments that feature the best players in the world in their fields?
Will Rory McIlroy ever add a Masters to his resume?
How good does Jack Nicklaus look in those slacks?