Brewer Wins Golfer of the Year
Brewer defeats Casper in 18-hole playoff to win Alcan Golfer of the Year
As the PGA TOUR is set to crown the FedExCup champion at the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, GA, we turn back the clock to 1967 and Gay Brewer winning the Alcan Golfer of the Year. Join us on our journey through the past to this brand-new tournament that was offering the largest prize purse ever to a select group of players. And to sweeten the pot, it was played on The Old Course in St. Andrews. Scroll down to learn more about this short-lived tournament.
We’ve written about the 1969 Alcan Golfer of the Year HERE, won by Billy Casper.
We wrap-up the FedEx St. Jude Championship and I provide a few of my thoughts, as well as the Clips You Might Have Missed.
We’ve got a question for you to weigh in on with the Tour Backspin Poll. This week’s Music Clip features a very young Linda Ronstadt, and in a new feature, Tour Backspin Goes to The Movies, we’ve got a trailer from a hardboiled thriller from 1967. Scroll down to listen and watch.
We display the swings of Billy Casper and Gay Brewer, side-by-side, with analysis from Jimmy Demaret in this week’s Swing Like a Pro feature. You should be able to figure out the WHAT HOLE IS IT? Presented by Rota Golf this week and then you may just win a golf swag prize pack. Rota Golf has a cool way to map out your bucket list journey of playing the top 100 courses in the U.S. We’ve got some links for you in the Check it Out section and a Power-Bilt ad from 1967 in this week’s Vintage Ad. Scroll down to view.
Last week we wanted to know if you agreed with Scottie Scheffler about the FedEx Cup playoffs being silly. This one was a landslide as 92% of respondents agreed with Scottie that it is silly because it is not a season long race. There were 8% of respondents that think it adds season ending excitement, though. Will you be tuning in this weekend for the Tour Championship?
Matt Fitzpatrick experienced a ruling that went against him. He cracked the face of his driver, but apparently, the crack wasn’t big enough. Even though Fitzpatrick felt the crack affected his ball flight, he was not allowed to replace the driver.
PGA Tour chief referee Stephen Cox said: "In our assessment, not only with the first official but also a couple of others including myself, that threshold of being significantly damaged hadn't been met. Although there was a small crack in the face, there was no separation in the metals, and on that basis, that threshold wasn't met, so his only choice in that case was to continue using that club. Now, if that club were to get worse, then we would obviously continue to reassess, and at that point he may have been able to have taken it out, but in his case, I think he chose not to continue to use it and proceeded with his 3-wood from then on."
This seems like a rule that is in need of being changed. What do you think? Let us know in this week’s Tour Backspin Poll
We’ve unlocked our premium content on a course review of Gearhart Golf Links, host to a recent buddies trip. Learn more about this extremely fun destination on the Oregon coast HERE.
We’re playing 1967 PGA TOUR Trivia in this week’s Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
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Okay, we're on the tee, let's get going.
Enjoy!
Larry Baush
Brewer Wins Record Amount After Beating Casper in Playoff
In 1964, a Montreal magazine publisher named Hilles Pickens, along with a Montreal radio broadcaster by the name of Doug Smith, came up with a unique idea for a golf tournament. Use four tournaments in the U.S. and four tournaments in the United Kingdom as qualifying events for a new, lavish tournament that would offer the highest prize purse in professional golf. Then, play that tournament at one of the most hallowed grounds in golf—The Old Course at St. Andrews.
The two men sold this idea to Aluminum Ltd. Of Canada which was changing its name to Alcan. The company thought that Smith’s and Pickens’ idea would be a fine way to bring attention and publicity to the new name and signed on as sponsors for the new tournament that would be known as the Alcan Player of the Year. The first tournament was to be held in October, 1967. Pickens and Smith estimated that Alcan would be investing between $750,000 and $1 million to sponsor the tournament that featured a prize purse of $129,000. There were 11 American players, seven players from Great Britain, and Bob Charles of New Zealand in the select field that first year. And, oh yeah, there would be a sister competition that would run at the same time. This tournament, known as The Alcan International would feature a 67-man field and a purse of $33,000, but also held out a bonus of $5,000 if the winner’s score was better than the winning score in the Alcan Golfer of the Year competition.
