De Vicenzo Captures Only Major of his 229 Victories
Roberto De Vincenzo wins the 1967 Open Championship, one of 229 worldwide professional victories
The PGA TOUR was in Nicholsville, KY for the Barbasol Championship and congratulations to Vincent Norrman for winning his first PGA TOUR title in a playoff. After he lipped in his putt for bogey on the 18th hole to secure a spot in the playoff, he scrambled for a par on the same hole to beat Nathan Kimsey in sudden death. Norrman won in his 23rd professional start in this DP World Tour and PGA TOUR co-sanctioned event.
Most of the big names were playing in the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. And what a finish! The home hero, Robert MacIntyre played a fantastic approach shot to the final green to finish with a 64 and in the lead by one at 14 under.
Rory McIlroy then broke his, and the Scots fan’s hearts with a birdie-birdie finish.
“The two iron shots that I hit, the five iron into 17 and the two iron into the last are probably two of the best shots I've hit all year,” McIlroy said after the finish. He then added, “I can’t believe I won this tournament.
Then there was the American Century Championship where Steph Curry made a hole-in-on on Saturday and a walk-off eagle on 18 to win.
The U.S. Women’s Open was the clear winner in last week’s Tour Backspin Poll, with 89% of respondents having spent more time watching it while only 11% spent more time watching the John Deere Classic.
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This week the PGA TOUR is in Truckee, CA for the Barracuda Championship, a non-elevated event. But, of course, everyone is focused on The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, also known as Hoylake. We’re going to focus on the 1967 Open Championship where Roberto De Vicenzo won his only major championship. Scroll down to learn how he did it.
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De Vicenzo Experiences His Finest Week of Putting
The experts in the press were certain and the lads at the betting shops agreed—Jack Nicklaus was going to win the 1967 Open Championship. He was listed as an 11-4 favorite by the bookies to defend his title and become the first player to go win back-to-back since Arnold Palmer did it in 1961 and 1962.
Roberto De Vicenzo was also certain. After twenty years of playing in The Open Championship, finishing second once and third five times, he was certain that his chance at the Claret Jug had passed him by. Each year he would declare that this would be his last Open Championship.
“This time I not try so hard to win,” he said upon arrival at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, also known as Hoylake. “I just come to see my friends and have a good time.”
The factor holding De Vicenzo back had always been his putting. At his home in Ranelagh, not far from Buenos Aires, he had a closet full of putters. To be exact, he had 40 putters stashed away which is a testimony to his futility on the greens. He showed up at Hoylake with his 41st putter, a new Ray Cook mallet head putter that he picked up in the spring in the U.S. and he used it to finish second at the Dallas Open.
High temperatures and little rain made Hoylake, the 6,995-yard course hard by the Irish Sea, firm and fast with rough so high that Peter Alliss tore a muscle in his back trying to slash his ball out of the hay. Nicklaus felt that the difficulty of the course was a neutralizing factor and that anyone could win if they got the right bounces.
“Even if the weather stays sunny and warm, and windless like this,” he declared before the start of the tournament, “I don’t think the winner will break 280 because of the bounces and runs. In normal Hoylake conditions, the winning score would be considerably higher.”
“I played better than I did in winning at Muirfield last year, but I couldn’t putt. I could have sunk another eight putts.”
In the first round, Lionel Platts, an obscure 33-year-old English pro, shot a four-under-par 68, and took a 1-stroke lead over a group of four players from the United Kingdom; John Wilshire of England, Dave Bonthron, a Scot who made the field as an alternate after a player withdrew, Peter Jones of England and a protégé of Henry Cotton, and Jimmy Hume of Scotland. The leader board brought joy to the hearts of the home crowds who had not seen a native win their Open Championship since Max Faulkner did it in 1951.
Nicklaus shot a first round 71, and was pleased with his ball-striking, but not his putting.
“I played better than I did in winning at Muirfield last year, but I couldn’t putt,” he said reviewing his round for the press. “I could have sunk another eight putts.”
Roberto De Vicenzo was one shot behind Nicklaus and three shots off Platts’ lead after shooting a 70.
The first-round leaders could not sustain their performance levels in the second round and the stars of the game reasserted themselves. Nicklaus added a second round 69 and was tied with Bruce Devlin, who shot a pair of 70s, for the lead at 140.
De Vicenzo finished early the second day and shot a 71 and was tied with three other players just one shot off the lead. He retreated to the clubhouse to have lunch with a friend and expressed his satisfaction in his game after he brushed his ample sized nose with a napkin.
