Bryson DeChambeau called Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course “a beast” and he’ll try to unleash ‘The Kraken,’ his name for his driver, to slay it.
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – The Incredible Bulk meets the longest course in major championship history.
“This golf course is a beast,” said Bryson DeChambeau. “Hopefully I can unleash the beast.”
Pete Dye’s Ocean Course masterpiece at Kiawah Island Golf Resort measures in at 7,846 yards and when the wind blows, look out.
“It is probably one of the hardest golf courses I’ve ever played,” DeChambeau said.
The reigning U.S. Open champion is set to make his fifth appearance in the PGA Championship this week, and finished T-4 last year at TPC Harding Park, which at the time was his best finish at a major. During his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, DeChambeau expressed plenty of respect for a course that has forced him to take some head covers off for approaches to greens and, heavens to Betsy, a tee shot at a par 3.
“I have not had hybrids or 4-irons into par-3s since I’ve gotten longer,” he said. “That’s a new one.”
But if anyone can take advantage of his prodigious length this week, it could be DeChambeau, who leads the PGA Tour in driving distance at 322 yards. ESPN’s Andy North marveled at DeChambeau’s bold attempt to drive the par-5 sixth green at Bay Hill in March during the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“No one else can hit it the places he can hit it right now,” said North, a two-time U.S. Open champion during his playing days. “Anybody watched Bay Hill, the couple of tee shots he hit at Bay Hill were the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, our lines were 50 yards to the right of that, and it was still scary.”
Scary is to hear DeChambeau talk about throttling back and still belting a drive of 385 yards last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He abandoned his 4.5-degree Cobra driver in favor of a model that has three degrees more loft, a different face design and different weight. It more closely resembles a Cobra driver he used back in 2018 when he said he was driving it on a string until he broke the face.
“It’s not fully maxed out with everything, and there are reasons for that,” he explained. “You can’t let it loose out here. There’s certain golf courses like last week (at TPC Craig Ranch near Dallas) I could kind of let it loose a little bit, but even at that I was still trying to control ball flight. I’m still trying to gain speed. It’s not like I’m not. It’s just I’m trying to find more efficient ways to do it.”
For the first time since undergoing his physical transformation, DeChambeau has hit a wall in his pursuit of speed.
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“I’m the strongest I’ve ever been, but it doesn’t produce swing speed, which is really interesting, so how to increase swing speed like you’re working out is something that nobody has ever really figured out,” he explained. “When quarantine came about I had time to physically transform everything. I took a couple weeks off of even playing golf or touching a golf club and literally changed my body. I don’t have that time now.”
And so while he continues down rabbit holes in search of answers on how to gain more distance, he’s content that his power game is an advantage at the Ocean Course – “If you don’t hit it long, it’s going to be a tough week,” he said – but it might not be his biggest one.
“If I can hit it straight this week in this wind and control the golf ball and control the flight of it, that’ll be my biggest advantage,” he said.
That may be a big ‘if.’ DeChambeau’s high ball flight isn’t ideal for Kiawah, where the fickle wind causes indecision in club selection and execution. DeChambeau, the Tour’s most analytical golfer, has been known to simulate the dew on a golf ball to try to understand how it affected spin rates on wedge shots. To no surprise, he was up to his usual tricks in trying to prep for wind conditions at the PGA.
“Man, you guys are going to eat this one up, but the laminar flow of the wind and how it works,” he said. “A lot of it is going to be dependent on luck this week. I will say that. When it’s dependent on luck you have to be patient.”
It should be great theater to see whether the World No. 5 can blast drivers and find the short grass and flight his irons into the wind and maintain his composure at what he calls one of the toughest courses he’s ever played. But he said he’s up to the challenge and wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I would say a few weeks a year is OK. That’s for sure,” he said. “This is one of those weeks.”
“I’m bummed it didn’t happen on the weekend. But it was pretty awesome,” said Clark.
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – How’s Wyndham Clark rolling?
On Monday, the first alternate learned he got into the field for the 103rd PGA Championship when two-time PGA winner Vijay Singh withdrew.
On Tuesday, playing the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island for the first time, Clark took to the tee on the terrifying 223-yard 17th hole where the petite green is guarded by water on the right and two deep waste areas on the left. On his first swing, he made a hole-in-one.