The March of Golfers, the official opening ceremony, featured the golfers in the field parading through the town of St. Andrews as they were led by kilted boy drummers.
The pomp and circumstances surrounding the tournament leaned into the history of St. Andrews and revived a traditonal ceremony that hadn’t been conducted since 1849. The March of Golfers, the official opening ceremony, featured the golfers in the field parading through the town of St. Andrews as they were led by kilted boy drummers. Following the parade, a long-drive contest took place with Peter Butler, an Englishman, winning with a poke of 264-yards in a strong crosswind. Concluding the opening ceremony was a trick-shot exhibition by Paul Hahn.
There had been much discussion about the conditions of The Old Course prior to the opening round. An irrigation system had been installed, and along with unusually heavy rain, resulted in the once rock-hard and brown fairways being lush, green, and soft. Also contributing to the new softer conditions was a re-seeding program that replaced the seaside turf with a soft strain of inland turf.
"I think it's a great shame," said Peter Thomson, who won the second of his five British Open titles at St. Andrews and also holds the course record for four rounds with a 275. He was also playing in the smaller event, the Alcan International."It used to be a course that required pinpoint—really pinpoint—driving to set up any kind of shot to the green. Now you just lash away, go for the flag. It's become a putter's course."
While “The Big Three” of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player would not be playing, even though they qualified for the event, the American contingent was still strong. Billy Casper was favored, and five of the 11 American golfers were slated to play in the upcoming Ryder Cup matches to be held at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, later in October. The local fans were hopeful that a member of the Ryder Cup team from Great Britain and Ireland could beat the Americans to hold the title of Alcan Golfer of the Year by the end of the weekend.
With the opening ceremonies and the prognostications of the experts completed, it was time to get the Alcan Golfer of the Year tournament started.
“Well, I thought the Old Course was at its kindest today.”
The weather for the first round was very unlike what one would expect in St. Andrews. The sun shone and there was very little wind, and all the players agreed that it was a perfect day to play golf. The Americans Billy Casper, Doug Sanders, and Gardner Dickinson shared the first-round lead with Englishman Brian Barnes at 68. Peter Alliss of Britain, Bobby Nichols, and Gay Brewer, both Americans, were one shot off the pace at 69.
Sanders, who finished 19th in the 1964 Open Championship at St. Andrews, went out in 34 and came back in with a 34, said, “Well, I thought the Old Course was at its kindest today.”
Sanders birdied the last three holes of the outward nine and then added two more birdies, at the 12th and 15th holes. Casper had four birdies coming at the 7th, the 9th after hitting his approach shot to within inches of the hole, at the 15th after another fine approach shot, and at the 17th where he canned a 15-foot putt. Dickinson got his round started with a birdie and then played flawless golf securing three more birdies.
The promotional efforts surrounding the new tournament continued on the course once the tournament started. Alcan erected a large, 140-foot-long tent that was adorned with blue-and-white-striped bunting and featured hot-and-cold running water in the restrooms. Player’s, the cigarette company, sent nine women in white pants suits, or miniskirts, out on the course to provide samples for the spectators and also sponsored helicopter tours of the town and course during play.
The weather turned for the second round on Friday as the golfers faced wet and windy conditions. Casper handled the weather well shooting a one-under-par, 37-34—71, and was tied for the lead, at 139, with the reigning Masters champion, Gay Brewer, who carded a two-under 70. The Americans George Archer and Gardner Dickinson were two shots back, tied with the British players Brian Barnes and Peter Alliss. Archer came in with a 71, Barnes and Dickinson had 73s, and Alliss shot a 72. Sanders stumbled in the weather conditions, soaring to a 76 and was five strokes off the lead.
The wind continued to blow during Saturday’s third round as Billy Casper, who had led or been tied for the lead at every point in the tournament, came to the famous17th hole, dubbed “The Road Hole” with a two-shot lead. He then hit his approach long and wound up on the road for which the hole is named. He chipped from the road onto the green but failed to make his par putt. He then was disturbed by noise from a scoreboard operator and duffed his approach shot to the 18th resulting in another bogey and a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard. He was tied, at 212, with Brewer, who shot a 73, and Brian Barnes who came in with a 71. Archer, with a 73 was at 214, while Christy O’Connor, Dickinson, and Dave Stockton were at 215.
