"I Didn't Know How Difficult This Game Could Be"
Lee Trevino passes the $1 Million mark in career earnings
The Tour Backspin journey through the past celebrates Dave Hill winning his fourth Danny Thomas Memphis Classic (aka the Memphis Open) in 1973. At the same tournament, Lee Trevino surpassed the $1 million mark in career earnings. Dave Hill was known as the “Don Rickles of Golf” because of his sharp wit, as well as being the bad boy of the tour. Scroll down to see how Hill and Trevino battled down the stretch in Memphis back in 1973
Ian Baker-Finch signed off on his last broadcast Sunday at the Wyndham Championship. IBF was a consummate professional in the booth and we wish him well in his retirement. Here’s a picture of him saying hello to me at the Masters this past April.
Cameron Young finally broke through for his first PGA TOUR title after seven runner-up finishes. You know who else had seven runner-up finishes before winning? David Duvall who then won his next two starts, as well. Scroll down for my take on the week in Sunday at the Wyndham Championship (behind the paywall). There were very dramatic story lines as players were playing to save their cards, secure a spot in the playoff, improve their position on the FedEx cup points list, or improve their chances of making the Ryder Cup team. We spotlight some of the best and funniest golf videos in the Clips I Loved.
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Enjoy the golf from Memphis this week as the playoffs kick off with the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
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The Tour Backspin Poll
Last week we wondered about your excitement level concerning the Wyndham Championship, the last event before the playoffs begin this week. There were 45% who were interested to see all the different story lines, while 55% just wanted to fast-forward to the Ryder Cup.
This week, and for the next two weeks, we’re going to do our own little version of the playoffs. We want you to pick your favorite equipment companies out of the eight presented. The top four who get the most support will move on to next week where the top two will move into the championship match. The way Substack’s poll is setup, this will take two polls to get the eight companies listed (Substack only allows five options), so you’ll be able to pick one company from each poll. Next week we’ll have the top four from this week in one poll.
Dave Hill Wins His Fourth Memphis Title While Trevino Passes the $1 Million Mark in Earnings
After attending the University of Detroit, and playing on the golf team for three seasons, Dave Hill turned pro in 1958 and joined the tour in 1959 and played in four events. He made the cut in each event and finished in the top 25 three times.
In 1960, he played in 21 events making the cut 15 times and finished in the top ten five times and the top 25 six times. In 1961 he won for the first time winning both the Home of the Sun Open, played in Tucson, AZ, in a playoff against Tommy Bolt and Bud Sullivan. He added another victory at the Denver Open and made $21,560 in official money for the year. He played well in 1962 as well, totaling $22,000 for the year and two runner-up finishes.
“I had a ton of confidence,” Hill related to Nick Seitz for an October 1969, feature in Golf Digest. “I didn’t know then how difficult the game could be.”
He soon found out.
“I don’t discuss that period in my life. I don’t want to think about it. It was solid hell.”
After picking up a win at the Hot Springs Open in 1963, Hill suffered a nearly five-year slump and did not return to the winner’s circle again until the 1967 Memphis Open when he beat Johnny Pott by two shots.
In 1963 his earnings dropped to $18,906, and in 1964 he suffered a further decline to $13,333.
“I don’t discuss that period in my life,” he admitted to Seitz. “I don’t want to think about it. It was solid hell. For five years I never slept more than two hours a night. I took hundreds of tranquilizers. I worked from sunup to sundown on my game until finally I worked myself out of it.”
His return to form in 1967, including his win at the Memphis Open, put his career back on an upward arc, and in 1969 he had a breakout year. He finished second on the official money list with $156,432, won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average, and won three tournaments, including a second Memphis Open title. He qualified for the Ryder Cup team and finished second, behind Orville Moody, for Player of the Year honors. He was incensed that Moody, with only one win, albeit the U.S. Open, beat him in the Player of the Year balloting even though he had won three times.
He defended his Memphis Open title in 1970 and finished in the 10th spot on the money list before a down year in 1971 where he only pocketed $59,226. He bounced back in 1972 with a win at the Monsanto Open and earnings of $95,509.
Hill got off to a fast start in 1973 with a runner-up finish at the Los Angeles Open in January and followed up with two top ten finishes at the Phoenix Open and Dean Martin Tucson Open. He kept rolling along with two more top ten finishes in Florida at the Citrus Open and the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Open. He added two more top ten finishes at the Monsanto Open and the Tallahassee Open in April.
“Playing in Texas just destroys me mentally. I’ve never played well there.”
As the tour entered the Texas swing on the schedule, Hill’s game cooled off with a WD at the Byron Nelson and a 67th place finish at the Colonial National Invitational.
“I made a mistake by playing in Texas,” Hill admitted to reporters, including Ken Jones, sportswriter for The Memphis Press-Scimitar upon arrival in Memphis for his attempt to become the first four-time winner of the Memphis Open. “I was glad to get here. I’ve worked awfully hard since I’ve been here to get my game back in shape. Playing in Texas just destroys me mentally. I’ve never played well there.”
He felt much different about playing in Memphis.
“I like the people here,” he said to Jones. “I guess I have more friends here than any stop on the tour. I play well here because of my mental attitude. If you like a place, you get in the right frame of mind to play.”
There was another player on a quest coming into Memphis. Lee Trevino was not only defending his title, he needed less than $14,000 in winnings to become the fourth player with over $1 million in career earnings. If Trevino could surpass that figure, he would be the player to do it in the shortest amount of time.
“Winning a million has been my only goal in life.”