“It was a pretty surreal shot,” Clark told Golfweek.
Clark had seen multiple posts from players on Twitter and Instagram showcasing the difficulty of the hole. Seeing the hole for the first time, it didn’t take long for Clark to realize how arduous the par 3 could be. And the backup on the tee was another indication of the grueling challenge.
Using a PXG GEN4 4-iron, Clark sent his Titleist Pro V1x to the sky.
“It was blowing 20-plus (mph),” Clark said. “I just set up and the wind was in from off the right. I hit it perfect and it was going right at the flag. And in the air, we were all like, ‘Drinks on you,’ ‘hole-in-one,’ blah blah blah. And then it lands, and it started rolling and it goes in.
“I’m bummed it didn’t happen on the weekend. But it was pretty awesome.”
But not pretty expensive.
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“There were like 700 people out there and if I had run up a bar tab, I would have to finish top 20 this week to get my money back,” he laughed.
It was Clark’s third hole-in-one on a regulation-sized golf course; he’s had 20-30 on par-3 courses. His latest ace, however, did not alter his view of the hole.
“It’s one of the toughest par-3s I’ve ever seen, one of the toughest holes I’ve played in all of golf,” he said. “You look at it from the tee you know you can obviously miss it left but that’s a tough spot and if you miss it right or come up short, you’re in the water.
“We got to the green and my caddie said, ‘Go put balls in the bunkers on the left because that’s where we’re going to be. He was joking but he knows hitting the green during the tournament is going to be an incredible shot.”
Collin Morikawa didn’t know he got to host a PGA Champions Dinner, but he put together a strong menu.
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – The Masters isn’t the only major that has a champions dinner. Didn’t know that? Don’t feel bad; neither did reigning PGA champion Collin Morikawa –“DC” for defending champion as they are calling him this week – who is also the guy who set the menu and picked up the tab. When asked if he was aware of this tournament tradition, Morikawa chuckled and said, “No. But I’m glad it is.”
Much like at the more ballyhooed winners-only Champions Dinner held each year on the Tuesday of Masters week at Augusta National, the ticket to admission to Tuesday night’s soiree at the PGA Championship is having hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy. But there is one difference: Spouses and family members of past champions are included. Morikawa, who said he loves food, had the honor of selecting the menu and he offered plenty of options.
“It was kind of how much food can you just throw at everyone,” he said. “But no, I gave people the option of fish or fried chicken, so either you go healthy or you don’t go healthy.”
Grade B: Nice tip of the cap to TPC Harding Park being the site of his PGA victory last year and who doesn’t like a Cobb salad?
Entrees
Pan-seared Cobia with lemon caper sauce or fried chicken with four-cheese creamy mac n’ cheese
Grade B: I would’ve gone with filets and Chilean Sea Bass, but the only champions dinner I’m hosting is for my fantasy league. The Mac ‘n cheese alone almost brought it into the A range.
“Everyone was loving that, just to kind of pick on,” Morikawa said of the Porterhouse strips and sides. “It’s a great family style, and obviously going through COVID and everything, you’re so used to takeout boxes – maybe I should have given everyone a takeout box and just told them to go eat in their room. That would have been new.”
Grade A: Solid choices. Garlic mashed would’ve made it an A+.
Dessert
House-made ice creams (Vanilla, chocolate, banana), platters of warm chocolate chip and red velvet cookies.
Grade: A. Simple yet delicious. Extra credit for the cookies being warm and everyone may not agree with Morikawa and me here but banana ice cream instead of strawberry was an inspired choice.
Wines
Sauvignon Blanc, Nautilus Estate
Chardonnay, Ceritas
Merlot, Duckhorn
Cabernet Sauvignon, Caymus
Grade: A. I’m not gonna lie, I’m not too familiar with those whites and would’ve gone with Cakebread as my Chard but the reds are strong to very strong.
“It’s an honor to continue the tradition of choosing tonight’s dinner menu. It’s a mixture of selections I trust you will enjoy,” Morikawa wrote on the menu.
“It was just good to have people, like, share food and just have people talk to each other while they passed the plates. I think we all missed that,” he added. “The dinner was just kind of put together, foods that I love, and it was an awesome night really.
“It was so cool to talk to a bunch of champions, not just champions that I know, but just guys that are older that aren’t on Tour anymore, just to kind of hear stories from them. It’s a really meaningful night.”
