Sunday, April 10, 2011
The 1975 Masters
1975 may have been the best year in American sports. The 1975 NCAA basketball tournament was one of the very best -- if not the best -- tournaments ever played. The 1975 World Series is probably the best World Series played in my lifetime. And the 1975 Masters was a real cracker. In fact, it was that tournament that got me interested in golf. They're doing a special about it on CBS right now -- Matthew won't like it because of the presence of Jim Nantz -- but I'm very excited about it.
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CBS has Pat Summerall on the 13th hole, Jack Whittaker on the 14th hole, Ben Wright on the 15th hole, Henry Longhurst on the 16th hole, Frank Glieber on the 17th hole, and Vin Scully on the 18th hole. That is a true Murderer's Row of commmentators.
ReplyDeleteIt's Sunday in the 1975 Masters. Nicklaus is 11 under and he has the lead over Tom Weiskopf, who is at 10 under. Johnny Miller is 8 under. Nicklaus just finished the 12th hole. Weiskopf and Miller each just finished the 11th.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about Frank Glieber. Wikipedia tells me that he died of a heart attack in 1985. He was only 51.
ReplyDeleteMiller birdies the 13th to get to 9 under.
ReplyDeleteNicklaus bogeys the 14th to drop to 10 under.
Nicklaus: -10 (14)
Weiskopf: -10 (13)
Miller: -9 (13)
Weiskopf birdies the 14th hole and takes the lead at 11 under.
ReplyDeleteNicklaus hits the flag with his second shot on 15, but can't make the eagle putt. He settles for a birdie and re-ties Weiskopf:
ReplyDeleteNicklaus: -11 (15)
Weiskopf: -11 (14)
Miller: -9 (14)
I was watching this whole thing in the den at 1220 Allen Lane in Paducah, and I was absolutely enthralled. Of course, I was for Nicklaus, who struck me as incredibly ancient compared to Weiskopf and Miller. He was 35 years old.
ReplyDeleteWeiskopf's second shot on 15 goes over the green and rolls down the back slope.
ReplyDeleteMiller's second shot on 15 lands on the green, about 30 feet away from the hole.
Nicklaus -- wearing a really great green-and-white striped shirt of the type I have looked for my whole life but have never found -- leaves his tee shot on 16 about 40 feet short of the hole. A "major disappointment," according to Henry Longhurst.
ReplyDeleteWeiskopf's chip shot on 15 rolls about 20 feet past the hole.
ReplyDeleteMiller's putt for eagle was struck too firmly, and it rolls about two feet past the hole.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Nicklaus is having to wait and wait because his playing partner -- Tom Watson -- hit into the water on 16.
ReplyDeleteWeiskopf holes the 20-footer on 15 to take the lead at 12 under. Ben Wright says that will be "evil music ringing in Nicklaus's ears."
ReplyDeleteMiller makes his birdie on 15.
ReplyDeleteWeiskopf: -12 (15)
Nicklaus: -11 (15)
Miller: -10 (15)
Nicklaus hits the long putt on 16, and his caddy starts to jump up in the air when the ball is still five feet away from the hole. The ball drops, and the place goes nuts. Longhurst says it's one of the greatest putts he's ever seen.
ReplyDeleteNicklaus: -12 (16)
Weiskopf: -12 (15)
Miller: -10 (15)
Because it took so long before Nicklaus could hit his putt, Weiskopf and Miller were actually standing on the 16th tee when he made the putt on the 16th green.
ReplyDeleteWeiskopf's tee shot on 16 comes up short of the green, about 45 yards from the hole.
ReplyDeleteMiller's shot lands on the green about 25 feet away.
Weiskopf's chip is not strong enough to get close to the edge, and it slides about 18 feet away. "Farther and farther it goes," says Henry Longhurst, "and with it may go Weiskopf's hopes."
ReplyDeleteMiller just misses his birdie putt on 16.
ReplyDeleteWeiskopf's par putt stops inches short. "Never up, never in," says Longhurst.
Nicklaus: -12 (16)
Weiskopf: -11 (16)
Miller: -10 (16)
Nicklaus has a chance to put it away with a birdie on 17, but his putt comes up about 2 inches short.
ReplyDeleteNicklaus: -12 (17)
Weiskopf: -11 (16)
Miller: -10 (16)
Now that I think about it, I realize that while there were truly thrilling World Series, NCAA tournaments, and golf tournaments in the mid-1970s, the Super Bowls of that era were inevitably dreadful. I think this fact has influenced my views of those events ever since.
ReplyDeleteNicklaus puts his approach shot on 18 to about 20 feet away, and he will have a great birdie opportunity.
ReplyDeleteWeiskopf had a 15-foot birdie putt on 17, but he misses by about a foot.
ReplyDeleteMiller also has a 15-foot birdie putt -- and he nails it to move within one shot of the lead.
Nicklaus: -12 (17)
Weiskopf: -11 (17)
Miller: -11 (17)
Miller is making a spectacular charge. He is six under for the day.
Nicklaus misses his birdie putt on 18, and he finishes with a 68 and score of 12 under par. If Weiskopf or Miller can birdie the last hole, they will force an 18-hole playoff on Monday.
ReplyDeleteNicklaus: -12 (18)
Weiskopf: -11 (17)
Miller: -11 (17)
No one is wearing a hat, by the way. This is the hat-less era of golf.
ReplyDeleteWeiskopf is wearing a purple argyle sweater that actually looks more dignified than that description sounds.
Miller has a pale blue polo shirt and light blue plaid pants. As he always did, he looks exactly like the star of a 1970s TV show.
Miller's approach to the 18th lands about 20 feet away from the hole.
ReplyDeleteWeiskopf's approach actually landed two feet from the hole, but bounced about 15 feet away.
Both Miller and Weiskopf have very make-able putts.
Vin Scully is very excited.
Actually, Weiskopf's putt is only about 8 feet.
ReplyDeleteMiller lines up his putt -- and watches it just skitter past to the left. He finishes with a 66 and a score of 11 under. He will never again come so close to winning the Masters.
Now Weiskopf, who has finished second at the Masters on three other occasions. Eight feet for a tie. After watching Miller's putt go past on the left, he over-compensates and just misses on the right. He finishes second for the fourth time, and he also will never have such a good chance to win the Green Jacket.
In a modern-day interview, Weiskopf admits that he never quite recovered from this tournament, and that it haunted him for the rest of his career.
ReplyDeleteJohnny Miller says that at the closing ceremony in 1975, Nicklaus told him that it was the most fun he ever had in a golf tournament, and that Nicklaus thanked him for making it so exciting. And then Miller, talking in the present day, says "Well, of course it was fun for him. He won the tournament."
Nicklaus, talking in the present day, says that at the time he still thought he could win the Grand Slam. He says that he kept playing into his 40s in large part because he had five kids, and his kids encouraged him to keep going. So take that, Tiger.
ReplyDeleteNow Jack is 71 years old -- the same age as my dad. He says it's amazing to look back and to see the things that he could actually do, and that he still gets just as excited every time he drives into Augusta as he did in 1959 -- the first time he arrived.
ReplyDeleteI loved 1975.
ReplyDelete