Dave Stockton Turns Champion's Choice Invite Into $23,000 and a Plaid Jacket
Wins first PGA title at the prestigious Colonial National Invitation in 1967
It was bound to happen and the world has not come crashing down. A LIV Golf star won the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY. Congratulations to Brooks Koepka on dominating the final round and winning his fifth major championship.
Koepka’s performance was not a statement on the quality of LIV Golf, or on the business model of that tour. It was not a statement on the PGA TOUR or how it has responded to the upstart rival. Rather, it was a statement on the power of the major championships and how these tournaments are the only ones who can deliver us a chance to see the best players in the world compete against each other head-to-head. The real winner of the week was golf.
And yes, Brooks Koepka should represent the USA in the Ryder Cup should he qualify, and it looks like he will. What do you think? Let us know in this week’s Tour Backspin Poll.
The story of the week at Oak Hill was Michael Block, the PGA professional from Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, CA. He won our hearts even before the fantastic ace on the 15th hole in the final round. But the up-and-down at the final hole to get into the top 15 earning a return trip to the PGA Championship next year was just sick. That was an impossible task that he handled with aplomb. And every interview he gave was a joy to watch.
100% of the responses in last week’s Tour Backspin Poll correctly predicted that the winning score in the PGA Championship would be better than -5.
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This week the PGA TOUR visits Fort Worth, TX, for the Charles Schwab Challenge. This tournament has been played since 1946 and was known for many of those years as the Colonial National Invitation. It is one of only five tournaments given invitational status by the PGA TOUR (the Genesis Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational, RBC Heritage, and the Memorial Tournament are the other four). The tournament features a number of traditional touches including the Scottish Tartan plaid jacket that goes to the winner, the Wall of Champions on the first tee engraved with the name and score of each champion dating back to 1946, and the Champion’s Choice invitation that is voted on by past champions and goes to a deserving young player who otherwise would be ineligible.
We’re turning back to the 1967 tournament where Dave Stockton turned the Champion’s Choice invitation into his first win on the PGA TOUR.
This week’s playlist features a second volume of hits from 1967. Listen HERE.
Dave Stockton told us he hated to see his swing on video or pictures on The Tour Backspin Show. You can listen to that episode HERE. His swing looks good to us, but decide for yourself in this week’s Swing Like a Pro feature. Scroll down to view.
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We were very fortunate to interview Gary Player in his home in Florida and asked him about the 1972 PGA Championship and the shot he hit at the 16th hole. We’re re-running it this week so be sure to click on the Gary Player video below.
A big thank you to Jason West, senior editor and producer at Atomic Productions, Inc. in Emeryville, CA, for his work on helping us get Mr. Player’s recollections on video. Watch for more projects from Atomic Productions and Tour Backspin in the future.
Listen to The Tour Backspin Show podcast HERE or on Spotify, or on Amazon Music and Apple Podcast.
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 Bruce Effisimo, the leader in the WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest who was the only person to correctly answer last week’s hole. Bruce identified hole #15 at Orinda Country Club in Orinda, CA. Check out the 2023 leader board and scroll down for your chance to win in this week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? We’ve got some new prizes to hand out!
We’re playing Colonial National Invitation Trivia this week in the Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
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Stockton Rides Hot Putter To Victory at Colonial
It is early May in 1967 and Dave Stockton was not playing well and was over par, but he received some good news from PGA officials anyway. He was informed that he was a recipient of the Champions Choice invitation and would play in the rich Colonial National Invitation the third week of May at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, TX. The Champions Choice, a long tradition at the Colonial, extended invitations to young promising players who would otherwise not be qualified for an invitation.
Stockton was approached midway through a round where he was over par and was glad that the PGA officials had not waited until his round was completed—they might have had second thoughts. Stockton was so sure that he would be having the week of the Colonial off that he’d scheduled a fishing trip to Hot Springs, AR.
