Near Perfection In New Orleans
Lee Trevino breaks out of slump with near perfect week
You are invited to join us on our journey through the past where we are headed to the Big Easy in 1974 for the Greater New Orleans Open. Lee Trevino put together a near perfect week to break out of an extended slump. Scroll down to see how the week played out.
With a Signature Event and a regular event on the PGA TOUR, last week had plenty of action. Scroll down for my take on the week in the PGA TOUR Wrap-up, and some fun things in the Clips I Love feature.
PAST TOUR BACKSPIN ARTICLES ON THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS OPEN
Gary Player delays milestone for Jack Nicklaus in the 1972 Greater New Orleans Open.
Frank Beard holds off Jack Nicklaus and Tony Lema in 1966 Greater New Orleans Open.
Enjoy the golf this week from TPC Louisiana.
The golf world lost one of the greatest amateur golfers in the post-World War II era with the passing of Jay Sigel on April 19th from pancreatic cancer. Sigel won five USGA titles including back-to-back wins of the U.S. Amateur in 1982 and 1983 when he was in his late 30s and collegiate golfers dominated major amateur events.
He also won three U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships, competed on nine USA Walker Cup teams, a record for that event, and established the record for most matches won in the biennial event at 18. He won numerous other elite amateur events and we are unlikely to see an amateur record like his again in our lifetimes.
He will be missed. Read the USGA obituary HERE.
After the Masters the speculation that the winner will complete the grand slam begins. This year it seems to present the best opportunity in quite a few years to achieve the feat. Do you think that Rory can do it? Let us know in this week’s The Tour Backspin Poll. You could have joined the Lee Trevino Club For Golfers in this week’s Vintage Ad from 1974. Scroll down to view.
The Tour Backspin Poll
In last week’s Tour Backspin Poll we asked when you thought that Rory had let the Masters slip from his grasp. There were 53% of respondents who thought he had blown it with the double bogey on the 13th hole, 29% thought the missed par putt on the 18th was the killer, and 18% never stopped believing that he would win. Nobody thought the opening double bogey was a problem, though.
Now, can Rory win the grand slam? Let us know what you think in this week’s Tour Backspin Poll.
We’re playing Greater New Orleans trivia in this week’s Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to take the challenge. Give us your best guess in this week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? and if you get it correct you may win prizes from the Tour Backspin Golf Shop.
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Okay, we're on the tee, let's get going.
Enjoy!
Larry Baush
“About As Near Perfect a Round of Golf as I’ve Ever Played”
Two things that all golfers, especially the players on the PGA TOUR, understand are that you will inevitably be mired in a slump at one point or another, and that the perfect round of golf does not exist. Lee Trevino was in New Orleans for the Greater New Orleans open during the last week of March in 1974 and he was attempting to play his way out of a prolonged slump. What he didn’t know was that he would do so while having a nearly perfect week of golf.
Since his last win, at the 1973 Doral Eastern Open in March, Trevino had been in a slump. The persona of the “Merry Mex” was missing the contagious merriment ingredient as 1973 played out, and well into the 1974 schedule. Art Spander wrote in the November 1973 issue of Golf Digest, an opinion piece under the headline “Trevino Should Not Forget The Fans He Used To Woo,” which documented how differently Trevino was treating fans, and the press, since the onset of his slump.
But the future has arrived for Lee Trevino, arrived with an endless stream of all-night plane rides and personal appearances and requests for autographs. And now, Lee Trevino, the guy who could never be un-appreciative, is wishing for the past. The gratitude is gone.
“Everything is starting to bug him,” said Arnold Salinas, Trevino’s manager. “He’s just sick and tired of people trying to use him. Maybe somebody else would handle it better. But you’ve got to know Lee and his background. And he’s just telling everyone to forget it. He just wants to be left alone.”
As the 1973 schedule played out, Trevino began to turn down press requests including an invitation to address the Washington Press Club, which has hosted kings and presidents. He turned down requests to come to the press tent after tournament rounds.
“I don’t need ‘em,” he said.
Battling out of a prolonged slump is frustrating, making one feel like an unskilled safe cracker. Spin the dial looking for the right combination, flitting from one swing thought, or swing key, to another in a vain attempt to find a groove that will restore one’s game. It’s a prescription for getting mired down in swing mechanics at the cost of the most basic part of the game, getting the ball in the hole in the least amount of strokes.
In the lead-up to the first round, the press noted that Trevino was one of the big names in the field but wrote little about his chances of winning. Rather, it was the battle between Johnny Miller, the hottest player on the circuit having won the first three events on the schedule, as well as the Sea Pines Heritage Classic the week before, and Jack Nicklaus, winner of the Hawaiian Open and playing in New Orleans as a warm-up for the next week’s Masters.
The host of the Greater New Orleans Open, Lakewood Country Club, a 7,080-yard, par 72, course, was inundated by six-inches of rain on Tuesday forcing tournament officials to close the course to practice rounds. Organizers were concerned that the wet weather would cause a cancellation of the pro-am on Wednesday, but concerns dissipated as the weather cleared. Jack Nicklaus and New Orleans quarterback Archie Manning were the marquee pairing.
