Four Ups and Downs at Augusta National

Hole In Two

At 5-5, 145 pounds, Gene Sarazen was the smallest of golf’s eminent champions. But he was solidly built and possessed a competitive heart. During his illustrious career, Sarazen accomplished golf’s rare career grand slam by winning the U.S. Open in 1922 at age 20, capturing the PGA the same year, going on to win the British Open in 1932, and completing the slam at the 1935 Masters.²⁵

On the fourth day of that tournament, Craig Wood led Sarazen by three strokes after 14 holes. Sarazen’s drive on the par-five 15^th had distance, but the lie was unfavorable, and it was 225 yards to the green. Knowing he had to be aggressive, Sarazen rocketed a deadeye four wood that bounced off the front of the green and rolled into the cup for a 2. Because it allowed him to tie Craig Wood in regulation play and win the Masters in a playoff, Gene Sarazen’s celestial double eagle is the greatest hole-out in professional golf history. The “shot heard round the world” helped put the Masters on the map.²⁶  

"That double-eagle wouldn't have meant a thing if I hadn't won the playoff the next day," Sarazen said. "The aspect I cherish most is that both Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones witnessed the shot ... "²⁷  (The larger-than-life Walter Hagen won four straight PGA tournaments in the 1920’s and was the first American to win the British Open.) 

 

Legend Of Golf

Some veteran viewers remember Jimmy Demaret, along with his partner Gene Sarazen, as the witty co-host of one of the first television golf shows “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf.²⁸ Demaret’s relaxed, but incisive, tee-and-greenside commentary was a joy, and his engaging between-holes interviews provided insights into the thinking processes of pro golfers. Wonderful names back then, too: Dow Finsterwald, Don January, “Champagne Tony” Lema. (Even the pro football names of the time stick: Vitamin T. Smith, Mac Speedie, Yelburton Abraham Tittle, Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch, Dick “Night Train” Lane.)

Jimmy Demaret was also a founder of the Legends of Golf Tournament. He was the first showbiz golf star and the reason, some said, that Bing Crosby invented the Pro-Am.

But the sharp dressing (“If you’re going to be in the limelight, you might as well dress like it.”), ²⁹ high-living, and sweet-swinging Demaret was also a skillful shot-maker who had 31 wins on the PGA tour and a perfect Ryder Cup record.

His greatest victory came in 1950. In a roaring finish on the last six holes, Demaret picked up seven strokes on third-round leader Jim Ferrier to become the first player to win three Masters. Ben Hogan said, “He was the most underrated golfer in Our Story. This man played shots I hadn’t dreamed of. I learned them. But it was Jimmy who showed them to me first. He was the best wind player I’ve ever seen in my life.”³⁰

Demaret was a fun-seeking character who loved to sing in nightclubs and made friends with countless celebrities. Jackie Burke, Jr. once said that Jimmy Demaret “was a jet-setter before there were jets.”³¹ He was immensely quotable, especially with lasting one-liners. His best was “Golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at them.”³²

 

On the Cusp

Twenty-four-year-old amateur Ken Venturi lead the 1956 Masters by four shots after three rounds, but he soared to an 80 on the final day. Jack Burke Jr. rallied from eight strokes behind to win the green jacket by a stroke.³³   Burke said,   “There was a fifty-mile-an-hour wind. I shot 71 which was the low round of the day, and Venturi just couldn’t make it on the back nine and handed me the trophy. I thank him a lot for that.”³⁴  Like Jimmy Demaret six years earlier, Jack Burke Jr. made one of the lofty comebacks in Masters history. Note how often good things happen when athletes feel they have nothing to lose and play loose.    

And the victory was no fluke. Jack Burke Jr. was a bona fide golfer who also won the PGA Tournament in 1956 and had 17 PGA Tour career wins. Burke went on, along with his partner Jimmy Demaret, to design majestic golf courses like Cypress Creek and Jack Rabbit. He was also a renowned teacher of the game, helping top players like Gary Player, Phil Mickelson, Hal Sutton, and Ben Crenshaw.³⁵ 

Despite Burke’s phenomenal final-day rebound, Ken Venturi’s brilliant performance in the first three rounds of the 1956 Masters showed that a major pro talent was about to emerge. (See “Venturi Beats Heat” in this chapter.)

 

Pass the Hat

Dressed in his customary black, Gary Player trailed by seven strokes when he started the final round of the 1978 Masters. He shot a 69, with a sizzling 30 on the back nine. Player had seven birdies between the ninth and eighteenth holes to finish with a 278, one shot ahead of Rod Funseth, Hubert Green, and Tom Watson who all tied for second-place. At age 42, it was Player’s third and greatest Masters’ victory and the last of his nine major championships.

(Despite blustery winds during the 2008 tournament’s final day, Gary Player’s protege Trevor Immelman kept his game intact, beat Tiger Woods by three strokes, and South Africa had another Masters’ champion.)

Seven strokes down was Gary Player’s lucky number. He was seven down to Tony Lema with 17 holes to play in the semifinal match at the 1965 World Match Play Championships in Wentworth, England and won. (Colorful, humorous, and popular ”Champagne Tony” Lema was a solid performer on the PGA circuit and winner of the British Open in 1964. Lema, age 32, and his wife were killed in a private plane crash in 1966. Ironically, the plane crashed onto a golf course.)