“You know who I think is going to win this tournament is man with a great big nose,” he said to his friend with a smile.
“Yesterday, I play like a jo jo, all over the course, but today I hit some very good irons shots and I started to feel good on the greens.”
He took this confidence into the third round and almost walked away with tournament shooting a five-under-par 67 to take a two-shot lead over Gary Player, who also shot a 67, and a three-stroke lead over Nicklaus who shot a 71. But what was astonishing was why De Vicenzo was playing so well. For the first time in his life, he was sinking putts from everywhere.
“Yesterday, I play like a jo jo, all over the course,” he said, “but today I hit some very good irons shots and I started to feel good on the greens.”
As Gwilym S. Brown, writing for Sports Illustrated, observed, “Roberto saying he felt good on the greens was the equivalent of Queen Elizabeth announcing that she feels good in a bikini.”
Meanwhile, Nicklaus’ putting was going in the opposite direction. He had only one green where he one-putted, and that putt was 18-inches long. He missed from under 20-feet 10 times.
After a night of rain, Hoylake was far more gentle than in the earlier rounds. De Vicenzo was paired in the final group with Gary Player while Nicklaus played in the next-to-last group. Even so, all the leaders got off to rough starts before the afternoon settled down to a victory march for De Vicenzo.
“If Roberto wins, the lid will blow off. We love him.”
Nicklaus cut the lead to two shots when he birdied the 7th and 8th holes but then missed a 10-foot putt on the 9th hole and his charge was over. Player three-putted the 10th green, from 12 feet and he knew he was through. De Vicenzo birdied the same hole to put the final nail in the coffin.
Nicklaus birdied the last hole to shoot a 69, but it was too little, too late. De Vicenzo fought his way through the adoring crowd on the 18th hole, made his par for a four-round total of 278 and finished two shots in front of Nicklaus. Player finished at 284.
As De Vicenzo climbed the leader board, the fans at Hoylake cheered him on enthusiastically.
If Roberto wins,” said Gerald Micklem, a longtime official of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews, “the lid will blow off. We love him.”
In his speech after receiving the Claret Jug, De Vicenzo said, “This year I meant it when I said that it would be my last, but now I come back again. I am very proud to take this cup home with me. Next year I return with the cup, maybe for some British boy to win.”
No wonder the golf-loving British loved him so much.
His victory also proved both himself and the experts wrong with their certainty of the outcome giving credence to the old adage of “that’s why they play the game.”
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Bonus Story
Roberto De Vicenzo traveled the world playing golf and won a total of 229 professional tournaments including seven on the PGA TOUR. For reference, Gary Player won a total (so far) of 159 worldwide with 24 of those coming on the PGA TOUR.
While Player won nine major championships, De Vicenzo won only one as depicted in our feature story this week, the 1967 Open Championship. De Vicenzo had a great chance in another major, the 1968 Masters but for a scorecard error. He signed his scorecard, being kept by Tommy Aaron, that incorrectly had a four recorded for the 17th hole when he had actually made a three. According to the Rules of Golf, the higher score that he signed for stood as his official score. The error cost him a spot in a playoff with Bob Goalby who finished at 277, one shot better than De Vicenzo’s score.
“What a stupid I am,” De Vicenzo said afterwards. He never held a grudge against Aaron as he understood that signing a correct scorecard was completely his responsibility.
His sportsmanship made him beloved by golf fans around the world and was one of the reasons that he appeared on Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf an astounding 11 times.
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Tour Backspin Quiz | Claret Jug Trivia
What is the official name of the Claret Jug and what was the first year it was awarded to the winner of the Open Championship?
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Explore Royal Liverpool hole-by-hole and get ready for The Open Championship. View on the The Open Championship website HERE or view on YouTube.
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?
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Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
The official name of the Claret Jug is The Golf Champion Trophy and it was first awarded to the winner of The Open Championship in 1872. The Claret Jug was needed after Young Tom Morris won the original Challenge Belt for the third time in 1870. This gave him the outright ownership of the belt and a new award was needed. It took the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers more than a year to iron out details of the rotation of the courses so there was not a championship held in 1871.
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Final Thoughts
How cool is it to wake up early to watch The Open Championship?
How brutal was that for Robert MacIntyre at the Scottish Open. He did everything he had to do to win it, but Rory McIlroy hit two unbelievable shots.
Did you have a Ray Cook putter? I remember when they were so popular.
Is that a hand model with a half-finger glove in the Etonic vintage ad?