Diminutive 135-Pound Pro Slays Heavyweights in Atlanta
Gardner Dickinson holds off Trevino, Player, and Miller before beating Nicklaus in sudden death in the heat of Atlanta
Wow. Another week of the FedEx Fall swing of the PGA TOUR and another very emotional victory. This time it was Camilo Villegas who won his first title in nine years. He dedicated his win to the 22-month-old daughter that he and his wife, Mia, lost in 2020.
Villegas was entered into the Second Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry (yes, that is the official name), before his runner-up finish at the World Wide Technology Championship. That finish earned him an exemption into the final stage and then his trip back to the winner’s circle at the Bermuda Championship secured his spot on the PGA TOUR for next year.
The last few weeks have given us compelling storylines in tournaments lacking the biggest names. The only problem is that you have to watch the re-broadcast on the Golf Channel on Monday because you’re watching football on Saturday and Sunday.
This week the TOUR is on St. Simon Island, GA, for the RSM Classic at the Sea Island Golf Club (Seaside Course). This tournament debuted in 2010 so we’re going back to 1971 and the Atlanta Golf Classic where 135-pound Gardner Dickinson fought off the sizzling temperatures and the game’s heavyweights to win his seventh career title, the first since 1969. Scroll down to read how he did it.
We lost another prominent member of the tour from the time we cover with the passing of R.H. Sikes. Sikes joined the tour in 1964 after a stellar amateur career where he won the 1961 and 1962 U.S. Amateur Public Links and the 1963 NCAA Individual Championship and played in three Masters. He was named Rookie of the Year by Golf Digest after winning the Sahara Invitational beating Jack Nicklaus, Jack McGowan, and Phil Rodgers by two strokes. He also won the 1966 Cleveland Open and appeared in the Masters four more times as a professional. R.I.P. R.H. Sikes.
Have you ever caddied? Ever have a conversation like this one? Let us know in the comments.
I’m on the radio! Check out the interview I did with Frank LaRosa for the Golf To Go radio show on Sactown Sports 1140AM. The first half of the show is an interview with Umash Patel of Corica Park Golf Course in Alameda, and you can hear my segment at the 22:35 mark.
In last week’s Tour Backspin Poll, 53% of respondents are getting excited for the debut of the TGL league while 47% thought that it looked too gimmicky.
The divided opinions about the TGL league leads us into this week’s Tour Backspin Poll question about these televised non-traditional golf competitions. The latest one aired live on Netflix, the Netflix Cup, on Tuesday night from Las Vegas. It teamed up PGA professionals with F1 drivers.
The broadcast had a lot going on, some good (Marshawn Lynch doing the flyovers, Joel Dahman doing commentary, and the expert trash talking of Max Homa and Justin Thomas), some bad (technical difficulties throughout the broadcast, the creepy Sphere, the lack of a go-cart race between the F1 drivers).
And there was also this:
So, our question this week is simple. Did you watch the Netflix Cup, and did you enjoy it?
Tour Backspin Poll
Clip You Might Have Missed
Driving is overrated. Wesley Bryan makes birdie on his last hole and makes the cut along with his brother, George, who was playing in his first PGA TOUR event.
It’s brutal when you hit a fairway and end up in a divot. Click on the image to read more from Golf Digest.
Did he need a boat to get out there?
Scottie Scheffler takes down the number one player.
This week’s Vintage Ad offers you a commemorative ball to mark astronaut Alan Shepard hitting golf balls on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in February of 1971. How far did Shepard hit those shots? Not far, even though he announced that one shot would go “miles and miles.” One went 24 yards while the other went 40 yards. Scroll down to view the ad and learn more about Shepard golfing on the moon HERE.
We have another live show for you this week as we bring you Rod Stewart and Faces playing the Paris Theater in London in 1971. Thanks to pastdaily.com for posting these historic show recorded from a sound booth in the theater. You can listen HERE.
Raymond Floyd is highlighted in this week’s Swing Like a Pro feature. 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 Mike Kemppainen who correctly identified #14 at Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, CA in last week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest. Mike beat out three other correct answers in the random drawing and a prize pack is on its way to him. Check out the 2023 leader board and scroll down for your chance to win in this week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT?