As for the stories that were told, those will be guarded by Morikawa like state secrets. Asked to share his favorite, he demurred and said, “Well, I’m not going to tell you that.”
The 103rd PGA Championship begins on Thursday at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course in South Carolina, and with a handful of storylines and groups to watch.
Rory McIlroy won this event the last time it was played at Kiawah Island. That was back in 2012, and was McIlroy’s second career major championship. He has since won two more (including the 2014 PGA Championship). McIlroy will tee it up alongside fellow two-time PGA champion Brooks Koepka (2018 and 2019) and Justin Thomas, winner of the 2017 PGA.
Defending champion Collin Morikawa is grouped with 2020. U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama.
Here’s everything you need to know for the first round of the PGA Championship.
Feeling lucky this week? Here are some long shots and sleepers to consider at the PGA Championship.
Looking for a big payday with your PGA Championship bets? Sportsbook Wire has you covered as the world’s best golfers tee it up at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island in South Carolina this week. Below, we search for value in the odds and target five sleepers and long-shot picks to win the 2021 PGA Championship.
The PGA Championship has awarded the Wanamaker Trophy to many long-shot winners over the years. Past champs include YE Yang (2009), Keegan Bradley (2011) and Jimmy Walker (2016). The conditions of the Ocean Course this week are expected to help level the playing field as golfers contend with harsh wins off of the coast of the Atlantic.
Rory McIlroy begins the week at No. 15 in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings. He’s the pre-tournament favorite at +1100 after winning the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah by eight strokes. There were several forgotten names on that leaderboard who would’ve been worthy of a top-5 or top-10 placing bet.
Rose showed at the 2021 Masters he can still contend in major championships with a seventh-place finish after holding the 18- and 36-hole leads. He finished ninth in last summer’s PGA Championship and tied for 23rd in the fall Masters.
He was one of four golfers to tie for third at the 2012 PGA Championship at the Ocean Course, albeit nine strokes back of McIlroy’s 13-under par. Rose’s game is well-suited to the howling, swirling winds and difficult conditions.
Top 5: +1400
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Bubba Watson (+9000)
Bet $100 to win $9,000
Watson tied for 11th at the 2012 PGA Championship. His 4-under par, 68, was one of the best rounds of the final day of the tournament when conditions were at their best.
The 42-year-old is still 40th on Tour in driving distance and the wide fairways of the Ocean Course will play to his favor.
Top 5: +1400
Matt Wallace (+10000)
Bet $100 to win $10,000
A four-time winner on the European Tour, Wallace has been playing more frequently on the PGA Tour this year. He made the cut in each of his last four stroke-play events, with finishes of third at the Valero Texas Open and T-6 at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Wallace is tied for 13th on Tour in Par 4 Efficiency: 450-500 Yards and should be able to score on the 7,876-yard Ocean Course’s toughest holes.
Top 10: +750
Dylan Frittelli (+25000)
Bet $100 to win $25,000
Frittelli was one of several surprises at the 2020 Masters in November with a T-5 finish. He missed the cut in April and has slipped to No. 81 in the Official World Golf Ranking but the South African’s game is well-suited to the PGA Championship venue.
He’s third among qualified golfers with 0.54 Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green per round, and he’s 13th in driving distance.
Clark gained a late entry to the 2021 PGA Championship after Vijay Singh withdrew Monday. He has never won on the PGA Tour, but he tied for eighth in a strong field at The Genesis Invitational earlier this year and made the cut in each of his last four events.
He averages 0.43 SG: Around-the-Green per round, is fourth in driving distance and 15th in sand save percentage.
Top 20: +700
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In this edition of the Forward Press Podcast, Golfweek’s David Dusek chats with Steve DiMeglio to preview the year’s second major, the PGA Championship being held at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, as well as who the real Collin Morikawa is and much more.
Players and caddies didn’t hold back when asked their opinions on the use of rangefinders this week.
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – The PGA of America believes pace of play will improve in this week’s PGA Championship by allowing the use of distance-measuring devices.
Players and caddies say not so fast.
Committed to speed up play, the PGA of America is the first major governing body to allow distance-measuring devices in its foremost professional events, starting with the 103rd edition of the PGA Championship this week on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island.