He got his week off to a great start as he shared low pro honors in the pro-am with Jerry Heard as both players shot a two-under 70 on the South Course at Colonial Country Club which measured 7,193-yards. Trevino played with tournament host, Danny Thomas in the pro-am and the two traded good-natured barbs back-and-forth during the round to the crowd’s delight. A record crowd of 11,750 came out to watch the pro-am action.
“Winning a million has been my only goal in life,” Trevino stated to reporters before the tournament began.
It was the veteran Dan Sikes who stood atop the leaderboard after an opening round of 67. Sikes round matched the competitive course record that was set by defending champion Trevino.
“It was just a nice, easy round,” said the 42-year-old Sikes. “Whew, I’m tired. It’s just old age, I guess.”
Both Dave Hill and Ron Cerrudo scored 68 and were one-shot off Sike’s lead. Trevino came in with a 71.
“I’d like to play this golf course every day,” Trevino, who preferred to hit a left-to-right fade, said after he broke par for the eighth consecutive time at Colonial. “I want all the guys who hook the ball to know how I feel at Augusta. This course is all to the right. It’s my kind of course.”
“I’m playing the easy holes like a bum.”
Hill provided early excitement when he made the turn with a score of 31.
“I was thinking about maybe shooting a 30 until I was robbed on a putt that should have gone in on No. 8,” he said after his round. He only needed 11 putts on the front nine and a total of 28 putts for the round with a putter that he had borrowed that week from J.C. Snead.
Hill fired a 69 in Friday’s second round for a two-round total of 137 which gave him a two-shot lead over Jerry McGee who had a 68. Ray Floyd, with a 68, and Dave Stockton, with a 69 were at 141. Trevino came in with a 72 and was six shots off the pace.
“If the putting stroke holds together, I should be able to win,” Hill predicted. “But I can’t be monkeying around out there. I’m playing the easy holes like a bum.”
He was very confident of his putting telling his brother Mike, who was also playing that week, “You should have seen me putt. I was the original one-putter. Everything I hit went straight at the hole. I missed a few, but you can’t make everything.”
The weather posed the biggest challenge in Saturday’s third round. The day included blustery winds, occasional showers, one driving rainstorm, and even a tornado warning.
In his round, Hill lost four strokes to par in a five-hole stretch and that allowed seven other players to get in the mix, within two shots of the lead, including Lee Elder who came in with a 69 for a total of 212.
“I was lucky to make bogey there. It could have been a disastrous hole.”
Hill eagled the 503-yard, par-5 16th hole, just as the tornado warning went up, on his way to a 74 and a 211 total that was just good enough for a one-shot lead. John Schlee, Lee Trevino, Gene Littler, Bert Greene, Jerry McGee, and Ray Floyd were all at 214. Hale Irwin set a new course record of 66 and was at 215 tied with five other players.
Hill played the front nine of the final round with a one-under 35 but bogeyed the 10th hole to go back to even for the day. His main challenger was Lee Elder at this point.
“I was lucky to make bogey there,” Hill admitted to reporters including Bobby Hall of The Commercial Appeal of Memphis. “It could have been a disastrous hole. I buried it in the bunker on my second shot. I left it in the bunker on my third and blasted to about 15 feet on the fourth. I made the putt and felt pretty fortunate.”
Elder began to fade, eventually coming in with a 75 and a total of 287, as Trevino and Allen Miller, a 24-year-old graduate of the University of Georgia, became the main pursuers of Hill. Hill’s lead was in jeopardy all the way to the final hole.
At the 18th hole, Hill held a two-shot lead over Trevino who went for the heroic shot trying to hit the par-5 in two but missed the green. With a huge crowd around the final green, and a nationally broadcast television audience watching, Hill hit his third shot approach into a bunker to the right of the green. Trevino made a poor chip and was still outside of Hill. After he missed his 20-foot birdie putt, Hill knew all he needed was a bogey to win. He blasted out of the bunker to about 3-feet and two-putted for the victory.
Trevino finished in a tie for second place with Miller and earned a check for $16,187.50 to pass the $1 million mark in career earnings. When presented with his check, Trevino announced that he would be giving $5,000 to the St. Jude’s Hospital.
“I tried to win, but I was really concerned with second place,” Trevino admitted after his round. “It meant a lot to me, considering how far I’ve come.”
“I knew what I had to do on the last hole,” Hill said concerning his missed three-footer. “I was in the sand, but I had a good lie. After I saw Trevino get par, I knew all I had to do was get on the green, two putt, and get out of town.”
Hill became the first four-time winner at Memphis (two Memphis Opens, and two Danny Thomas Memphis Classics) and finished the year with nine top tens and won $93,121. Not bad for a guy who ten years earlier could only get two hours of sleep a night and took hundreds of tranquilizers as he tried to work himself out of a debilitating slump.
PAST TOUR BACKSPIN ARTICLES ON THE DANNY THOMAS MEMPHIS CLASSIC AND DAVE HILL
Coming Next Week: Tom Kite wins the 1986 Western Open in a four-way playoff
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WHAT HOLE IS IT?
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Tour Backspin Quiz | Danny Thomas Memphis Classic Trivia
What amateur stole the show in the pro-am at the 1977 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic?
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Clips I Loved
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Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Gerald Ford made the only hole-in-one of his golfing life at the 1977 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic.
Blind Shot
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MY OPEN TABS
More on Gary Woodland and his tough year from Josh Schrock of Golf.com.
Alex Myers of GolfDigest.com explains how much pros really get paid for endorsements.
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Sunday at the Wyndham Championship
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Final Thoughts
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