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We’re playing 1971 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
“He’s a Tough Little Man,” Says Nicklaus
It is the first week of June 1971, and the PGA TOUR traveling caravan has arrived in steamy hot Atlanta for the Atlanta Golf Classic played on the 6,883-yard, par-72, Atlanta Country Club. The field included all the superstars of the game but in the first round the only thing hotter than the weather was 24-year-old Johnny Miller of San Francisco who shot a 65.
He held a two-stroke lead over Ray Floyd, Jack Nicklaus, Dave Eichelberger, and Orville Moody. Lee Trevino was another stroke back tied with Gardner Dickinson while Gary Player was another stroke back at 69.
“I went to the MacGregor factory to have them look at my clubs. They were all haywire. Some were too stiff, some not stiff enough. I was having trouble clubbing myself, and there’s no wonder for it.”
Since a runner-up finish in the Masters in April, Miller had been struggling to get out of a slump.
“I’ve missed the cut the last two weeks in a row,” Miller said to reporters, “and I went to the MacGregor factory to have them look at my clubs. They were all haywire. Some were too stiff, some not stiff enough. I was having trouble clubbing myself, and there’s no wonder for it.”
For his part, Nicklaus, who was coming off a three-week layoff from the tour, had a warning for the other players telling reporters, “I’m playing very, very well.”
Nicklaus backed up his words with a second-round 68 to tie for the lead with Johnny Miller who shot a 70.
“I played all right,” Nicklaus said after his round. “I hit a couple of bad shots on the back nine and I got pretty cautious with my swing.”
Both Nicklaus and Miller birdied the first two holes and Nicklaus went on to add birdies at the eighth and ninth holes and offset a bogey on 15th hole with a birdie at the final hole. Miller, on the other hand, could do no better than two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine.
“Play was slow because of the heat and several lost balls in front of me and standing in that sun was really hard.”
Miller talked with reporters after his round and said after birdieing the first two holes, “I was off to the races, I thought. But after those two holes, I just didn’t get any momentum. Play was slow because of the heat and several lost balls in front of me and standing in that sun was really hard.”
The veteran Dickinson added a second straight 68 and stood alone in third place, one shot back of Miller and Nicklaus. The players another stroke back, at 137 included Player, Floyd, Tom Weiskopf and Eichelberger.
The weather continued to broil in Saturday’s third round as Gary Player came out charging with a 5-under-par 67 giving him a total of 204 and a one-stroke lead over Nicklaus and Dickinson. The final hole provided a slew of action as Player, playing in front of the group of Nicklaus and Dickinson, put his second shot on the par 5 finishing hole into a bunker. Wearing all white in lieu of his customary all black outfits, Player climbed into the bunker, splashed his shot out of the sand to seven feet from the hole and then drained the putt for a birdie.
Nicklaus had to scramble for his par after going into the water on the last hole and the 43-year-old Dickinson secured a birdie at the final hole.
“I’ve got to make it interesting. You can’t just have a dull round.”
At 207 were Trevino who shot a third round 68, Floyd who shot a 69, and Johnny Miller who shot a 71. Floyd’s round was particularly up-and-down as he finished his round with four birdies and a closing eagle.
“I’ve got to make it interesting,” Floyd quipped after his round. “You can’t just have a dull round.”
On a hot and humid day with temperatures above 90 degrees that drained energy from all the players, it was one of the oldest men in the field playing in his 14th consecutive tournament of the year who emerged in Sunday’s fourth round. The 135-pound, chain-smoking Dickinson came into the Atlanta Classic in the 53rd spot on the money list with winnings of only $21,439 but he fought off the game’s superstars coming down the stretch.
The crowd whooped and hollered in support of Nicklaus, Player, and Trevino and overlooked the veteran Dickinson as the back nine turned into a pressure-cooker. At one time or another Dickinson, Nicklaus, and Player held the lead. The drama would come down to the final two holes.
While Nicklaus and Trevino played the par 5 final hole, Player and Dickinson were playing the 17th hole. Player had the lead at 13-under-par, Dickinson and Nicklaus were at 12-under-par while Trevino was at 11-under. By this time, Miller had shot himself out of contention on his way to a final round 72.
Player, usually one of the best bunker players on tour, bogeyed from the bunker while Dickinson made par from the bunker leaving the two players tied with Nicklaus at 12-under. At the same time, Nicklaus made a two-putt birdie on the 18th to go to 13-under. Trevino’s eagle putt at the last hole, which he needed to get to 13-under, just missed.