“We’re always interested in methods that may help improve the flow of play during our championships,” Jim Richerson, president of the PGA of America, said in a media release in February announcing the decision. “The use of distance-measuring devices is already common within the game and is now a part of the Rules of Golf. Players and caddies have long used them during practice rounds to gather relevant yardages.”
The response from players and caddies? It. Will. Slow. Play. Down.
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“I love what the PGA of America is trying to do. The organization has been at the forefront of change,” said Paul Tesori, longtime bag man for Webb Simpson. “The PGA Championship is the only major we’ve played lift, clean and place. The PGA of America was the first to allow shorts.
“But I think they reached into an area where I don’t think we need help.”
His boss agreed.
“This is a fact: it’s not going to speed up play because everybody I know and have talked to, we still want front numbers, and the range finder, you can’t always get the accurate front number,” said Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion and current world No. 10. “So you’ll probably have the player shoot the pin, the caddie will walk off the number because I’m going to want what’s front. I haven’t read the reasoning behind it or their desire to test it out that week, but I don’t think it will really make a difference.”
And as Scott Sajtinac, caddie for 2013 PGA champion Jason Dufner, said: “Too much information is needed that is unzappable by a laser. But some will sure try to laser something extra.”
Harry Diamond, caddie for Rory McIlroy, uses a rangefinder during a practice round prior to the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course on May 17, 2021 in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. (Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
The devices, in accordance with Rule 4.3a (1), can only report on distance and direction. Those that also can calculate other data including elevation changes and wind speeds, are not allowed.
Since 2006, rangefinders and GPS devices have been allowed for recreational golf and tournaments with the rule stating that local rules would allow tournament committees to ban them. While rangefinders have been allowed in the U.S. Amateur since 2014, top professional events, including the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open, do not permit such usage.
As well, the PGA Tour conducted a four-tournament test of distance-measuring devices on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017 but did not change its view.
“We decided at the time to continue to prohibit their use in official competitions on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry Tour for the foreseeable future,” the PGA Tour said in a statement. “We will evaluate the impact rangefinders have on the competition at the PGA of America’s championships in 2021 and will then review the matter with our player directors and the Player Advisory Council.”
Where one and all do agree concerning the rangefinders – which also will be allowed in the PGA of America’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship – is that time will not be wasted when players hit wayward shots, which could be frequent on the windswept grounds of the Ocean Course.
“I have a hard time seeing it speed things up, unless you get it way offline or you’re out of contention,” Jordan Spieth said. “We’ll plan on using it, but I think it will be more confirmation than anything. It’s not going to be we just step up, shoot it, and go. I mean, these pins get tucked and the wind’s blowing and you got to figure out a few more things than just the number to the hole.”
Added Bryson DeChambeau, the PGA Tour’s longest hitter: “It’s going to help me for when I hit it offline. We’re not going to have to go to a sprinkler head and walk 40, 50 yards away from a place to find a number.”
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But here’s where it will slow up play, according to players and caddies. How long will it take to pull the trigger if the player shoots one number and the caddie walks off a different number. They’d likely repeat the process. Then if there still is disagreement, the two would discuss how to go forward.
“I don’t know of one caddie who was consulted by the PGA of America, and that’s frustrating,” Tesori said. “We’d have stressed that normally, I’m getting a lot of info: the yardage to the front number, the carry number, left and right numbers, the distance behind the pin. And we’re talking about the wind and roll out. Of all the info, the last number we get is to the pin.
“If you shoot a rangefinder from 150 it will say 150 one time and 149 another and then 151. If you’re two yards off that can mean difference between 9-iron and pitching wedge. And if our numbers are different, we’ll redo all the numbers and if we’re still split, we’ll figure out what to do and away we go.
“As professionals, we have never done this before. It will be another part of the process and that will take time.”
World No. 2 and 2017 PGA champion Justin Thomas said he doesn’t like the PGA of America’s decision for many reasons but one in particular.
“I think it takes away an advantage of having a good caddie that maybe goes out there and does the work beforehand as opposed to someone, especially now between the yardage books, the greens books and range finders, you technically don’t even really need to see the place or play a practice round,” Thomas said. “You can go out there and know exactly what the green does, you know exactly what certain things are on certain angles because you can just shoot it with the range finder.
“I made my stance on it pretty clear. I don’t really like them.”
