"I Hated Playing Tom Watson"
Johnny Miller bogeys final two holes then loses playoff in 1982 L.A. Open
The PGA TOUR can’t pivot from Phoenix to Los Angeles fast enough. Saturday was a disaster at TPC Scottsdale with the unruly fan behavior. This isn’t what they mean by “growing the game” is it? Scroll down for clips and our take on the weekend.
This week, the tour is in Los Angeles for the Genesis Invitational, and Tiger’s in the field! Our main feature for the week is on the 1982 Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open and we’ve got a lot of great content to take you on a journey through the past. You can hear Ken Venturi, Vin Scully, Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf. Scroll down to view.
If you want more Los Angeles Open stories, check out our archives. We’ve written about the 1968 event HERE, the 1974 event HERE, and the 1962 event HERE.
In last week’s Tour Backspin Poll, we asked if you watched the CW broadcast of the LIV Event in Mexico, and if you did, what did you think about it? Remember, there was no football or PGA golf on opposite the LIV event. There were 29% of respondents who watched it and were impressed. Another 14% watched and felt it was meh. And then 57% wanted to know where you could find the CW.
This week we keep on theme and ask you about the debacle in Phoenix with the crowd. Let’s us know your thoughts in this week’s Tour Backspin Poll.
Tour Backspin Poll
Would you play Tom Watson if he kept one arm behind his back? I don’t know—his position at the top looks pretty good. Check it out in this week’s Vintage Ad. Scroll down to view.
I miss Ken Venturi, especially when it comes to his analysis of the golf swing. Check him out with Tom Watson’s swing in this week’s Swing Like a Pro.
Glen Campbell and Jerry Reed playing guitar. Love me a Fender Tele. Check out this week’s Tour Backspin Music. Listen HERE.
Do you know what happened today in golf history? Or which famous golfer has a birthday today? Me, neither. But I do know where to go to find out. 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.
We’re playing 1982 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
Watson Uses Long Bomb To Blow Up Johnny Miller
It is Monday, February 15th, and Terry Mauney, a wise-cracking, 31-year-old pro from South Carolina, is staring at the leader board at the qualifying event for the Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open. Mauney, a non-winner in his fifth year on tour, could see from the leader board that he was headed for a playoff for the last remaining spot available to the Monday qualifiers. A playoff that would feature eight players playing for one spot.
“It was your routine Monday qualifier,” Mauney would later say. “A playoff for the last spot in the field, eight guys going for it, and I beat Woody Blackburn on the third extra hole. Isn’t that how everybody gets in a tournament?”
Along with Mauney, the L.A. Open would feature all six of the previous winners on the 1982 TPA Tour (that’s not a typo, see this week’s Bonus Story). The field would also feature seven of the top ten money winners from the 1981 tour. Johnny Miller would be defending his title, and would be joined in the field by Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Tom Weiskopf, Bill Rogers, and Lee Trevino. The only big names missing were Jack Nicklaus, Bruce Lietzke, and Raymond Floyd.
The Los Angeles Open had a very nomadic past being played at numerous courses dating back to 1926 including Wilshire Country Club, Riviera Country Club, Hillcrest Country Club, and Los Angeles Country Club. It settled in at Rancho Park Country Club, a public course, in 1956 and played there every year until 1972 except for the 1968 event that was held at Brookside Golf Course, adjacent to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. In 1973 it moved to the Riviera Country Club and has remained there since then except for the years 1983 and 1988 when Rancho Park and Valencia Country Club, respectively, were used. Riviera was playing host to the PGA Championship in 1983 and in 1998 it was hosting the U.S. Senior Open. The Riviera members did not want to give up their course for two events in those years, necessitating the use of an alternative course.
Lee Trevino, who had been nursing a sore back and had only been able to compete in two tournaments up to this point on the schedule. Trevino hurt his back at the Bob Hope Desert Classic and withdrew. He attempted to play at the Phoenix Open but was forced to withdraw and then he took three weeks off to rest. In Los Angeles, the warm weather help loosen him up, and he shot a 65 to take the professional honors in Wednesday’s pro-am.
Trevino noted that the course was wet and playing very long and he agreed with Johnny Miller that there was no way that the 14-under-par score that Miller posted in the 1981 L.A. Open would not be matched this year.
