"I Want My Lawyer"
Just five weeks after signing an incorrect scorecard that cost him a spot in a Masters playoff, Roberto De Vicenzo frets over signing a scorecard
The golf world lost a major figure last week with the passing of Dow Finsterwald. He was great friends with Arnold Palmer and always had time to help the younger players coming out on the tour. He played the tour from the 1950s to the 1970s and won the 1958 PGA Championship, the first year it went from match play to stroke play. Finsterwald played on four winning Ryder Cup teams (1957, 1959, 1961 and 1963) compiling a 9-3-1 record. He will be missed.
Dow Finsterwald with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the 1958 PGA Championship
Congratulations to Russell Henley for winning the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. This week, the PGA TOUR plays the Cadence Bank Houston Open, a tournament that dates back to 1946. We’re going back to 1968 when a young Lee Trevino was in the hunt looking to win his first PGA TOUR title, but he ran into a wily veteran in Roberto De Vicenzo. Scroll down to read.
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Roberto De Vicenzo Uses Psychology To Help Him Hold Off Lee Trevino
Roberto De Vicenzo in 1968 (photo: Getty Images)
It is Sunday, May 5th, 1968, and Roberto De Vicenzo was at the 18th green when he experienced a sense of déjá vu that made him very wary. It was only five weeks prior that he had signed an incorrect scorecard that cost him a spot in a playoff against Bob Goalby at the Masters. De Vicenzo was the apparent winner of the Houston Champions International by one stroke, but he had to sign his scorecard to make the victory official. How’d we get to this point on the Champions Golf Club, a course that Jimmy Demaret and Jackie Burke built with inspiration from Augusta National? Let’s backspin to see.
Jack Nicklaus took a one-stroke lead over Dan Sikes shooting a 65 in the first round. George Archer, Tom Weiskopf, Miller Barber, and Roberto De Vicenzo were another stroke back at 67. Lee Trevino, in his second year on tour and looking for his first victory, was another stroke back at 68.
Sikes had the chance to grab the solo lead after the second round, but he was unable to get it up-and-down from a bunker at the finishing hole. He shot a 68 for a two-round total of 134 and was tied for the lead with Jack Nicklaus who shot a 69. De Vicenzo added a 68 to his first round 67 and sat one-stroke off the lead, tied with Miller Barber. Lee Trevino was playing steadily and posted a second straight 69 and was four shots back of the leaders.
Dan Sikes, described as “the relaxed, slow-talking Jacksonville, FL golfing lawyer” by the AP, birdied the final hole in his third round for a 69 and enjoyed a one-shot lead. Lee Trevino got red-hot shooting a 66 and was tied with Miller Barber one-stroke off the lead at 204. Roberto De Vicenzo shot a 71 and Jack Nicklaus shot a 72 and they were both two shots off the lead at 206.
Lee Trevino charged into the lead on the sixth hole in Sunday’s final round. Dan Sikes’ game collapsed as he had two bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine. Trevino doggedly hung on to his lead until the 17th hole when he hit his approach shot to the par-4 hole into the rough. He chipped up close but then missed his putt and was now tied with the steady De Vicenzo, his playing companion.
“I’ve played a lot of tournaments, and when you give the other guy a chance to hit first, he never misses.”
Trevino was then bothered by a television sound man as he played his second shot on the 18th hole. He pushed his shot into the crowd and then his chip left him a four-foot putt for par. De Vicenzo also faced a four-foot putt for par, but it was decided that he would have the option to putt first.
“I’ve played a lot of tournaments,” De Vicenzo told reporters after the round, “and when you give the other guy a chance to hit first, he never misses.”
“To tell the truth, I was a little nervous. The clubs felt heavier, and you have cotton in your mouth.”
De Vicenzo putted first and dropped his putt putting the pressure directly on Trevino.
“Roberto used a little reverse psychology on me,” Trevino said about the last putt. “He’s a real champion. I’d rather come down to the line with anyone but Roberto. We’re good friends, but you don’t have any friends when there is a tournament victory involved.”
Trevino also spoke about the pressure involved with being the leader.
“To tell the truth,” he said, “I was a little nervous. The clubs felt heavier, and you have cotton in your mouth.”
De Vicenzo pointed out that he didn’t feel he won the tournament. He felt that Trevino lost it.
“Before I sign, I want my lawyer.”
“I didn’t win the tournament, he gave it to me,” De Vicenzo said. “He missed only two shots—on 17 and 18.”
After completing his round, De Vicenzo reviewed his card at the 18th green and the memories from Augusta were still fresh in his mind. He added up his card and then looked around. He added it up again before looking up.
“Before I sign, I want my lawyer,” he joked.
He enlisted the assistance of a tournament official to double check his math and then with a flourish, he signed the card. He won $20,000 for his first-place finish while Lee Trevino took home a check for $12,000. Dan Sikes pocketed $7,500 for third-place after he shot a 73 in the final round. Jack Nicklaus shot a final round 72 and finished fourth collecting $3,000.
Roberto De Vicenzo (with leg extended) sits at the scoring table after the final round of the 1968 Masters. Ray Floyd and Gay Brewer sit opposite of De Vicenzo while his playing partner, Tommy Aaron (white hat and shirt) who put down the wrong score on De Vicenzo’s card, talks with officials in the background.
Roberto De Vicenzo won an unbelievable amount of tournaments. Scroll down to read our Bonus Story.
1968 was the year of revolution in the U.S. Listen to Year of Revolution 1968, our playlist this week. Listen HERE.
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Larry Baush
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Tour Backspin Quiz | 1968 PGA TOUR Trivia
Lee Trevino won his first tournament on the PGA TOUR at the 1968 U.S. Open at Oak Hill Country Club in June. Where did he win his second PGA TOUR title?
Answer below
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Bonus Story
While Lee Trevino was looking for his first professional tournament victory, De Vicenzo won his 141st professional victory at the Houston Champions International. De Vicenzo kept a very busy schedule playing all over the world.
He won on the PGA TOUR, the Champions Tour, the European circuit, the Argentine Tour, the Latin American Tour, and the Caribbean Tour.
He was also a very popular player on Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf. He played on the show 11 times between 1962 and 1970.
De Vicenzo was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1989 and retired from competitive play in November of 2006 at the age of 83 with over 200 international victories. He died on June 1, 2017, at the age of 94.
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Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Lee Trevino won his second PGA TOUR event at the Hawaiian Open in November of 1968.
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