When asked during a Zoom teleconference call with reporters last week, the CBS lead analyst specifically mentioned two names.
The 103rd PGA Championship takes center stage this week.
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina will garner plenty of headlines this week but so will the players.
Who’s the favorite? Depends on who you ask. Can Collin Morikawa repeat? Well, there have only been two players to repeat since the PGA went from match play to stroke play in 1958: Brooks Koepka in 2018 and 2019 and Tiger Woods, who repeated twice, in 1999 and 2000 and again in 2006 and 2007. Woods won’t play this week and Koepka continues to battle back from knee surgery.
When asked during a Zoom teleconference call with reporters last week, the CBS lead analyst specifically mentioned two names: Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.
“Obviously it was great what Rory did last week,” Faldo said in reference to McIlroy’s win at Quail Hollow Club. “That was a huge inspiration.”
Then he went on to talk up Spieth, and that was before Spieth finished tied for ninth at the AT&T Byron Nelson, the final tune up for the PGA. Spieth now has seven top-10s and eight top-15 finishes in ten starts in 2021. Faldo indicated that Spieth has the craftiness to handle the course and any potential weather conditions.
“If it becomes a long pounding test then obviously the ball strikers have an advantage,” Faldo said. “But if it becomes hard work, with the wind and firm conditions, when even good shots miss greens, then it’s going to become a real scrambling test and the scrambling there is, well, it’s off the charts.
“There are some incredibly demanding holes and … you have to be innovative. You have to have some kind of repertoire of shots, so that’s why I look at the great chippers. Jordan Spieth is obviously one of those right now.”
And game aside, Faldo said McIlroy and Spieth will have a little something extra this week.
“Both are seriously motivated. Rory would love to get back to winning majors and Jordan has the chance at the (career) grand slam.
“But to be honest, let’s get through the first couple of days and see how things settle down because it will be hard work. I hope the weather is tough, that it’s a difficult test. I think we’ll have a really good shake up Thursday, Friday and then we’ll have a great weekend.”
A dozen years have passed, but the conversation remains vivid in the scholarly mind of Rick Sessinghaus.
The noted golf instructor in Southern California who was giving 50-60 lessons per week back then, especially to those in the junior ranks, sat down next to his wife, Kathy, in their Burbank home. After talking about how each’s day went, Sessinghaus began chatting about one of his star pupils.
Not an 18-year-old stud, mind you. Or a 16-year-old prodigy.
Dial down the years.
“I told my wife I had this kid who had the ‘it’ factor,” said Sessinghaus, a PGA Golf Professional who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech Communications and a Masters and Doctorate in Applied Sports Psychology. “I told her I really believe he is going to succeed at the highest level.
“And he was 12 at the time.”
His name? Collin Morikawa.
A 16-year-old Collin Morikawa competing on the AJGA in July 2013. (AJGA photo)
Add another Masters in Prophesy to Sessinghaus’ list of degrees, for the youngster grew up to be a monster in the junior, collegiate and professional ranks.
Sessinghaus was right there at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco in August 2020 when Morikawa won the PGA Championship, his first major triumph in just his second try, which is his biggest victory of four on the PGA Tour in just 45 starts.
“I didn’t say that flippantly,” Sessinghaus said. “There are plenty of kids who can hit the ball. That’s the baseline stuff. I just told her I had a 12-year-old who askes a lot of great questions, is super competitive, has a great attitude, is curious, whose parents were supportive but not getting in the way. His parents and Collin weren’t obsessed with winning at the time.”
Instead, Morikawa was passionate about learning how the mind works and how to check a chip shot and move the ball both ways. Sessinghaus realized that when they met for the first time shortly after Morikawa blew out eight candles on his birthday cake. Yes, Morikawa was 8 and Sessinghaus was 33 when they shook hands for the first time.
An Odd Couple? Only in age. Their kinship quickly took hold as much for each other’s love for the game as for their thirst for knowledge.
“I was on the right side of the driving range at Scholl Canyon Golf Course when his dad walked over to me and asked if I’d work with his son,” Sessinghaus said. “Collin was with him and he had this big smile on his face and his cute little golf bag. And after two swings, I said, ‘You bet I will work with him.’
“I could tell right away his engagement for his lessons. He was attentive, somebody who was very coachable, and would think things out. He wasn’t a huge talker, by any means, but when he talked, he had very good questions.
