The Fight To Crack The Top 60

Getting inside the top 60 on the money list provides a one year exemption from qualifying. Players jockey for position at the Quad Cities Open as the season winds down.

Jun 30, 2022

The PGA TOUR is in Silvis, IL, for the John Deere Classic. This tournament was known as the Quad Cities Open and dates back to 1971 when it was first a satellite event before becoming an official event in 1972. It has also been known as the Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open, the Miller High Life QCO, the Lite Quad Cities Open, The Hardee’s Golf Classic, and the Quad Cities Classic. We’re going to backspin to the 1972, the sixth-to-last tournament on the schedule, as Deane Beman defends his title and other players are trying to play their way into the top 60 on the money list which earns them a one-year exemption.

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“If They Have a Golf Tournament In This State, Count Me In.”

Deane Beman (photo: John Deere Classic)

It’s early in the morning on Thursday, September 28th, 1972, and players are beginning to tee off in the Quad Cities Open in Bettendorf, IA, at the Crow Valley Golf Club. This is the first year of the Quad Cities being an official tournament after it debuted in 1971 as a satellite, or unofficial event. Deane Beman won that satellite event after being asked to enter and support the tournament by Joseph Dey, the commissioner of the Player’s Division of the PGA. Dey wanted enough player support to bump the tournament up to official status in 1972, and he was successful in accomplishing just that.

“If you can get that exemption, you can kind of sort your life out a little, play when you want to and take time off when you want to”

The Quad Cities was the 39th tournament on the tour schedule and, with just six tournaments remaining on the schedule, there was a lot of attention on the players inside, and on the bubble, of the top 60 on the money list. Finishing inside the top 60 money winners would gain a player an exemption into the next year’s tournaments without the need to Monday qualify.

“If you can get that exemption, you can kind of sort your life out a little, play when you want to and take time off when you want to,” rookie Lanny Wadkins said. Wadkins was in comfortable position well inside the top 60 on the money list, but he still had to qualify to enter the Quad Cities.

Players such as Ken Still, Bob Goalby, Art Wall, Charles Sifford, and Dan Sikes were all on the bubble fighting to get inside the top 60. It would be an important week for all of them. While Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player were not playing in the Quad Cities, Lee Trevino was and, along with defending champion Deane Beman, and the rookie Wadkins, were listed among the favorites.

So, how’d these players do in the Quad Cities? Did they improve their positions on the money list to comfortably inside the top 60? Let’s backspin to see.

In the first round, Don Iverson, and Jack Lewis, two non-winners on the tour, shot 67s and sat atop the leader board. Lee Trevino (69) and Gibby Gilbert (68) finished their rounds just as a violent thunderstorm hit the course. The high winds, hail and rain forced a postponement of the first round requiring players who were unable to finish to return in the morning to complete their first rounds before teeing off for their second rounds.

Lanny Wadkins shot a 71 and Deane Beman shot a 72. Ken Still, with a 74 and Charles Sifford with a 79, were not helping their cause of getting inside the top 60 on the money list.

“75s don’t belong in the press tent”

Friday’s second round featured cold weather with temperatures dipping down into the 40s and the 15 mph winds made it feel even colder. Trevino skied to a 75 and passed on making an appearance in the press tent.

“75s don’t belong in the press tent,” Trevino said. “I just played bad. It’s the worst round I’ve shot in a long time.”

Don Iverson handled the conditions well and posted a 71, a two round total of 138, and a two-shot lead over Wadkins (69), Gibby Gilbert (72), Bob Wynn (69), and Doug Olson (71). Deane Beman was another stroke back having shot a 69.

“I played very well considering the conditions,” Iverson said after his round. “I played especially well on the front nine, hitting every green when the wind was really howling. I’m not surprised I’m leading. I believe I’m capable — I’ve been playing pretty good this season except I always have that one bad round.”

Iverson kept up his good play in the third round shooting a 70 in the crisp autumn weather and retained a two-stroke lead over Bob Wynn, a 22-year-old non-winner on the tour. Wynn took over the lead at two different points in the round, but Iverson was able to wrestle it back. Lanny Wadkins also shot a 70 for a total of 210, tied with Wynn two-strokes behind Iverson. Deane Beman shot a 71 and was tied with Grier Jones (72-71-69) and Rick Rhoads (70-74-68) four-strokes off the lead. Trevino shot a 71 and sat at 215, well down the leader board.

“I’ve been working all year to win a tournament,”

That one bad round that continued to plague Iverson reared its ugly head in the fourth round as he shot a 73 while other players were going low. One of the best low rounds was recorded by rookie Tom Watson who shot a 66 and finished with a total of 280 that beat Iverson by one-shot, and Wadkins by two. But it was also one shot short of the total posted by Deane Beaman who shot a final round 67 for a 279 total and won the tournament. Beman shot a three-under 33 on the front nine and then on the 14th hole, a hole that had been a problem hole for him all week, he laced his approach shot to within three feet of the flag and made the putt for a birdie.

“Everybody started backing off,” Beman explained, “so I just played it conservatively over the last four holes.”

Beman, who had finished fourth, third, and second in his last three starts before the Quad Cities, picked up the $20,000 first place prize which brought his total for the year up to over $87,000, his career best yearly earnings.

“I’ve been working all year to win a tournament,” he said after his round. “I’ve been knocking on the door, and I guess you could say I finally got it open.”

Beman won a U.S. Amateur championship in Des Moines, and along with his two Quad Cities Open victories, he was undefeated in the state of Iowa.

“If they have a golf tournament in this state,” Beman declared, “you can count on me being there.”

Lee Trevino shot a final round 76 for a total of 291 and won $390. Of the players who entered the week on the bubble trying to get into the top 60, only Bob Goalby cashed a check. Goalby shot a total of 289 and won $680. Ken Still, Art Wall and Dan Sikes finished out the money. Charles Sifford withdrew from the tournament (see our Bonus Story below).

Those pros, and the others who were battling for those spots inside the top 60, were running out of tournaments. They would have to grind it out over the final five tournaments that stretched from the Kaiser International in California, to the San Antonio Texas Open, and finally to the final tournament of the year at the Walt Disney World Open in Florida.

Deane Beman at the 1970 Masters (photo: Getty Images)

What’s up with all the Black players WDs at the Quad Cities Open? Read our Bonus Story for more.

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Tour Backspin Quiz | Rank The First Place Check Size

Rank the first place check size, from smallest to largest, from the 1972 PGA TOUR schedule:

American Golf Classic

The Masters

Danny Thomas Memphis Classic

Sahara Invitational

Answer below

Bonus Story

There were six Black players entered in the Quad Cities Open in 1972, including Charles Sifford, his nephew Curtis Sifford, Jim Dent, and George Johnson. Those four players all withdrew in the first round.

All the players reported injuries and withdrew after playing only a few holes except Curtis Sifford who shot a 79 before he withdrew. The players were recipients of signed petitions from local minority groups that requested they not play as a form of protest.

The proud Charles Sifford made the decision to withdraw even though he was on the bubble and battling to get inside the top 60 on the money list.