GARY PLAYER was the only golfer in the 20th century to win the British Open in three different decades: 1959, 1968, and 1974. He also had 24 PGA Tour victories and won each of the majors for a career Grand Slam.³⁶ The only others to do it were Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Ben Hogan. Like Hogan, Player was fit and practiced with unusual dedication. He had a bunker game that is considered the greatest ever developed and the ability to will himself to victory.³⁷

Absent his father’s devotion and persistence, Player may never have gotten to the United States. After Gary won the 1956 South African Open, his father wrote to Cliff Roberts and Bobby Jones, the founders of the Masters, explaining that he did not have the money to send Gary to the U.S. to play. But, he said, “If you would extend him an invitation, I will pass the hat here in Johannesburg and obtain the necessary funds.”

Bobby Jones wrote back a three-word note: “Pass the hat.”³⁸

Excerpted from the print and e-Book Guts in the Clutch: 77 Legendary Triumphs, Heartbreaks and Wild Finishes in 12 Sports, with a Foreword by Drew Olson of ESPN.

25 Courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame,     http:www.wgv.com/hof/members/gsarazen.html, available as of 9/24/05

26 WGHOF, Sarazen

27 Courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times, shttp://www.sptimes.com/News/110999/Sports/Sarazen_soars_on_doub.shtml, available as of 1/26/08

28 Courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame,         http:www.wgv.com/hof/members/jdemaret.html, available as of 10/1/05

29 WGHOF, Demaret

30 WGHOF, Demaret

31 WGHOF, Demaret

32 WGHOF, Demaret

33 Courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame,               http:www.wgv.com/hof/members/jburkejr.html, available as of 10/1/05

34 WGHOF, Burke

35 WGHOF, Burke

36 Courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame,          http:www.wgv.com/hof/members/gplayer.html, available as of 10/3/05

37 WGHOF, Player

38 WGHOF, Player

TWO NCAA BASKETBALL FINALS’ GEMS

WOLFPACK HAZES PHI SLAMMA JAMA

The University of Houston basketball team had been in the NCAA Final-Four three straight seasons. At their level of ascendancy weaker NBA teams would have taken them seriously. Houston’s two leading players, the commanding center Hakeem Olajuwon and the smooth and explosive forward Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, would soon become NBA all-stars. Houston arrived at the 1983 national championship game riding a 25-game win streak and owning a reputation as fast-break dunking demons known by the catchy faux-fraternity nickname Phi Slama Jamma. The odds-makers loved Houston, and they looked unbeatable.    

Houston’s underdog opponent in the title game was the North Carolina State Wolfpack coached by the clever and inspirational Jim Valvano. N.C. State took Houston’s game away by playing tenacious defense, cutting off the fast-break lanes, and keeping the score close. During halftime in the locker room they chanted “No slama jamma”.

Houston led by four points late when N.C. State’s Dereck Whittenburg hit two long jumpers to tie. Houston had possession with seconds remaining, but N.C. State stole the ball, and Whittenburg launched a long jumper. Teammate Lorenzo Charles grabbed the air ball and stuffed a buzzer-beater for the national championship. North Carolina State’s glutinous defense and telepathic shooting closed down Phi Slama Jamma with the ultimate fraternity hazing, and the Wolfpack’s improbable upset became a basketball legend.

At game’s end the emotional Jim Valvano rushed around looking for someone to hug, but the players were too busy hugging each other. Valvano later became a broadcaster and motivational speaker. Sadly, he died at age 47 after a yearlong battle with cancer.

Clyde Drexler entered the NBA draft, and without him the University of Houston lacked the depth to hold off Georgetown and Patrick Ewing in the 1984 NCAA Championship game. Following the loss, Hakeem Olajuwon gave up his final year of college eligibility to enter the NBA draft. Given the departure of talent and two straight title-game losses the Phi Slama Jamma era was over, and the University of Houston basketball team went back to being the Cougars.

In 12 seasons with Portland, Drexler was an eight-time All Star and led the Trailblazers to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. After being traded to Houston in 1995, Drexler was reunited with college teammate Hakeem Olujawon, and helped lead the Rockets to the franchise's second NBA championship.⁷

7  Courtesy of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame,

http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-clyde-drexler.html

OVER 75% CHANCE OF STEADY RAIN

Philadelphia is college basketball’s steamiest hotbed. The Big Five: LaSalle, Penn, St. Joseph’s, Temple, and Villanova scrap like hellhounds for city supremacy. The closest thing to it in college sports is Boston’s Beanpot Tourney where the Boston College, Harvard, Boston University, and Northeastern hockey teams bloody the ice trying to win the coveted trophy.