Stockton was determined to use this surprise invitation as a springboard to a high finish that would propel him on tour and establish himself as a player to be reckoned with.
Ben Hogan was having quite the year in 1967, for a 54-year-old. He had a T10 at the Masters in April with a third round 66 and a T3 at the Houston Champions Open the week prior to the Colonial National Invitation. All of Fort Worth was excited to see if Hogan could win his hometown event for a sixth time.
A press poll on Wednesday of the tournament week had writers picking Gay Brewer, Jr., the winner of the Masters in April, as the probable winner. They also picked defending U.S. Open champion, Billy Casper, and Jack Nicklaus as leading contenders for the title. Nobody was counting Arnold Palmer, the leading money winner on the tour, out, either. It was a stellar field for a prestigious tournament played over a famous course, Colonial Country Club, that measured 7,132 yards and played to a par of 70.
George Archer got the fireworks going with a course record-equaling five-under-par 65 in the pro-am on Wednesday.
First round conditions that included 90-degree temperatures and wind gusts of 25 miles per hour challenged many of the players. Stockton, playing in his first competitive round at Colonial handled the conditions to shoot what he labeled as the greatest round of his career. He equaled the course record of 65 and held a two-shot lead.
In second place was Ben Hogan who flirted with the course record himself. Hogan already owned a piece of the course record having shot a 65 in the 1946 Colonial National Invitation. Hogan was moving down the 17th fairway as Stockton was completing his round. The fans following Hogan were in a frenzy and required 10 marshals and two policemen to try to hold the huge gallery back from the fairway. They were marginally successful.
“If you’re going to make some putts, you may as well make them all”
Hogan’s second shot found a greenside bunker where he hit an indifferent shot leaving himself 25-feet from the hole. From there, he exacerbated his problems by three-putting to post a 67.
Stockton attributed his fine round to his putting as he made six birdies, offset by a single bogey.
“If you’re going to make some putts, you may as well make them all,” Stockton said after his round.
“I really think this is one of the best rounds of golf I’ve ever played in my life.”
The high winds that raked the course on Thursday subsided on Friday, but the 90-degree temperatures remained. The course record was again equaled in the second round when Tom Weiskopf collected six birdies and one bogey to finish at 135.
“I really think this is one of the best rounds of golf I’ve ever played in my life,” Weiskopf said after his round. “I missed a couple of short birdie putts, but every putt I hit grazed the hole, so I can’t complain.”
Like Stockton, Weiskopf was looking for his first win on tour.
Stockton continued to ride a hot putter on his way to a second-round 66 and a two-round total of 131 and a four-shot lead. Stockton made five birdie putts, the longest being a 70-foot putt from the fringe at the 13th hole. He survived a shaky stretch midway through his round when he missed five straight greens, but his putter bailed him out on four of the holes with a missed 12-foot putt on the 10th hole producing his only bogey of the round. His 131 total was three strokes better than any 36-hole total in tournament history.
Colonial gave up an uncharacteristic number of sub-par rounds with a record 15 players beating par in a single round. Hogan fell back with a 72 and two-round total 139. Many felt that the heat contributed to Hogan’s round. He took a double bogey on the 10th and never recovered. The AP report speculated that Hogan’s round had probably dropped him from contention.
A thunderstorm flooded the course Friday night and a downpour Saturday morning delayed play for an hour
Homero Blancas shot up the leader board with a 66 and total of 138, while Deane Beman, playing in his first tournament as a professional, shot a 68 and was at 139 tied with Hogan, Rocky Thompson, Bobby Nichols, and Gardner Dickinson.
Rain pelted the Colonial Country Club in Saturday’s third round and the scoring showed how difficult the conditions were. A thunderstorm flooded the course Friday night and a downpour Saturday morning delayed play for an hour. The rains resumed once most of the field had finished, but not before Stockton and Weiskopf could finish.
The rain seemed to bother Stockton the most as he double bogeyed the 15th hole and then bogeyed the final hole for a round of 74. Weiskopf was able to catch Stockton with an even-par round of 70 and the two were tied at 205.