“A pretty good round of golf.”
Jack Nicklaus and Miller Barber picked up where they left off in the GNOO in 1973 when they tied after 72 holes before Nicklaus prevailed in a playoff. Both players shot 66 in the opening round and enjoyed a one-stroke lead. Seven players, including Lee Trevino, were tied at 67. Bobby Cole, a player from South Africa who earned his playing card in 1967, sat at 68, tied with his countryman Gary Player.
Nicklaus did not miss a fairway, or a green, and was bogey free in his round on the warm and almost windless day. The course was still wet, though, from the rain earlier in the week.
“A pretty good round of golf,” he told reporters including Ron Green of the Associated Press.
Barber was five-under after his first eight holes but could only secure one more birdie the rest of the way in.
Another player who managed a bogey free round was Lee Trevino, one of the last players on the course barely getting to the clubhouse before darkness descended. He missed only one green and chipped in for a birdie on that hole.
The winds picked up on Friday and that suited Lee Trevino just fine. He again played a bogey-free round and posted a 68 for a two-round total of 135, tied with Larry Hinson, one-stroke off the lead held by Bobby Cole. The young South African, winless on the PGA TOUR, fired a 66 in the second round.
“I hit the ball every bit as solid as I did yesterday, but the difference was I didn’t make any mistakes yesterday and I did today.”
Cole hit his irons exceptionally and his longest made putt for birdie was from 15-feet. He hit four irons to within four feet of the hole and two wedges inside of eight feet for his other six birdies. He missed only one green, and his only bogey came from a three-putt on the 2nd hole.
Nicklaus picked up right where he ended in the first round, birdieing his first three holes in the second round. All three were very short putts. He made five birdies on the day but bogeyed two of his last three holes to come in with a 71, tied with Gary Player, who had a second-round 69, at 137.
“I hit the ball every bit as solid as I did yesterday, but the difference was I didn’t make any mistakes yesterday and I did today,” Nicklaus said.
Miller Barber, co-leader with Nicklaus after the first round, shot a 70 and fell to six strokes off the lead.
Saturday’s third round was played in bright, warm sunshine and Trevino was getting as hot as the temperatures. He again had a bogey-free round and made five birdies to post a 67 and a three-round total of 202. He was tied at the top of the leaderboard with Cole who also had a bogey-free round that featured four birdies for a round of 68.
Trevino’s confidence was returning although he was still not satisfied with his putting.
“I’m still having trouble with the short putts,” he complained to reporters including Green of the Associated Press. “If I wasn’t hitting the ball as good as I am, I wouldn’t even be close to this score. It’s all mental.”
The rookie Ben Crenshaw moved into contention after matching the course record of 64. He stood at 205, just three shots off the lead. Like Trevino, Crenshaw was battling his way out of a slump, experiencing the same frustrations that come with attempting to return to form.
“It certainly feels good,” he said after his round. “I’ve played some bad golf ever since Hawaii. It’s probably the longest slump I’ve ever been in. For a while, it seemed like I’d never play good again.”
Nicklaus could not get anything going and posted a 70 for a total of 207, tied with Gary Player who also carded a 70.
Gusty winds returned on Sunday, and they only added to the confidence level that Lee Trevino felt. He looked and felt relaxed and took command after birdieing four of his first six holes. All the birdies came from within 10 feet, and he took a four-stroke advantage as he headed for the back nine.
“Always before this course had eaten my lunch.”
He stretched out his lead with birdies at the 10th, 15th, and 17th holes to coast home with a 65 winning by an eight-stroke margin over Cole who finished with a 73. The winning margin was the largest margin of victory on the tour in over a year.
It was a fantastic round of golf for Trevino who again went bogey-free for the fourth straight round. In four rounds he had missed only three greens and two fairways. The week was just what the doctor prescribed for Trevino breaking out of his lengthy slump.
“And you know, I’d never played this course good before,” Trevino said to reporters after his round. “Always before this course had eaten my lunch.”
Crenshaw finished with a 70, tied with Cole, and they both won $13,875. Nicklaus finished with a round of 70 and a total of 277 good for a T6 and a check of $4,875.
Trevino’s win earned him $30,000, and more importantly, it broke his slump. He did it with what he called “about as near perfect a round of golf as I’ve ever played.”
He finally had spun the dial and found the correct combination. While the perfect round may not exist, Trevino had come pretty damn close in the fourth round, and it propelled him for the remainder of the year’s schedule. He added his fifth major championship, the PGA Championship in August and finished the year with $203,422 in official earnings, placing him fourth on the official money list.
He got it started with a bogey-free tournament in New Orleans, the last week of March.
Coming Next Week: Bruce Lietzke wins the 1988 GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic in a playoff.