“He was very attentive, he wanted to learn, and he had that at a very early age.”
Collin Morikawa during his time on the Cal roster. (Photo: Eric Miller)
Morikawa was of the same mind as his much older instructor. He tapped into Sessinghaus’ ABC’s of mindset principles and appreciated him knowing the X’s and Y’s of the golf swing and being able to play the game at a high level.
“What was appealing with Rick was he was always competitive. As an 8-year-old, I was really competitive. I always wanted to compete against anyone. Rick brought that out of me even more,” Morikawa said. “At all our lessons, we always finished with a contest, whether it was putting, chipping, hitting a shot, whatever it was.
“We did that forever and ever and ever.
“As an 8-year-old you’re trying to beat Rick, who is your coach, and it just kept me wanting to become better, trying to find ways to beat him. I never made an excuse that he was older and could hit it farther. I just wanted to beat him.”
Sessinghaus, now 49 (Morikawa is 24), said he learned early on his young pupil had the makeup to understand and train for being in a flow state, otherwise known as being in the zone.
“Somebody’s DNA in flow states is someone who is completely in the present moment,” Sessinghaus said. “One of the flow triggers for focus is curiosity. What that means is if I can look at a situation in a curious way, it actually takes fear out of the equation. I just want to learn about the present moment. Some people are more wired like that than others.
A young Collin Morikawa competing on the AJGA. (AJGA photo)
“Collin had an interesting mix. He was curious yet creative. He certainly wanted to know the causes and effects of how A+B=C, but he processed it in a way that I think is best for an athlete, which is creative and athletic and not trained to be perfect. He wanted to understand the why. Once he got that answer, it was awesome. I’ve always told him if I don’t have the answer, I will find it for him. He knew I was never going to BS him.”
And Sessinghaus quickly learned Morikawa never played the victim.
“We constantly assessed a tournament not on why he won or didn’t but what did he learn. When he was 16, he played in a tournament at PGA National where they play the Honda Classic, and he came back and said, ‘Rick, I played poorly because I don’t know how to flight my irons in the wind,’” Sessinghaus said. “He said, ‘We need to learn how to flight my irons.’ He wasn’t the victim because it was windy. He took ownership. He never made excuses. That was different.”
The connection grew by the day and remains as strong as ever. And both are continuing journeys to better places.
“The best thing Rick brings to me is his thirst for knowledge, his quest to learn new things and get better,” Morikawa said. “Yes, we’re trying to get better at what we are great at, but Rick is looking for things we’re not great at and try to get better in those areas, whether it deals with the mental process or the golf swing. We’re always trying to gain an advantage.
“I just want to observe and learn and know as much as possible with what’s going on around me. Whether I love the topic or not, if I’m in that situation, I want to learn about it. I want to know how something works; I want to know the history of something. That’s just kind of how my brain works.
“I’m a pretty observant person. So is Rick. So it’s a perfect match.”
Nicklaus led the tournament wire-to-wire, becoming the first player in history to complete the modern career Grand Slam twice.
On February 28, Jack Nicklaus returned to the scene of his ninth of 18 major titles, 50 years to the day that he hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time. Nicklaus recounted to members at BallenIsles Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, which then was known as PGA National’s East Course (until 1987) when it hosted the 1971 PGA Championship, that he was paired in the opening two rounds with Hall of Famer Gene Sarazen.
The Squire, who won the first of his three PGA titles in 1922, was playing in his 50th PGA while celebrating turning 69 years old and looking as dapper as ever in his trademark knickers and a straw Panama hat.
“Now they say if you’ve played a long time you’ve played with Jack Nicklaus,” the Golden Bear said.
But 50 years ago, Nicklaus was 31 years of age and in full flight. He led the tournament wire-to-wire en route to shooting 7-under 281, two strokes better than Billy Casper, and in doing so became the first player in history to complete the modern career Grand Slam twice.
“The world’s largest bookshelf may be needed one of these days to store all the records that belong to Nicklaus,” Dan Jenkins wrote in Sports Illustrated.
No truer words about Nicklaus may have ever been written as he was just making the turn on the way to filling up his bookshelf with a record 18 majors, including five victories at the PGA. Nicklaus’s passion and desire to win the Wanamaker Trophy took shape more than two decades earlier when the 1950 PGA Championship was held at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, where the Nicklaus family had a membership.