Mauney, starting on the 10th tee at 11:16, made his presence known, and the volunteers running the scoreboards were not prepared. On the sixth hole the scoreboards showed a score that was on pace to set a course record, but there was no name associated with the score. By the eighth hole, the name “Mauney” had been hastily written in pencil and inserted into the scoreboard opposite the score that was currently leading the tournament.
“It was fun, that’s all I can say. All I wanted from Riviera was four 70s and I’d be happy. To shoot 63, wow! Everytime I hit a putt or chipped, the hole seemed to get in the way of the ball.”
Mauney completed his round, shooting a 63, and in the process, set a new tournament course record eclipsing Pat Fitzsimmons who shot a 64 in 1975 that was matched by Ed Sneed in 1981.
“It was fun, that’s all I can say,” an elated Mauney said after his round. “All I wanted from Riviera was four 70s and I’d be happy. To shoot 63, wow! Everytime I hit a putt or chipped, the hole seemed to get in the way of the ball.”
Lee Trevino aggravated his back in the first round, shot a 78, and withdrew.
Mauney enjoyed a four-stroke lead over Wayne Levi, Mike Morley, and Tom Weiskopf, and a five-stroke lead over Johnny Miller, Vance Heafner, and Morris Hatalsky. Tom Watson was another stroke back at 68.
It looked like Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf were going to reprise their finish in the 1981 L.A. Open where they finished first and second, respectively. And if not for a mistake on Miller’s part, they would have been tied atop the leaderboard after the second round in 1982.
“I’m going to hit this as hard as I can. I don’t care where it goes, I’m going to smash it.”
Weiskopf finished early and posted a second straight 67 for a 134. Miller came to the ninth hole, his last hole for the day, deadlocked with Weiskopf, and was determined to boom his drive. He had been hitting drives of 290 to 300-yards all day and was cocky as he approached the tee.
“I’m going to hit this as hard as I can,” he told spectators around the tee. “I don’t care where it goes, I’m going to smash it.”
Predictably, things did not go well from there. His drive shot to the right in the rough, and if that wasn’t bad enough, he had a terrible angle to reach the green on the 419-yard, par-4 hole. His second shot squirted to the right and landed behind a tree. He tried to punch his next shot under the tree but caught a branch and the ball ricocheted straight down. He chipped his next shot to the green and two-putted for a double bogey and a round of 68 for a two-round total of 136, two shots behind Weiskopf.
Tom Watson added a 67 to his first round 68 and was one shot behind Weiskopf, tied with Mauney who recorded a 73, Heafner (68), Levi (69), and Morley (69).
Weiskopf played flawless golf making four birdies and no bogeys.
“Riviera is one of the finest courses we play and to play a round here without a bogey is very satisfying,” he said after his round. “I hit every club in my bag and that is a good test of golf.”
“I’ve never seen so many people at the Los Angeles Open as there were out there today.”
The top names on the scoreboard generated excitement that resulted in the largest Saturday gallery in L.A. Open history. The level of golf played on Saturday did not disappoint the masses in attendance. Johnny Miller charged to a 66 while Weiskopf added a 68 and the two players sat atop the leaderboard with a tournament record third-round score of 11-under-par 202. Watson was another stroke back after firing a 68 of his own. Mike Morely was at 206 after a third-round 70. The lightning in a bottle that Mauney stumbled upon in Thursday’s first round, had faded to less than a spark after his third round 74 gave him a total of 210, eight shots off the lead.
“I’ve never seen so many people at the Los Angeles Open as there were out there today,” Weiskopf said after his round.
His round included a wild 16th hole, a 170-yard, par-3, where he hit his tee shot wildly to the right of the green on a cart path.
“It wound up on the cart path and I dropped into a bad lie,” Weiskopf said recapping the hole for reporters. “There was a little opening and I had to go up a little hill. My shot didn’t get up the hill and it rolled back against a tree.
He thought about it hitting the shot between his legs, but upon further consideration, he figured he could swing at the ball normally.
“I took the club back okay, but it hit the tree on the downswing and it just bounced over the ball,” he said describing his whiff. He then hit the ball between his legs to about 30-feet and two-putted for a triple bogey. He then birdied 17 and 18 for his 68.
Tom Watson, at 9-under-par, was now guaranteeing that Miller’s 14-under-par tournament record would be broken. “It will be broken tomorrow,” he declared.
