The Champion From Monterrey
Bob McCallister sinks dramatic putt on the 72nd hole to capture the Mexico Open title
There were choices for you to view golf in a team format with the Zurich Classic in New Orleans on the PGA TOUR and a LIV Golf event in Adalaide, Australia. After so many weeks of great tournament excitement on the PGA TOUR with designated events, including The Players, and a major, the week in New Orleans felt a little more laid back. That feeling will probably persist at this week’s Mexico Open. The Mexico Open has an impressive list of champions, especially in the era that we cover here at Tour Backspin, and includes Tony Lema, Lee Trevino, Roberto De Vincenzo, Bobby Locke, Bob Rosburg and Homero Blancas. We’re turning back the clock to 1966 when Bob McCallister won. Be sure to check out the bonus story that features a story from Bobby McCallister, Bob’s son.
Congratulations to Nick Hardy and Davis Riley who won their first PGA TOUR titles at the Zurich Classic and qualified to play in the PGA Championship in May. They shot a final round 65 playing alternate shot with birdies on four of their last six holes. Their prize was pretty cool; in addition to the $1.24 million checks they each received, they were awarded an alligator skin championship belt and Mardi Gras beads.
The LIV Golf event in Adalaide looked wild with the large crowds that the golf-starved fans in Australia provided. Did you watch any? Let us know in this week’s Tour Backspin poll.
In our poll last week, 67% of you thought that Rory McIlroy’s $3 million fine for missing a second designated event was no big deal while 33% thought it was an insane amount of money.
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This week, the PGA TOUR has another non-designated event in the Mexico Open before ramping back up with designated events leading into the PGA Championship May 18th through the 21st. We’ll have some special content for the second major of the year.
We revisit our Latin playlist this week in honor of the Mexico Open. Listen HERE.
We’re highlighting Ben Crenshaw’s legendary putting stroke in the Swing Like a Pro feature. Scroll down to view.
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We’re playing Mexico Open Trivia this week in the Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
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Larry Baush
It is Thursday, November 3rd, 1966, and rookie Dave Eichelberger, of Waco, TX has just finished the first round of the Mexico Open. He shot a four-under-par 68 and enjoyed a one-stroke lead over Larry Zieglar of St. Louis, MO, and John Cook of Hobart, IN. Eichelberger, who had been a pro for just six months, was three-under on the front nine of the 6,700-yard Monterrey Country Club course thanks to an eagle and two birdies.
Dudley Wysong was four-under through thirteen holes but bogeyed the 14th and 17th holes to finish with a 70 that left him deadlocked with six other players including Bob McCallister of Corona, CA, and Bob Ross of Flowertown, PA. Moe Norman from Canada was at 72 while defending champion, Homero Blancas, opened with a 73.
While both McCallister and Wysong picked up another stroke on par to tie for the lead after the third round, it was Moe Norman who made a move up the leader board.
In Friday’s second round, Bob Ross made four birdies on the back nine and finished with a 69, the second-best round of the day and he held a one-stroke lead with a 36-hole total of 140. One shot back was Wysong, McCallister and Cook. The first-round leader, Eichelberger, shot seven-strokes worse in the second round shooting a 75 for a two-round total of 143, three shots off the lead.
While both McCallister and Wysong picked up another stroke on par to tie for the lead after the third round, it was Moe Norman who made a move up the leader board. The eccentric Canadian shot a 69 for a three-round total of 213, two shots off the lead of McCallister, Wysong, and second-round leader Ross who shot a third-round 72. The round of the day belonged to Dick Whetzle who carded a 68 and was tied with Norman and Cook.
McCallister was described by the newspapers as “golf’s answer to Sandy Koufax” because he took the same pills for his struggles with arthritis that Dr. Robert Kerlan prescribed to Koufax in 1963 or 1964. The medication was phenylbutazone alka, an anti-inflammatory pill and this nonsteroidal drug was intended for animals and is no longer approved for human use. Today’s equivalent is Ibuprofen.
Norman blazed into the lead by birdieing four of the first five holes before he bogeyed the eighth hole to fall into a three-way tie with McCallister and Wysong.
McCallister was able to numb the arthritic pain in his back by swallowing pills during the fourth-round as he battled Wysong and Norman. Norman blazed into the lead by birdieing four of the first five holes before he bogeyed the eighth hole to fall into a three-way tie with McCallister and Wysong.