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With the help of his teacher, Scioto’s head professional Jack Grout, a 10-year-old Nicklaus gained access to the locker room to meet many of the stars of the game, including acquiring autographs from Hall of Famer Sam Snead, eventual champion, Chandler Harper, who had been assigned to father Charlie Nicklaus’s locker, and most memorably Lloyd Mangrum.
“I can still see that slim, dark figure sitting at a table with a fan of cards in one hand and a glass of hooch in the other and a cigarette dangling from his lips, and recall how intimidated I was when he turned to me and gave me that famous tough look of his and snarled, ‘Whaddya want, kid?’ ” Nicklaus wrote in My Story, his 1997 autobiography. “But he signed my autograph book, and I remember being extremely proud of my courage in standing up to such a fearsome character.”
Nicklaus often has credited that experience with shaping his desire to be a professional golfer when he grew up. Having already won the PGA in 1963, Nicklaus enjoyed a veritable home game in 1971, one of three times in his career where he slept in his own bed in North Palm Beach. Holding the 53rd PGA in Florida required reorganizing the golf calendar so that the championship could be held in the balmy conditions of February rather than its traditional slot during the dog days of August to avoid the Sunshine State’s oppressive heat. It’s the only time the PGA was played in February, earning the moniker of “Glory’s First Shot,” and marked the first time the PGA was conducted as back-to-back majors.
“I thought it was the best time and the best thing for the PGA because it gave them the opportunity to start the year off in the majors,” Nicklaus told Golf Digest in 2011.
Nicklaus had just a five-mile commute to the course from Long Tree Village and his houseguests included Gary Player and Tony Jacklin. On the Sunday before the tournament began, Nicklaus had shot a dreadful 80 and struggled on the greens, leaving several putts short. Deane Beman, who had given Nicklaus a putter nicknamed “White Fang” ahead of the Golden Bear’s victory at the 1967 U.S. Open, stopped by for dinner and a game of bridge. The Bemans dominated at bridge — “They murdered us,” Nicklaus recalled — but Nicklaus gained some valuable intel. Beman, regarded as one of the best putters at the time, had a hunch what was plaguing his putting: he wasn’t finishing his backstroke.
Jack Nicklaus smiles and holds up his club after winning the PGA Championship, 7 under par, at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Feb. 28, 1971.
That night, about 11 p.m., Nicklaus took a putter and some balls out to a patch of Astroturf near his backyard pool and practiced. Beman’s tip was spot on.
“I concentrated on doing that with every putt the rest of the week,” he said. “I putted very well that week because of that lesson.”
Did he ever. Nicklaus took just 23 putts on the slow Bermuda greens in the first round and he one-putted eight of the last 10 holes. He opened with a pair of 69s, including birdies on four of the last nine holes Friday, to take a two-shot lead over Miller Barber at the halfway point. In all, 81 players made the cut at 5-over par.
Nicklaus’s most noteworthy achievement to the midway point of the tournament may have been impressing Sarazen, the first player to complete the career Grand Slam, who joined the masses in awe of Nicklaus’s vast talents.
“I saw a real champion,” Sarazen said. “I never saw such power and Nicklaus putted magnificently.”
South Africa’s Gary Player, one of Nicklaus’s closest friends and a housemate that week, shot a 68 Saturday to move into second place entering the final round, four shots back of Nicklaus, who reeled off four birdies in a row, beginning with a 40-footer at No. 11, in posting a third-round 70 in gusty conditions.
“Jack saw the competition and he met it,” Player said of the birdie run by Nicklaus just as he and others were on the verge of overtaking him.
Player also joked that since he was the only player within shouting distance that Barbara Nicklaus might try and poison his food. Player wasn’t taking any chances at breakfast, claiming he watched Barbara prepare the meal “like a hawk.”
“I told her Jack would have to be the official food taster before I’d eat,” Player said. “When he sipped his milk, I switched glasses. When he took some grapefruit, I switched them.”
“He’d tell me to look out the window and then he’d switch plates,” Nicklaus recounted 50 years later. This running gag took on a life of its own in the locker room ahead of the final round.
“Barbara’s getting a complex,” Nicklaus relayed. “She gives him a cheese omelette, he pours catsup all over it. She cooks him a steak, he pours catsup all over it. A couple of fried eggs, catsup all over it.”