High winds were again a factor in Sunday’s final round, but the Americans were able to handle it better than the Englishman, Brian Barnes, who faded to a 75 and a total of 287. Casper and Brewer slugged it out stroke for stroke the entire round.
Brewer came to the 16th hole two strokes behind Casper, but a birdie at the 16th hole pulled him to within one shot of Casper’s lead. His explosion from the Road Bunker at the 17th hole checked on top of a ridge on the green and trickled down close to the hole where he saved his par. Brewer came to the final hole in the group ahead of Casper and he made a brilliant birdie to pull even with Casper who now needed to match Brewer’s birdie to win. After signing his card, Brewer retired to a little trailer, just off the 18th green, to watch Casper finish on television. Casper hit the final green in regulation but was left with a tricky downhill 20-footer for the win. The crowd surrounding the final green, 6,000 strong, watched as Casper stroked the 20-foot putt but missed it by two-feet. He tapped in the short putt to tie Brewer at 283, and the contest would be decided with an 18-hole playoff the next day.
“That was a tough putt for Billy. As soon as I saw the putt, I felt certain that we were going to have a playoff.”
“That was a tough putt for Billy,” Brewer said later. “As soon as I saw the putt, I felt certain that we were going to have a playoff.”
“We’ve never been involved in a head-to-head playoff before,” Casper said of facing Brewer the next day. “It’s going to be great.”
Archer finished at 285 and won $7,000, Barnes won $5,800 finishing fourth, and O’Connor, Dickinson, and Nichols took home $4,233 each for finishing with a total of 289.
Brewer got the playoff started by birdieing the 1st hole and never looked back. He added birdies at the 4th and 5th holes and made the turn in three-under-par and a four-shot lead over Casper. Casper finally got his first birdie at the 12th hole, but Brewer answered with birdies at the 14th and 15th holes to go up by five shots. Casper birdied the 16th hole as rain poured down, but it was too little too late as Brewer coasted to a four-shot victory. Brewer shot a 68 to Casper’s 72, and the win was worth $55,000. Casper collected $15,000 for his second-place finish.
Peter Thompson won the Alcan International portion of the tournament with a score of 281. He won the $7,000 first-place prize money, and added another $5,000 in bonus money for having a winning score lower than the winning score in the Alcan Golfer of the Year competition.
The Alcan Golfer of the Year tournament would only last through 1970. But the inaugural event in 1967 provided the pomp and circumstance, the flavor of The Old Course in St. Andrews, even though watered down, and an 18-hole playoff to decide matters, in a tournament worthy of its name to crown the Golfer of the Year.
BONUS STORY
The organizers of the Alcan Golfer of the Year event, Hilles Pickens and Doug Smith, had grand plans for their tournament. Their intent was to create a true “world championship” for golf. Along with offering the largest purse in men’s professional golf at $129,000 with the winner getting $55,000, and the man finishing in last place would still take home $2,000, without the requirement of paying United Kingdom taxes.
The players also received round-trip, first-class airfare, and they would be driven around Scotland in personal Rolls-Royces. The winner was presented with a replica of the putter used by Young Tom Morris, a native of St. Andrews who won the Open Championship four times by the time he was 24 years old.
“Of course, this is only the beginning. We have plans to make this a real world championship in the future, drawing qualifiers from every section of the world, but this is a fine start in the right direction.”
To get into this lucrative tournament, American players had to qualify at four tournament stops on the PGA Tour: the Colonial Invitational, the Cleveland Open, the Western Open, and the Philadelphia Classic. The three lowest scores from those four tournaments would count and the 12 lowest scores, and ties, qualified for the Alcan Golfer of the Year tournament.
In the United Kingdom, there were two spots reserved for the top two players on the Britain Order of Merit money winning list, and another five spots for players in the qualifying events which included the Agfa-Gevaert at Stokes Poges, the Martini International, the Carroll International, and the Dunlap Masters.
“Of course, this is only the beginning,” explained Pickens. “We have plans to make this a real world championship in the future, drawing qualifiers from every section of the world, but this is a fine start in the right direction. Negotiations are underway to make this a real world-wide event under the same rigorous format.”
