The Gratitude Of Gary Player
Gary Player is grateful to play professional golf in America and around the world
With the PGA TOUR in Kentucky this week, the Tour Backspin journey through the past goes all the way back to 1958 and the Kentucky Derby Open. It was Gary Player’s first PGA TOUR title and he was grateful to be playing in the United States against what he felt were the best players in the game.
Another playoff finish on the PGA TOUR as Brian Campbell and Emiliano Grillo both finished regulation play at 18-under. Campbell won on the first playoff hole. Scroll down for my take on the week in Sunday at the John Deere (behind the paywall). We’ve also got some entertaining social media posts in the Clips I Loved. Mrs. Tour Backspin found the Blind Shot this week and it is seriously funny. Check it out behind the paywall.
The golf world lost a great one as Ed Fiori passed away on Sunday at the age of 72. A member of the University of Houston golf team, he earned second team All-America honors in 1978 and helped the Cougars win the national championship in 1979.
Fiori won four times on the PGA TOUR including running down Tiger Woods at the 1996 Quad Cities Open at the age of 43. His other wins came at the 1979 Southern Open, the 1981 Western Open, and the 1982 Bob Hope Desert Classic. He added a Champions Tour victory at the 2004 MasterCard Classic.
He was nicknamed “The Grip” due to the unusually strong grip he used.
“Ed Fiori was a true gentleman in our sport, and is a player who would often be referred to as a pro’s pro," said PGA Tour Champions President Miller Brady.
He will be missed.
PAST TOUR BACKSPIN ARTICLES ON GARY PLAYER
There was a lot of cool stuff in this post (Tour Backspin, Vol. 5, Ed. 26, July, 3rd). I knew all of these guys so well and played many, many times with them.
Jim M.
Who reads Tour Backspin? Our subscription list features current and former players on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour, Class ‘A’ PGA of America professionals, Korn Ferry players, golf course architects, private club general managers, public golf course managers, golf journalists, and golf sickos just like you. We’re nearing 1,000 subscribers! Thank you for reading. If you have any ideas, or suggestions, for the newsletter, please email me at larry@tourbackspin.com.
We try to provide a great deal of content for our free subscribers, as well as a little something extra for our Premium Subscribers. If you value my work, please consider upgrading to a Premium Subscription. You will be supporting my work and helping to keep this newsletter sustainable.
Enjoy the Genesis Scottish Open and the ISCO Championship this week!
Max Homa finished T5 in the John Deere Classic last week. Did he turn his poor year around, or was this just a one-off. Let us know in this week’s The Tour Backspin Poll. This week’s Vintage Ad from 1958 (below the paywall) stars Arnold Palmer from when he was with Wilson Staff. Scroll down to view.
New content has just been uploaded to The Tour Backspin Show YouTube channel. Check it out, the full network broadcast of the 1965 Carling World Open. Subscribe, for free, to make sure you don’t miss a thing.
The Tour Backspin Poll
We played a little head-to-head matchup for the Open Championship last week where we asked for your pick between Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. Scottie got 67% of the vote while Rory came in with 33%.
After contending and finishing T5 at the John Deere Classic, is Max Homa back? Let us know in this week’s Tour Backspin Poll.
We’re playing Gary Player 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 a prize from the Tour Backspin Golf Shop.
Did you miss a previous newsletter? You can view it HERE. Help us grow Tour Backspin! Please 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
Player Grateful To Be Alive After Riding With Tony Lema
Ever since he came to America to play professional golf in 1957, Gary Player has been grateful. He’s grateful for the opportunity to play golf for a living, grateful for the success he’s achieved, and grateful for living a full and rich life.
“I mean, where I've traveled in the last few months, you wouldn't believe it,” he said in a recent interview with Tour Backspin and the producers of the upcoming Tony Lema documentary. “I love to work. I love my job. I wake up every day. I'm happy. I'm grateful. Man alive. Are you kidding?”
On the third week of August in 1958, the PGA TOUR visited Louisville, KY, for the Kentucky Derby Open. Played two weeks before the run for roses at Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby Open was played at Seneca Golf Course, a rock hard and hilly municipal track that measured 6,526-yards and played to a par of 72.
Many of the pros were lodged at a motel not far from the course, including Gary Player who was traveling with his wife of 15 months, Vivienne. Also at the motel were Tony Lema and Johnny Pott who were frequent roommates. Lema was also playing with Pott in the first two rounds. Player’s tee time was an hour later than Potts’ and Lema’s so he hitched a ride with the two to the course each day. Lema wrote about the experience in his book co-authored by Gwilym S. Brown.
He kept up a stream of amusing talk about how grateful he was to be able to play on the U.S. tour, what he hoped to learn from the U.S. players and how much he enjoyed the whole experience.
After being a passenger with Tony Lema at the wheel, Player probably was grateful that he got out of the experience with his life. Lema liked to drive fast. Player explained the experience in an interview for the upcoming Lema documentary movie.
Lema played well in the first round, coming in with a round of 67, two shots off the lead set by Bill Collins and Bert Weaver. His round included an eagle, and seven birdies offset by four bogeys and he was tied with Dow Finsterwald and Tommy Bolt. Chick Harbert sat alone in second place with a 66.
