Remembering Don January
The passing of a major champion and 10-time winner on the PGA TOUR
We lost a legend on Sunday with the passing of Don January, the winner of the 1967 PGA Championship, as well as being a 10-time PGA TOUR winner and a member of the 1965 and 1977 winning Ryder Cup teams. He won the Vardon Trophy (scoring leader) in 1976 at the age of 46. He won 22 titles on the Champions Tour including two PGA Seniors’ Championships.
January was responsible for a change in the Rules of Golf in 1964. The change was made because of what happened at the 1963 Phoenix Open when January had a putt that hung on the lip. He claimed that the ball was still moving and then waited seven minutes before tapping in. Rule 16-2 was revised in 1964 requiring a player to wait no longer than 10 seconds for a putt to fall, or be penalized.
January was cool in his bucket hat, turned up collar, and Sansabelt pants. January was 93 years old. RIP Don January.
We also lost Lance Ten Broeck, a former player who transitioned into being a caddie. He played in 349 PGA TOUR events, without an official victory and then went to work on the bags of Robert Allenby and Jasper Parnevik. He was known as “Last Call” Lance for his off the course lifestyle. RIP Lance Ten Broeck.
Congratulations to Wyndham Clark for holding off Xander Schauffele to win his first PGA TOUR title by four strokes. After a shaky front nine, Clark was rock solid on the back nine and is now a player to watch in next week’s PGA Championship.
This was the first designated event that did not provide fireworks coming down the final few holes. It was bound to happen.
There was pretty much a consensus in last week’s Tour Backspin poll that the USGA was not unfair in changing the rules for U.S. Open exemption in the case of Taylor Gooch and other LIV Golf players.
Weigh in with your opinion on what Phil Mickelson has been tweeting in this week’s Tour Backspin Poll.
Tour Backspin Poll
Clip You Might Have Miss
This week, the PGA TOUR is in McKinney, TX, for the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch. Although not a designated event, it does feature a strong field with World #2 Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, and Jason Day. This tournament has been on the PGA TOUR schedule since 1944, although not continuously as the tournament was not held from 1947 to 1955, and there was no tournament in 1963 and 1965. It was known as the Dallas Open for many of those years before being renamed the Byron Nelson Classic in 1968. AT&T became the title sponsor in 2015 after stints by GTE, Verizon, EDS, and HP as title sponsors. We’re going back to 1960 when a field that was missing five of the top six money winners, including Arnold Palmer, was played over the Labor Day weekend with a Monday finish. Scroll down to see how Johnny Pott won his first title on the PGA TOUR.
Brenda Lee is coming on strong, along with others in this week’s playlist featuring songs from 1960. Listen HERE.
Check out Gay Brewer’s pitching motion in the Swing Like a Pro feature. Scroll down to view.
Get the Tour Backspin Newsletter delivered to your email inbox for FREE.
Be sure to check out our special content for the PGA Championship next week.
Listen to The Tour Backspin Show podcast HERE or on Spotify, or on Amazon Music and Apple Podcast.
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.
We did not have a winner in last week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? It was a very difficult one. The featured hole was #7, at Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club in Holyoke, CO. We’ve got an easier one for this week. Check out the new 2023 leader board and scroll down for your chance to win in this week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT?
We’re playing 1960 PGA TOUR Trivia this week in the Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
Did you miss a previous newsletter? You can view it HERE. Forward this email to a friend. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? You can sign up HERE.
Okay, we're on the tee, let's get going.
Enjoy!
Larry Baush
Johnny Pott Captures First PGA TOUR Title
It’s Friday, September 2nd, 1960, at the Dallas Open being played on the 6,286-yard Oak Cliff Country Club, and it’s hot. Brutally hot. It is the hottest day on the 1960 PGA TOUR schedule with temperatures topping 92 degrees. The field was missing five of the top six money leaders including Arnold Palmer. The rare Monday finish for the tournament was due to the Labor Day weekend and would feature a player almost as hot as the Dallas weather. Johnny Pott came into Dallas playing well, finishing in the money in nine of his last ten events.
Earl Stewart, the host pro at Oak Cliff shot a three-under-par 67 despite three-putt bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes. Stewart was tied for the lead with Tommy Bolt who played steady golf with four birdies on the second nine offset by a single bogey. Cary Middlecoff led a group of players one stroke off the lead and Art Wall, Jr. was another stroke back. Pott, winless in his fourth year on tour, sat at 70, three strokes off the lead.
The round of the day belonged to Pott who finished hours after Stewart had finished his round.