Pickens went on to explain, “Our plans are, using the four-tournament qualifying plan, to come up with the top 12 from the United States, five from Great Britian, and one each from South America, Australia, Canada, and the Far Eastern Tour.”
Asked why the Americans received 12 spots, Pickens replied, “Because they have the preponderance of fine golfers and such an intensive tour.”
One of the benefits to golf from the first playing of the Alcan Golfer of the Year tournament was the electronic scoreboards provided by IBM that were first introduced at the Colonial Invitational. Pickens and Smith came up with the original idea for the scoreboards and then, while driving through Armonk, NY, they burst into the offices of IBM executives with the idea on the spur of the moment.
After investing a bit more than $1 million in the project, the scoreboard was unveiled at the Colonial, and out of an appreciation towards Pickens and Smith, IBM shipped the scoreboard to Scotland for use during the Alcan Player of the Year tournament. It cost IBM $25,000 to make this show of appreciation towards Pickens and Smith.
The Alcan Player of the Year was only played from 1967 through 1970.
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PGA TOUR Wrap-Up | BMW Championship
Keegan Bradley, the last man into the field of the BMW Championship, was the man holding the winner’s trophy on Sunday night at the Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, CO.
Bradley was fearful that he wouldn’t even qualify for the BMW after finishing T-59 at the first playoff stop, the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He called that Sunday “one of the toughest afternoons of my PGA TOUR career.” After packing, he paced around his hotel room constantly looking at his phone and hitting refresh to keep abreast of the finish at TPC Southwind, and his position on the FedEx Cup points race. After Tom Kim finished 6-6-6 to fall out of the top 50, Bradley snuck into the field at the BMW Championship.
He made the most of his opportunity.
Bradley shot a one-under-par 71 on Sunday at Castle Pines to finish one shot in front of a fast closing Sam Burns, who had a Sunday 65, Ludvig Åberg who shot a 71, and Adam Scott who finished with a 72. Scott made three bogeys in row missing the green with a wedge in hand on all three holes, beginning at the 10th hole.
“It just shows you why you have to grind it out every week because you never know how fast it can switch,” Bradley said after his round. “I had to have a lot of magical things happen for me to just play in this tournament, and when I got here, I was so grateful just to be here. I played with a real sense of calm all week, which is not the norm for me.” He added: “Now I go to Atlanta with a chance to win the FedExCup. I can’t believe it.”
Not only will he have the opportunity to win the FedExCup, he also can make the Presidents Cup team and opens the door to him being the first playing captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
Read more from Adam Shupak of the Golfweek HERE.
Here are your Top 5 shots from the BMW Championship:
Clips You Might Have Missed
Nothing rattles this guy.
Winning putt.
Great week for Adam Scott.
Tensions are rising.
Everyone is a stud at altitude.
Nelly Korda is pretty cool.
Tour Backspin Quiz | 1967 PGA TOUR Trivia
Who won the Player of the Year Award in 1967? How many tournaments did he win? What tournaments did he win? How much money did he win for the year?
Scroll down for answer
Swing Like a Pro
Billy Casper and Gay Brewer side-by-side swing with analysis by Jimmy Demaret. From a Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf played in 1968 at Doral Country Club (Blue Course).
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
Adam Schupak ecxplores the chances of the PGA TOUR regularly returning to Denver in Golfweek.
Kevin Cunningham of Golf.com has the FedEx Cup bonuses and payouts.
Tour Backspin Music Clip
Linda Ronstadt performs “Different Drum” with the Stone Ponies in 1967. This song was written by Michael Nesmith who later went on to be a member of The Monkees.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Jack Nicklaus won the Player of the Year Award in 1967. He won five tournaments: The Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, the U.S. Open, the Western Open, the Westchester Classic, and the Sahara Invitational. He won $188,998 for the year and was the leading money winner.
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Final Thoughts
I wonder how long it would take me to discover the crack in my driver’s face was affecting my ball flight.
Could two swings be more different than Billy Casper’s and Gay Brewer’s?
You’ve got to give it up to Doug Sanders for putting on the kilt and attempting to play the bagpipes.