Player came in with a 68 tied with Bill Nary, Doug Ford, Tom Nieporte, Frank Stranahan, Ed “Porky” Oliver, and Paul Harney. It had been a rainy week in Louisville and the players were allowed to lift, clean, and place their balls.
Lema continued to have a hot hand in the second round shooting a second straight 67 that included a hole-in-one at the 138-yard 13th hole. He was tied at 134 with Paul Harney, who had a 66, and Bill Collins who shot 69. One stroke back of the leaders were Harbert with a 69, and Nieporte with a 67.
Lema and Pott were not only roommates, but they were paired together in the first two rounds so Pott was a witness to Lema’s ace. They finished their second round early in the afternoon and then stopped at a drive-in for lunch before returning to the motel to relax by the pool. Pott, the veteran, sat by the pool and watched the crowd swimming and diving. Lema, the rookie, decided to put on a diving display to impress the pretty girls lounging around the pool. He overdid his exhibition and paid the price for it the next day. When he showed up at the course his arms felt “like two bags of sand” and he soared to a 75.
Saturday’s round was played in windy and wet conditions and Harney handled the conditions to post a 69 and a three-day total of 203. Gary Player, with a round of 69, and Don Fairfield who shot a 68, were at 205 while Nieporte was at 206 after a 71.
Bill Collins was tied with Lema after he also shot a 75 and they were tied with Harbert who came in with a 74. They were at 209 one stroke behind gallery favorite, Porky Oliver who jumped up the leaderboard with a 69, and Ernie Vossler who carded a nice round of 67.
“I just kept plodding along getting pars.”
In the final round, Player took dead aim on the leader, Harney, and he caught and passed him on the 6th hole taking the lead. Harney’s game deteriorated and he had fallen three shots back of Player by the time the pair made the turn. Player now trailed Nieporte by one shot going into the back nine. He felt that all he had to do was to hang on and he would be able to secure his first tour victory.
“I didn’t do anything differently,” Player told reporters including Kyle Vance of The State Journal out of Frankfort, KY. “I just kept plodding along getting pars.”
Nieporte ended his chances with a double bogey on the 16th hole followed by a bogey at the 17th. Player’s only bogey came at the 14th hole, where he had to chip back to the fairway after he stymied himself behind some trees. He parred the 16th and 17th holes and then ran in a birdie at the 18th. Player’s final round 69 gave him a total of 274 and a three-shot victory over Harbert, who had a final round 68, and Vossler who finished with a 69.
Tony Lema birdied three of his last four holes to card a 70 for a total of 279, tied for 6th with Don Fairfield, and Bob Keller. Tom Nieporte, and Peter Thomson, who finished with a final round 67, the low round amongst the leaders, were at 278.
Player won $2,800 for his victory while Vossler and Harbert won $1,650 each and Nieporte and Thompson won $1,150. Tony Lema pocketed $950 as did Fairfield.
Gary Player was grateful that he was able to learn from “America’s fine pros” to win his first title on American soil. Gary Player has always been filled with gratitude.
“I tell everybody, you know, I do a lot of after dinner talking and at universities and schools,” Player said during the interview with Tour Backspin. “And the word that I use profusely is gratitude to realize how lucky we are. And this is what I'm always amazed at.”
Coming Next Week: Tom Watson defeats Jack Newton in a playoff at the 1975 Open Championship
Tour Backspin is a reader-supported publication. To receive premium content including early release of The Tour Backspin Show, and updates on the Tony Lema documentary, please consider upgrading to a premium subscription for just $36 per year. Premium subscribers help fund the research I do, and in return, they get exclusive access to special articles and early access to our YouTube channel.
WHAT HOLE IS IT?
It’s getting tight at the top of the leaderboard! Congratulations to David Rihm for winning the WHAT HOLE IS IT? contest last week. David beat two other correct answers of #2 at TPC Deere Run in Silvas, IL, in the random drawing. We’re adding more to the gift discount code to The Tour Backspin Golf Shop to David’s total as he is a multiple winner. 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.
We understand if a premium subscription isn’t in the budget, and we’re happy to have you here however you’ve arrived. You can sign up for a free subscription so you’ll never miss the newsletter. It will arrive in your inbox every Thursday. Paid subscribers help fund the work we do here at Tour Backspin.
Tour Backspin Quiz | Gary Player Trivia
What year did Gary Player join Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as an honorary starter at the Masters?
Scroll down for answer
Clips I Loved
This looked like a fun trip.
Sure, $1,512,000 is nice, but you also win a Gator?
After this I thought he would make the playoff at the least. I was wrong.
More Clips I Loved below the paywall.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Gary Player joined Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as an honorary starter at the Masters in 2012.
Tour Backspin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. We try to make as much of our content available for free subscribers as we can (including WHAT HOLE IS IT?), but it is the paid subscribers who help make this newsletter sustainable. Please consider upgrading.
MY OPEN TABS
What’s behind the paywall:
Sunday at The John Deere Wrap-Up
Bonus Story
Tony Lema documentary update and video
More Clips I Loved
Blind Shot
Vintage Ad
Final Thoughts
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Tour Backspin to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.