Watson joined Weiskopf and Miller in the last threesome to tee off, at 10:28, on Sunday for the final round and there were 36,536 fans in attendance. Miller got off to a good start with a birdie at the first hole and when Watson three-putted the second hole, Miller enjoyed a four-shot lead. He seemed destined to be the first back-to-back winner of the L.A. Open since Arnold Palmer did it in 1966 and 1967 at Rancho Park. Nobody had ever gone back-to-back since the tournament moved to Riviera.
Watson came back from his three-putt at the second hole with a birdie at the third hole. It would prove to be the catalyst that he needed to get back into the fray with Miller and Weiskopf. He battled back to where he was within two shots of Miller as the players teed off on the 16th hole. Weiskopf had begun to fall away by this point.
Watson had his work cut out for him as Miller hadn’t made a bogey in two days. That changed at the 613-yard 17th hole when Miller hit his third-shot approach over the green leaving him a dicey chip down a hill to the cup. He hit his chip shot eight feet past the hole and then missed the putt for a bogey. At the 18th hole, with the shot going long on the 17th still fresh in his mind, Miller came up well short with his approach shot leaving himself an 85-foot chip which also came up short. He missed the putt for a second-straight bogey. After picking his ball out of the hole, he walked towards the edge of the green, shook his head, tossed tossed ball up in the air, and then, with a touch of anger, caught the ball with a slapping motion.
Watson rammed in his four-footer for the tying par and the two players headed to the 15th hole, a 449-yard par-4, for a sudden-death playoff. Miller put his second shot within birdie range, 15-feet from the cup. Watson hit his approach into a bunker and exploded out to six feet. Miller missed his birdie putt while Watson made his par save and the two moved on the 16th hole. Year’s later he said he “hated playing with Tom Watson” because he was such a scorer. In the same interview, years after the event, he was still amazed that Watson made his par putt on the first playoff hole.
“I’ll never forget this putt as long as I live,” Miller recalled. “He had a quick little left-to-righter and he started it inside right, on a left-to-righter. No way it could go in and somehow it went over the low side and fell in the hole.”
Watson under-clubbed and came up short in bunker fronting the green. Miller didn’t even get to the bunker with his shot coming up well short. Miller pitched up close to the hole and was able to save par. Watson came out of the bunker to within five feet and again made the par saving putt.
At the par-5 17th hole, Miller hit his approach shot to 12 feet from the hole while Watson hit his to 45 feet. Miller marked his ball and stepped aside as Watson settled in over his putt. He struck the putt and it tracked towards the cup, breaking about six inches to his right, towards the Pacific Ocean, and then dove into the cup.
“Fantastic putt,” Miller softly said to Watson as he walked by.
Miller then addressed the 12-foot putt he needed to make to extend the playoff. He hit his putt and watched as it started to drift to the right and before it reached the hole, he knew that he missed it. He waved his left hand at the ball in disgust, looked away, and then lightly tossed his putter towards the offending ball that refused to go into the hole. He then walked towards Watson to shake the winner’s hand.
Terry Mauney finished with a 72 for a four-round total of 282, 11-strokes off Watson’s and Miller’s score. While he may have been disappointed in not taking advantage of his first round 63, he didn’t have to worry about qualifying for the next tournament, the lucrative Doral Eastern Open. He was automatically qualified for the tournament due to making the cut in Los Angeles. Plus he pocketed $2,130 in prize money.
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BONUS STORY
On Sunday, August 30th, 1981, Deane Beman, commissioner of the Tournament Players Division of the PGA, announced, along with Joe Black, PGA president, a name change for the men’s professional tour. The PGA Tour would now be known as the TPA Tour.
Beman explained that the name change was made to avoid confusion and conflict with the initials “PGA” which had been licensed, along with the logo of the PGA of America, to the PGA Golf Company which made and distributed a line of golf equipment.
The news was not well received by the players on tour.
“I don’t know why they didn’t ask any players about it,” Tom Watson fumed. “I wish they could have gotten golf into it. Tournament Players Association—that could be a chess association or a bridge association.”
By March of 1982, it was recognized that the name change was a mistake. The tour came to terms with the PGA Golf Company and reverted to the tour being named the PGA Tour. At the same time, it was announced the establishment of a “second tour” with events that would provide playing opportunities for club pros and aspiring professionals who are unable to qualify for PGA Tour events. These events would feature a $100,000 purse and be played in major population centers that are currently without PGA Tour events.