Both Player and Dickinson needed birdies on the last hole to tie Nicklaus. Both men put their second shots into the bunker fronting the green. Player blasted out to seven feet and then missed his birdie putt leaving him at 12-under. Dickinson splashed his bunker shot to two-feet and calmly made his birdie putt to tie Nicklaus and force a sudden-death playoff.
“It was a good wedge shot, but the ball took a bad slip and ran 23 or 24 feet past the flag.”
The playoff began at the first hole, and Dickinson put his approach shot to within 10 feet of the pin while Nicklaus hit his shot over the green.
“It was a good wedge shot,” Nicklaus insisted after the playoff, “but the ball took a bad slip and ran 23 or 24 feet past the flag.”
From there, Nicklaus hit a runner that he was able to get up close to the hole, just three feet away, and then stood back to watch Dickinson attempt his ten-foot putt. Dickinson missed the putt and then prepared to go to the next tee swapping out his putter for his driver in his bag before focusing his attention on Nicklaus. But Nicklaus missed the short putt and Dickinson won his first title since 1969. It was the first time he won a sudden-death playoff in three tries. The whole affair boiled down to putting.
“This was the first time in a long time that I haven’t been plagued by a lot of three-putt greens. Anytime I can avoid that, I’m ahead of the game.”
“What can I say?” Nicklaus mused. “I thought that little ol’ three-footer was going to break and darn if it didn’t go straight as an arrow.”
“I’ve been having a lot of trouble with my putting,” Dickinson explained after the round. “This was the first time in a long time that I haven’t been plagued by a lot of three-putt greens. Anytime I can avoid that, I’m ahead of the game.”
With the superstars of the game in attendance, it was a diminutive, 43-year-old veteran who was able to master the heat of the weather to take home the $25,000 first place check in the Atlanta Classic.
“He’s a tough little man,” was all that Nicklaus could say about Dickinson after the playoff.
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Bonus Story
In a way, the 1971 Atlanta Classic was a neighborhood brawl. Both Jack Nicklaus and Gardner Dickinson lived in Lost Tree Village, a 450-acre, gated enclave just 15 minutes from Palm Beach Airport in North Palm Beach, FL.
While they lived in the same neighborhood, Dickinson modestly explained that, “Jack lives in the high rent district.”
WHAT HOLE IS IT?
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Tour Backspin Quiz | 1971 PGA TOUR Triva
In 1971 the PGA TOUR had a number of Second Tour events that paid official money, but the title was not counted as an official win. How many Second Tour events were there in 1971, and for you real experts out there, what were the tournaments and who were the winners?
Scroll down to for answer
Swing Like a Pro
Ray Floyd
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
Geoff Shakelford takes a deep dive into the remarks made by Frank Nobilo that professional golfers are overpaid and other issues that question the sustainability of the pro tours. If you don’t subscribe to this Substack, you should. Read it HERE.
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.
Pretty good company on the “Frequently bought together” on the Amazon shopping page.
What is Hip?
With this many celebrities playing, golf is hip.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
In 1971 there were seven Second Tour events where the money was official but the win was not. The tournaments and the winners were the United Air Lines Ontario Open (Fred Marti), the Magnolia Classic (Roy Pale), the East Ridge Classic (Wilf Homenuik), the Maumelle Open (Tom Ulozas), Kemper-Asheville Open (Charles Owens), the Azalea Open (George Johnson) and the Sea Pines Open (Charlie Sifford).
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Vintage Ad
Final Thoughts
The Netflix Cup was something else. Exactly what, I’m still not sure.
Notice how Spalding does not mention NASA or Alan Shepard in the Commemorative Moonball ad?
The only tie-in to golf in this week’s Blind Shot is the “leaf rule” but I had to share anyway.
I remember watching Gardner Dickinson play at the Westchester Classic when I was a boy. He always was smoking a cigarette and must have gone through two packs a round. Somehow, he made it to age 70 before dying. Dickinson was one of the leaders behind the APG breakaway tour in 1968 that caused the PGA of America to give up the reins of the PGA Tour in return for the APG folding. PGA Tour purses then rose dramatically. All pros who played with or after Dickinson owe him a debt of gratitude.
regarding the divot rule the usga has it right in not granting relief. their stance is, when does a divot cease to become a divot? if you allowed relief every iffy lie would be declared a divot if left up to the player. you would end up playing winter rules all year long!
i practice shots out of divots before i play so i don't freak out.
SUCK IT UP AND DEAL WITH IT IT'S PART OF THE GAME!