The 1985 Villanova basketball team, led by their colorful and effective coach, Rollie Massamino, clawed their way to the top of Philadelphia college basketball, competed fiercely in the Big East Conference, got into the NCAA playoffs, and although not ranked in the top 15 teams went all the way to the championship game. Like N.C. State two years earlier, Villanova faced a colossus. Georgetown was hugely talented and heavily favored to win their second straight title, with the seven-foot, future-NBA-superstar Patrick Ewing dominating as the top college center in the country. To make the odds against Big East rival Villanova even longer, the Hoyas had beaten them twice during the regular season. But both games were tight, and that had to be on the minds of the Georgetown players and coach John Thompson.

   Although the shot clock was used during the regular season, it was not used in the tournament. Villanova played deliberate basketball, took high-percentage shots, made few mistakes, and used Massamino’s flexible defensive setups to keep Georgetown from breaking out. Villanova center Ed Pinckney played the game of his life against Ewing, and the Villanova players hit a stream of clutch free throws in the closing minutes to seal a phenomenal 66-64 upset. Oh, almost forgot, Villanova shot over 75% from the floor, and that steady rain surely dampened Georgetown’s spirits.

Excerpted from the print and e-Book Guts in the Clutch: 77 Legendary Triumphs, Heartbreaks and Wild Finishes in 12 Sports with a Foreword by Drew Olson of ESPN.

CENTURY DIP

 

In 1955, Wilt Chamberlain of Overbrook High School in Philadelphia was a basketball sensation with a national reputation. He went on to become a unanimous all-American at the University of Kansas where he was so dominant they changed the college rules on goaltending and lane width. To accommodate his elongated frame, Wilt also changed motor-vehicle design by taking out the front seat and motoring around campus while operating his VW bug from the back seat.

   The agile, powerfully built, seven-one Chamberlain was a tsunami on offense and a defensive mountain range. Wilt the Stilt, better known as The Big Dipper (his favorite nickname), controlled the offensive boards, and was a master of the tip-in, dunk, finger roll, and fall-away jumper. He was also a defensive rebounding terror and shot-blocker. Wilt could dominate most opponents and teams, and, if he had been allowed to play, would probably have been an NBA force while still a senior in high school.

Wilt Chamberlain rewrote the rules and the record books at Kansas and in the NBA while becoming the principal offensive force in basketball history. Following his remarkable college years and a national championship game in 1957 that Kansas lost in triple overtime to the University of North Carolina, Chamberlain joined the Harlem Globetrotters for a short stint. He next played for the then Philadelphia Warriors, followed by the San Francisco Warriors, the renamed Philadelphia 76ers, and finally the Los Angeles Lakers from 1968-73.

Chamberlain was voted NBA rookie of the year in 1960. By 1962 he was already a three-time, all-NBA choice. In the 1962 All-Star game, Chamberlain set a record with 42 points, even though the West won and opponent Bob Pettit was named MVP. In his first three years Wilt led the league in rebounding and scoring while posting individual game totals of 72, 73, and 78 points. During the 1962 season he averaged 50.4 points a game.¹⁸

   Even with a star of Wilt’s magnitude, NBA attendance was spotty in 1962, the year Philadelphia owner Eddie Gottlieb bused his Warriors west to Hershey, PA for a March regular-season game with the New York Knicks. Unfortunately, only about 4,000 Chocolate-Town fans showed up. Since that time, however, 379,521 fans have claimed they were there. And many of those said they saw the game in Philadelphia or New York.

The Warriors dominated the Knicks from the tip-off and led 42-26 at the end of the first quarter with Wilt scoring 23 points. By halftime, Chamberlain had 18 more, and the players and fans knew something special was going on. He hit 10 baskets and, for a habitually poor foul shooter, an eye-popping 8-for-8 free throws in the third quarter. He then scored three quick field goals to open the fourth quarter and was at 75 points.¹⁹

   With the crowd screaming “Give it to Wilt” and the Knicks pressing to avoid the ignominy of allowing 100 points, Chamberlain’s teammates fed him relentlessly, and with five minutes left he reached 89 points.

During the tumultuous final five minutes Wilt used his complete shooting repertoire to reach 98 with 1:27 left. He scored the 99^th and 100^th points on a dunk, the frenzied fans took over the floor, and the game that showcased the consummate individual performance in NBA history was never finished. Despite the shortened game, Philadelphia won 169-147. Defense took a holiday during Wilt’s Hershey, PA extravaganza, or stayed back in Philadelphia and New York, or was visiting Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory, or maybe Willy gave Wilt a chocolate bar with a golden ticket.

The Big Dipper, who sportswriter Dick Schapp called one of the two or three greatest athletes of the 20^th century, went on to post superb career numbers in minutes played per game, scoring, and rebounding. He won championship rings with the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers and the 1972 Los Angeles Lakers.

Wilt Chamberlain will be forever compared to the  Celtics’ Bill Russell. The two giants waged fervent pivot battles for years, and fans still argue over who was the better player. Let’s just say that if you were choosing sides in a pickup game back then, neither one would hurt your team’s chances.

Excerpted from the print and e-Book Guts in the Clutch: 77 Legendary Triumphs, Heartbreaks and Wild Finishes in 12 Sports with a Foreword by Drew Olson of ESPN.

18  Courtesy of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame,   http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Chamberlain.htm, available as of 6/27/05

19 Basketball Hall of Fame, Chamberlain, available as of 6/27/05