Wysong captured the lead with a birdie on the 14th hole before McCallister answered with a birdie on the 15th hole. The two remained tied as they played the final hole. McCallister faced a 21-foot pressure packed birdie putt to shoot a 67. Wysong finished with a 68 before McCallister calmly stroked in the winning putt. It was McCallister’s first title since 1964 and earned him a check for $3,000. Wysong won $2,000 for his second-place finish while Moe Norman, who shot a final round 67 to finish third collected $1,500.
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Bonus Story
Tour Backspin reached out to a new friend we met while doing a Tony Lema Night at Rancho Murieta Country Club in Rancho Murieta, CA, a few months back. That night, Bobby McCallister regaled us with some extremely funny stories about his father’s time playing the PGA TOUR. We asked Bobby if he, or his mom, had any recollections on the 1966 Mexico Open his father had won. This is the story related to us by Bobby, that he wrote on the 56th anniversary of his father capturing that title.
56 years ago, today, my Dad captured the Mexico Open at the Club de Golf in Monterrey Mexico. He joined a pretty impressive list of champions like Lee Trevino, Tony Lema and Roberto De Vicenzo. He loved playing in Mexico and played well, he had captured the Maricaibo Open the year before. I still remember the newspaper headline in his scrapbook “McCallister is King in Maricaibo.”
Decades later he would spend every November and December in Puerto Vallarta vacationing. I would go down to visit and we would always head to the golf course to hit a few balls or chip and putt together. My Dad was old school PGA, he would never set foot on a golf course, public or private, without going into the pro shop, introducing himself and asking permission to be on the property. One day a bag attendant heard him talking to the Pro and when we went out to the driving range the man came over and asked if my Dad was the, “…Champion from Monterrey”. He said that he was, and the man told us that he had followed him as a child and was there in the final round when my Dad won the Open.
For the rest of the day and every time we returned there for the ensuing years, caddies, bag attendants, grounds and maintenance staff would see my Dad and yell out …
El Campeon!
El Campeon!
El Campeon!
My Dad would stop, turn toward whoever called out, remove his cap, give a polite wave, smile, and bow his head. Sometimes this would happen a dozen times in an hour! They loved him.
As my dad’s Parkinson’s progressed it became harder for him to move around. We were out on the driving range one day when a man in a maintenance cart pulled up and called out the familiar name. I turned to my Dad seated on the bench and said “It’s okay Dad, you do not have to get up.”
He looked at me the way he looked when I was either in trouble or when he was about to tell me something I should not ever forget.
He said “Bobby, winning something like the Mexico Open is something that can never be taken from me, it also comes with certain responsibilities which I refuse to put aside. The Mexican people have treated me with such kindness from the time I walked off of the 18th green to this very day, I have been honored to be their champion and I will pay them the respect that they have earned from me. Now help me up!”
He stood, shuffled, shuffled some more, removed his cap, gave a wave, and bowed his head.
Of all the great players that have won The Mexico Open, my dad may not be the greatest, but he was certainly the most gracious.
Happy anniversary Dad.
El Campeon!
El Campeon!
El Campeon!
WHAT HOLE IS IT?
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Tour Backspin Quiz | Mexico Open Trivia
How many native Mexicans have won the Mexico Open?
Answer below
Swing Like a Pro
The syrupy, sweet, putting stroke of Ben Crenshaw. (photo: Golf Digest)
What is Hip?
Golf fashions modeled by hockey players in a hockey locker room circa 1972 (photo: Golf Digest)
Blind Shot
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Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Six. Ernesto Pérez Acosta (1970), Estaban Toledo (2000), Pablo Fernández (2002), Antonio Maldonado (2005), Sebastián Vázquez (2016) and Àlvro Ortiz (2021).
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Final Thoughts
The Mexico Open during the decade of the 1960s presents certain challenges for us here at Tour Backspin as it was not widely covered by the newspaper press that we depend on. When Tony Lema won in 1961, he called into his hometown newspaper to give them a recap of the action. The articles that did appear in the papers were little more than a few paragraphs hidden in the depths of the sports section. You can see this in our story this week that is lacking any quotes. Thank you to Bobby McCallister for providing our Bonus Story and providing some color on his dad’s win that week in Monterrey.
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