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“So would you if you had a catsup contract,” Player cracked. “I didn’t know you had a catsup contract,” Nicklaus said. “I will when these fellows get through writing about it,” Player said. The night before the final round, Nicklaus and Player had stayed up late watching Mannix, a detective show they both liked on television. On Sunday, Player posed a real threat to play the spoiler, cutting the deficit to one stroke until disaster struck at 15. “I hit my drive to the right, only about 4 yards off the fairway. But the ball hit on the cart path and bounced way out-of-bounds,” Player said of the shot that sealed his fate. Or was it something else? “He was convinced Barbara’s prune cake eventually got him at the end of that week,” Nicklaus said.
The blond bomber had been cruising along for three days, but leading wire-to-wire is no easy bargain even for a player of Nicklaus’s caliber and he made three bogeys in his first five holes to give his competitors a ray of hope.
“I had a hard time settling down,” Nicklaus conceded. “When you play late in the days and lead, you get a bit tight and tired. That’s the way I felt out there.”
He got one stroke back with a birdie at the sixth, bogeyed the 11th but bounced back with a birdie one hole later. Despite a shaky passage, Nicklaus recovered and maintained the pole position for the stretch run.
“I felt like it was my tournament all along after Thursday,” Nicklaus recalled. “I wanted to avoid only one thing. I didn’t want to have to make a 4 at 18 on Sunday to win it. That’s a hard hole.”
Casper, who started the day seven strokes back, made a late charge with birdies on the final two holes, including a 25-footer at the last, to shoot 68 and signed for a 72-hole total of 5-under 283. Ageless wonder Tommy Bolt, 52, finished in third another stroke back and one better than Barber and Player, who tied for fourth.
PGA champion Jack Nicklaus smiles at the trophy he earned after winning the tournament at Palm Beach Gardens, Fl., Feb 28, 1971. (AP Photo)
“I hadn’t thought of Casper all day,” Nicklaus said. “Now I’m on the 17th with a one-shot lead. If I don’t birdie the 17th, I’m in exactly the situation I don’t want to be in. I’ll have to make 4 on 18 to win.” Nicklaus removed any doubt at the 588-yard par-5 17th. Despite being one of the few players capable of reaching the green in two, Nicklaus elected to lay up short of the bunkers guarding the green. He wedged to five feet and stood over his birdie try in his trademark cocoon of concentration for 21 seconds before holing the putt that gave him a two-stroke cushion going to the 72nd hole of the tournament. “I’ve never seen a man stand over a putt so long and putt as well,” Sarazen said that week. “People who do this generally finally come apart.” Not Nicklaus. He remained red hot, tallying 29 one-putt greens for the week and deeming it “the best putting in a tournament in my life.”
“When you point for something so long, you want it to end up sweet,” said Nicklaus, who closed in 1-over 73. “The birdie putt on 17, I felt, was it. I said to myself, ‘Work hard on this one and you’ve got it.’ ”
Nicklaus notched his 31st Tour title, his first trophy in his adopted home state of Florida and capped off the double career slam – at least two victories in each of the four professional major championships, a feat matched by only Tiger Woods.
When Nicklaus arrived home with the Wanamaker Trophy, there was a double celebration. It was wife Barbara’s 31st birthday. She had traipsed after her hubby with their oldest son, Jackie, 9. The previous day, she had taken 7-year-old Steve. Asked by the Palm Beach Post why she hadn’t taken both boys at the same time, she replied, “Never. There’d be the biggest knock-down, drag-out fight you ever saw.” The fight was on for Nicklaus, who conceded afterwards that eclipsing Bobby Jones’s major total of 13 was on his radar.
“I’ll be honest about it,” Nicklaus said. “I want to win more than Jones. That’s what you play for, to separate yourself from the crowd.”
He would go on to do that and then some, etching his name on the Wanamaker Trophy again in 1973, 1975 and 1980. Fifty years after being crowned champion at BallenIsles Golf Club, Nicklaus may be smaller in stature but he remains a giant in the game and his record in the majors still is the gold standard.
“The greatest champion in the history of the game won here,” PGA CEO Seth Waugh told attendees at the ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of Nicklaus’s achievement. “You can’t ever take that away.”