BONUS STORY II
Jack Nicklaus made a prediction in early 1982.
“In five years,” he predicted, “you might have a hard time finding a white ball.”
Orange, lime, and pink balls were being marketed, and played on the PGA Tour, and Nicklaus was sure it wouldn’t be just a fad.
Nicklaus, an enthusiastic tennis player saw the trend establishing yellow tennis balls and felt it would make the transition to golf. The only problem was, Nicklaus was color blind.
“I have trouble separating reds and greens,” he said. “I lose the orange ball in the grass because of the red in it. I’m trying to get MacGregor to develop a ‘safety yellow’ ball, similar to the color of fire engines. When they do, I’d have no objection to playing it. I play yellow tennis balls all the time.
He went further with his prediction saying, “One of these days, people may be playing balls colored to match their outfits.”
While he was the greatest golfer of his era, he was no Carnac the Magnificent when it came to predictions.
The Tour Backspin Show podcast episode with Chuck Courtney is unlocked for everyone. Chuck talks about his career on the PGA TOUR that lasted over a decade, growing up at La Jolla Country Club, his mentor Paul Runyan, and his friend Carl Welty. Listen HERE.
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WHAT HOLE IS IT?
Are you on the leader board?
Congratulations to Ryan Ross who correctly identified #15 at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, AZ, in last week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest. Ryan beat out one other correct answer in the random drawing and a prize pack is on the way to him. Submit your answer for this week and get yourself into the race for the Herbert C. Leeds Trophy, our new perpetual trophy for the annual winner.
PGA TOUR Wrap-Up | WM Phoenix Open
Another great finish on the PGA TOUR, at least as far as the golf went. Outside the ropes was another matter, though. I hope this isn’t what they mean by “growing the game.”
Nick Taylor (Go Dawgs!) caught, and then beat in a playoff, Charlie Hoffman in a very exciting finish. The weather delays forced the end of the event to be played while the Super Bowl was being played. Since the Super Bowl got more viewers in history since the Apollo 11 lunar landing, you had to choose between missing golf, missing football, or missing Super Bowl commercials.
Read the PGA TOUR recap HERE.
Clips You Might Have Missed
How cool is this? Starts a new job behind a desk at PING in a couple of weeks.
I’d watch that show.
Okay, let’s play the game that the first comment asks. What were they fighting about? Wrong answers only. Put yours in the comments. The best one will win a Tour Backspin sticker set.
Do you think they’ll let Joel Dahmen do this next year? (Go Dawgs!)
I don’t usually like taking a caddie (I’ve got a robot cart). But I’d let this guy pack my bag.
Tour Backspin Quiz | 1982 PGA TOUR Trivia
Who won the most PGA TOUR events in 1982?
Scroll down for answer
Swing Like a Pro
Tom Watson’s swing in 1982.
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
More on how Saturday turned bad at the WM Phoenix Open from Golf Magazine.
Geoff Shackelford talks about “growing the game” and why it led to the problems at the WM Phoenix Open. Read it in his excellent newsletter The Quadrilateral.
How would you have liked to be a bartender on Saturday at the WM Phoenix Open. Here’s a story from one who survived the day. From Golf Digest.
Tour Backspin Music
Glen Campbell and Jerry Reed as guitar heros.
MAILBOX
Hey Larry! Hope all is well! Here's a pretty good sports bet that was paid off. I'm told he also bet Clark to win the US Open in 2023.
— P.O.
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?
Nice sweaters. Inspired by the 1920s.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
There was a tie for the most titles won on the 1982 PGA TOUR. Both Tom Watson and Craig Stadler won four times. Watson won the Glen Campbell L.A. Open, the Sea Pines Heritage, the U.S. Open, and the Open Championship. Stadler won the Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open, the Masters Tournament, the Kemper Open, and the World Series of Golf. Stadler led the money list with $446,462 while Watson finished fifth with $316,483 in winnings.
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Final Thoughts
Remember when they only had to worry about Rollen Frederick Stewart in the galleries in the 1980s? He wouldn’t even be noticed at the WM Phoenix Open these days.
Jim Knous won $53,000 for his T28 at the WM Phoenix Open. After Monday qualifying. He’ll have a lot to talk about around the water cooler at PING.
Johnny Miller’s not bitter about Tom Watson beating him. Not at all.