Those who wrote off Hogan knew it was a mistake when the old pro was able to post a 69 for a total of 208 just three-strokes off the lead. George Archer, one of only six players to break par in the third round, shot a 69 and sat at 209.
In Sunday’s final round, Weiskopf came out charging and birdied the first two holes and took a two-shot lead over Stockton. Stockton was determined to keep attacking the course and was well positioned after disaster struck Weiskopf when he scored a double bogey and two bogeys and he was never able to recover. He stumbled to a final round 81 and a total of 286.
Stockton’s attacking strategy resulted in a couple of bogeys, but he kept himself in the thick of things. George Archer made a run at Stockton, pulling even with him at one point, before he recorded two bogeys for a final round 72 and finished at 281. Charles Coody applied pressure to Stockton and was in contention up to the final hole. He shot a 69, the only sub-par round of the final round, for a total of 280.
“He said that if I made six birdies and no stupid mistakes, I could win the tournament.”
But it wasn’t enough to catch Stockton, the Champion’s Choice invitee. He shot a final round 73 for a total of 278 and a two-shot victory. His winner’s check was worth $23,000, nearly double his career earnings. He also won the Colonial plaid jacket that was awarded to tournament winners and members of Colonial since 1952.
Stockton got some advice from his dad before the tournament.
“He said that if I made six birdies and no stupid mistakes, I could win the tournament,” he told reporters.
He made 13 birdies that were good enough to hold up despite making enough “stupid mistakes” to rack up nine bogeys and one double bogey. It was also enough for the Champion’s Choice to become a champion himself.
We are rerunning the video of Gary Player describing his shot on the 16th hole of the 1972 PGA Championship that he provided, exclusively to Tour Backspin. We spoke with him recently from his home in Florida (click on image to play video):
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Bonus Story
The tradition of the Champion’s Choice at the Colonial National Invitation has awarded many deserving players a chance to get into the elite field. Al Geiberger, Tom Weiskopf, Craig Stadler, Curtis Strange, Mark O’Meara, Paul Azinger, Davis Love III, and Jordan Spieth have all been recipients of the Champions Choice making their first appearance in the tournament.
Five Champion Choices have gone on to win the tournament including Geiberger, Weiskopf, and Spieth, but Dave Stockton is the only player to win the tournament the same year he was awarded the Champion’s Choice invitation.
University of Texas grads Cole Hammer and Pierceson Coody (grandson of Charles Coody, who finished second in this week’s featured story) are the recipients of this year’s Champion’s Choice invitations to the Charles Schwab Challenge (what the Colonial National Invitation is now titled).
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Tour Backspin Quiz | Colonial National Invitation Trivia
Who is the only player to defend his title at the Colonial National Invitation?
Answer below
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Dave Stockton’s swing
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Uncorked, The Life and Times of Champagne Tony Lema tells the story of one of the tour’s biggest stars in the mid-1960s. A fascinating glimpse into the traveling caravan that was the PGA TOUR during an era where the fields were full of “Mad Men” era personalities. From a hardscrabble youth spent on the “wrong side of the tracks” in the Oakland suburb of San Leandro, to the temptations of Elko, Nevada, to the bright lights of the PGA TOUR, Uncorked tells a story of determination, redemption and, above all else, a love story that documents how Betty, Tony’s new wife, provided the direction and motivation for him to become a top star. Order on Amazon.
What is Hip
Burnt orange and the classic black and white wingtips with a kiltie in 1967.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Ben Hogan defended his title in 1947 from 1946, the first time the tournament was played, and he defended his title again in 1953. Hogan won five times at Colonial.
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Final Thoughts
The Michael Block story could be the story of the year in golf. It was that cool.
Didn’t you just love the renovation done by Andrew Green at Oak Hill? I loved the green complexes.
How much bed wetting will go on this week over a LIV Golf star winning the PGA Championship?