The weather continued to sizzle in Saturday’s second round, as did the host pro, Stewart, who fashioned a 69 for a two-round total of 135 that gave him a one-stroke lead. Stewart’s round included a 90-yard wedge shot that he holed for an eagle.
The round of the day belonged to Pott who finished hours after Stewart had finished his round. The young pro from Shreveport, LA, put together a round of 32 on the front nine and 34 on the back nine for a total of 66 and stood just one shot behind Stewart.
Bolt had putting troubles in a round of 71 and was three strokes off the lead and tied with Doug Sanders who fought off what the UPI called “heat sickness” to shoot a 68. The leader board was quite bunched up below Stewart, Pott, Bolt and Sanders.
No one in the PGA could remember a “host pro” winning a PGA TOUR title at their own course and Stewart’s play was generating a good deal of excitement.
Cary Middlecoff, after his threesome was “investigated” by PGA tournament director Harvey Raynor for slow play, almost withdrew in anger. He was not mollified until it was announced that his threesome had been absolved of blame.
Ted Kroll, a veteran of World War II and three-time Purple Heart recipient, steadily climbed the leader board with a second-round 69 and a third-round 68 and sat two strokes off the lead.
After the third round on Sunday, the leader board was even more bunched up with 19 players within four strokes of the leaders, Johnny Pott and Art Wall, Jr. who sat at 207. Pott shot a scrambling 71 with bogeys on three of his last six holes while Wall fashioned a smooth 68 with three birdies.
Stewart stumbled to a 73 which included a triple-bogey and sat in a four-way tie for third that included Tommy Bolt, Doug Sanders and Bo Wininger. Ted Kroll, a veteran of World War II and three-time Purple Heart recipient, steadily climbed the leader board with a second-round 69 and a third-round 68 and sat two strokes off the lead.
The weather continued to be hot on Labor Day Monday, as was Johnny Pott who shot a final round 68, but it was only good for a three-way tie at 275 with Ted Kroll who shot a 66 and Bo Wininger who shot a 67. The three headed out for a sudden-death playoff.
Wininger was the first one to drop out after he missed the green and took a bogey on the first playoff hole. Kroll and Pott both made par on the second playoff hole before Pott put his tee shot at the par-3 third hole to within four feet. Kroll was 15 feet away and putted first and left himself a shot putt for par. Pott then sank his short putt for his first PGA title. Pott won $3,500 while Wininger and Kroll split second and third place money winning checks for $2,050.
In the heat of Dallas, Johnny Pott blazed to victory winning for the first time on the PGA Tour.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube
Tour Backspin Playlist
Thanks for reading! Please let your family, friends and colleagues know they
can sign up for email delivery of this free newsletter through this link.
Bonus Story
On the third playoff hole at the 1960 Dallas Open, Ted Kroll hit his tee shot on the par 3 to 15-feet while Johnny Pott hit his to inside of four feet. Kroll putted first and missed, leaving himself a one-foot putt for par. The old-school Kroll then applied a subtle needle to the younger Pott by marking his ball leaving Pott to think about his short birdie putt that he needed for the victory.
Pott got over his putt but then backed away for another look at his line, as well as taking the opportunity to get his nerves under control. He stepped back in, took his stance and then confidently stroked the winning putt into the heart of the cup.
WHAT HOLE IS IT?
Are you on the leader board?
Tour Backspin Quiz | 1960 PGA TOUR Trivia
What tournament debuted in 1960, won by Arnold Palmer, that is still on the PGA TOUR schedule?
Answer below
Swing Like a Pro
Gay Brewer’s pitch shot.
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
Check It Out
This is a great story about a college player who shoots a course record at a U.S. Open qualifier and then DQs himself after realizing he violated a rule. From our friends at Monday Q. It’s a great feelgood story, so CHECK IT OUT! Read the inspiring story HERE.
What is Hip
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Arnold Palmer won the inaugural 1960 Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic for the first of his eight victories that year. Today the tournament is known as the American Express Golf Tournament.
If you’ve made it this far in the newsletter, you must love Tour Backspin. Please consider upgrading your subscription, give a gift subscription, or forwarding this to a golf buddy, to help make the newsletter sustainable. Thanks for reading.
Vintage Ad
Final Thoughts
How brutal for Tommy Kuhl at the U.S. Open qualifier. From a course record to a DQ.
How cool was Don January?
Larry,
Bummer to hear about Lance Ten Broeck. I had the pleasure of playing a practice round with him during the 2014 US Senior Open at Oak Tree. Good stories that day cool guy. However he didn't look too healthy but i probably didn't look that good either. It was only 103 degrees that day. That caddie life is tough on those guys.