BONUS STORY
Lee Trevino came very close to throwing away three days of hard work in the scorer’s tent after his third-round in the 1974 Greater New Orleans Open. Bobby Cole played with Trevino in the third round and kept his scorecard. On the 3rd hole, a par-3, Cole marked down a birdie two on Trevino’s card. Trevino actually made a three on the hole.
“I’d signed the card and was about to turn it in when my caddie stopped me,” Trevino revealed to reporters after his round. “He said, ‘Hey you didn’t make no two on that hole.’ I fixed it.”
Had he not made the correction and turned the card in for a lower score than what he shot, he would have been disqualified. As depicted in the feature story, Trevino played almost flawlessly that week recording four bogey-free rounds to win the tournament by eight strokes. And it all would have come to naught if his caddie had not noticed the mistake on his scorecard.
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WHAT HOLE IS IT?
Congratulations to Bill Badger, winner of the WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest. He correctly identified #4 at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, SC. Bill beat five other correct answers in the drawing and we’ve got a gift discount code to The Tour Backspin Golf Shop coming his way. We are sending discount codes to the winners of WHAT HOLE IS IT? in 2025 so that they can choose their prize from the offerings in The Tour Backspin Golf Shop, including the Tour Backspin 19th Hole Hot Sauce. Winners can combine multiple discount codes to use on a single order, and the codes never expire. When the code is redeemed, the prize will be sent with free shipping, so getting your prize will not cost you anything. Check out The Tour Backspin Golf Shop HERE.
The Herbert C. Leeds Trophy has been sent to the 2024 winner, Doug Posten, and we expect a picture of his victory pose soon.
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We told you about getting our hands on a treasure trove of film that we are cleaning up and digitizing for the Tony Lema documentary. Some great footage of Tony in action and even home movies. Below is a clip from the Howard Cosell Champagne on the Green interview with Tony. (clicking on link will open this post on the web, scroll down to video player).
Click on image to view on the web.
You can now support the induction of Tony Lema into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Sign the online petition HERE.
Clips I Loved
Club Pro Guy is back!
Tough finish for Joel Dahmen.
Good player/caddie convo here.
I love when players help another player.
This is right in the wheelhouse of Kyle Porter’s Normal Sport.
PGA TOUR Wrap-Up | RBC Heritage Golf Classic and Corales Puntacana Championship
The PGA TOUR served up two close finishes, one in the Signature Event RBC Heritage Classic, and another at the Corales Puntacana Championship, which is deemed an “Additional Event” by the PGA TOUR. One finish was heartwarming while the other was heartbreaking.
Justin Thomas ended a nearly three year drought by sinking a 21-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Andrew Novak at the RBC Heritage Classic. Thomas got off to a fantastic start shooting a 61 in the first round. He missed a short birdie putt at the final hole that would have given him a 60. He then followed up with two rounds of 69 and then a gutty final round of 68 that put him in the playoff.
Andrew Novak continued his hot playing streak and sandwiched a 65 and a 66 between opening and final rounds of 68. Novak has been playing very well and seems poised on the precipice of capturing his first PGA TOUR title.
The heartbreaking finish happened 1,200 miles away at the Corales Puntacana Championship where Joel Dahman played well all week and was in control of the tournament as he stepped on the 16th tee in the final round with a two-stroke lead.
He then bogeyed the final three holes handing the trophy to Garrick Higgo, who celebrated his first PGA TOUR victory since the Palmetto Championship, a one-off tournament played in 2021.
“It’s not how you win a golf tournament, I’ll tell you that. I don’t deserve to win it. You know, bogeying the last three is inexcusable,” Dahmen said after his collapse. He recieved a great deal of credit for speaking with the press immediately following the devastating loss.
Read more from the Associated Press HERE.
Here are the final round highlights from the RBC Heritage:
Tour Backspin Quiz | Greater New Orleans Open Trivia
Lon Hinkle won the 1978 First NBC New Orleans Open and snapped a streak. What was the streak?
Scroll down for answer
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
More from James Colgan of golf.com that goes inside the television ratings for the Masters.
Ben Parsons of bunkered details the suspension of Wesley Bryan from the PGA TOUR.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Lon Hinkle’s win in the 1978 wasn’t just his first PGA TOUR victory, but it broke Gary Player’s consecutive tournament winning streak at three.
Thank you for reading this far, I know your time is valuable and choosing to spend some of it on what I’ve created is gratifying. If you want to help support the work we’re doing, please consider upgrading. It’s just $36 a year and you’ll be helping to tell the stories from one of golf’s golden ages.
Vintage Ad
Final Thoughts
I wonder how much money the Lee Trevino Golf Club For Golfers made?
You may have noticed some changes in this week’s newletter. We’ll be making some more in the near future, so let us know in the comments if you miss the music and movie features, and if there is anything you would like to see added.
How happy are you that Club Pro Guy is back on social media?
If you haven’t done it yet, scroll back up to the link for the online petition to get Tony Lema inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He’s deserving of the honor.